So today a buddy and I decide to go to Subway for lunch (a disaster in itself, but that's another story). When we turned onto the street the Subway is on there was a very, very nice bright yellow '32 Ford coming. We had plenty of time so we pulled out, and drove about a mile with this '32 Ford behind us, admiring it in the rearview mirror. When we got to the Subway, whos parking lot entrance is just before a set of lights at a very busy intersection, we turned in and the '32 continued past us. He drove through the (green) light, and just as he was on the other side of the intersection a red Tempo pulled out of a convenience store parking lot right in front of him. He had about zero second's notice - I saw only a flicker of '32 Ford brake lights before he piled into the side of the Tempo at approximately 40 MPH. We parked and ran across the street to the scene. Nobody was hurt (miraculously, since the '32 did not have seat belts) but the '32 was extensively damaged. The Tempo was written off too, but who cares about Tempo's?
That poor '32 was MINT before the crash - we were admiring its condition with the very upset driver. I mean, even inside the fenders was spotless. It was a show car of very high quality and you could tell the guy put a LOT of work into it. It had a Mustang II front suspension, an EFI 5.0 HO/T5 drivetrain, 9" rear, complete custom white leather interior - the car was BUILT. The accident destroyed the front fenders and cowl/hood (fenders are required by law here) and the front half of the frame was bent up pretty badly. The guy said he could fix it with a new frame and front sheet metal (the car was all metal) but was rather upset at the prospect of having to do so. He also had it appraised (didn't say what the value was) so the insurance company should not be able to bone him. Needless to say the Tempo driver was keeping a very low profile. I gave him and the police my contact info in case they needed a witness and left, shaking my head at such needless destruction of a very special car.
Unfortunately I did not have a camera, or even my camera phone, with me. I had thought about going back and taking pics but traffic was getting really backed up so I didn't bother.
Seeing this accident did remind me of one importannt issue though: Always have your car appraised!!! Otherwise the insurance company will just see it as an old beater!
That sucks,i always worry about that in both my 75 coug and my 87 bird.
The tempo 'driver' should be beaten senseless then dragged through the desert behind a scared horse for a month, how could you miss a yellow car! bah that sucks :disappoin
That sucks, Reminds me of something I saw once. There was this beautiful blue 32 ford, sitting on a trailor at the Double N Dinner a few years ago. I walked up to the guy and said, "Man, thats a nice car". he said, "Yeah, used to be". I kinda like, WTF. he tells me to look at the other side, I walk around and the whole passenger side was destroyed! His wife had put it into a telephone pole and a ditch.
The person might have actually been concentrating on the car and not the road. I've seen that happen before.
I bet you have - I work on RCMP cars and I see a lot of wrecked cruisers that were parked on the side of the road with the lights flasing and people plow into 'em. Apparently people are "drawn to the light" and instead of avoiding the car they are attracted to it.
I ride around in a 51 merc a lot in the summer and this is very common. People just start staring at the car and point their car right at it not even thinking. The Merc (http://crystalbeckvold.com/51merc/)
I can't even imagine how pissed the guy in the 32 was... I read the first sentence and wasn't sure if I wanted to keep reading or not...
my freinds totaled 3 cars and his moms 2004 (brand new at the time) dodge stratus goting through a red light looking at a shelby cobra replica. Kinda funny, being as he is a chevy guy. Aperently he went up one the median and his underbody got stuck on it before he even realized what happend. And the he pushed a f-250 and a nother two cars in to the intersection. He got away with a $120 fine for improper look out and $50 extra per 6 months on his car insurance. He moms car was within $100 of being totaled (on a $40,000 car!) and still has a rim that was all scratched up from the wreck, because if it was replaced it would have gone over the worth of the car. Noone was hurt minus a broken nose from an airbag.
One of my 2 dream cars is a 50 merc. Now I'm jealous......
No, this is the part that'll make you jealous... I've been given the chance to drive it...
but declined due to lack of power steering :disappoin . The last thing I want to do is mess up that car. So what's the other dream car?
Thats a nice looking 51 merc.....
so is there anything done under the hood ;)
Not sure on the full specs, but it's a 302 with nitrous. Not a drag car by any means, but a cruiser with some balls :D Besides, if he wants a drag car, all he's gotta do is finish putting the dragster together.
Those words cannot be truer. I just did that myself. Getting it appraised was way out of my way, and it cost a bit more than I'd hoped. But in the end, the effort was well worth it and now the car can be insured for its true value instead of its inferred value. Previously, if I'd been in an accident with the convertible, the most I'd get from my insurance company was a measly $8K. Now...it's a hell of a lot more than that. Talk about peace of mind!
After my experience with the appraisal process, I'm writing up a detailed article about it and will post on my site shortly. Carm, you're welcome to borrow it for here or your site (or both). I'm also trying to make it universal for both Canadians and Americanites. If you see something that maybe I didn't, feel free to let me know so I can amend the article.
I cannot stress how important that point is. If your car is in nice shape, and you're keeping it, get it appraised!!!! Don't let this kind of disaster happen to you.
That sounds like an excellent idea, Eric, especially since to most people (including insurance adjusters) our babies are nothing but mid-late 80's beaters. Perhaps a stickypost in the Greatest Hits section once you're finished would be the best way to spread the word.
Back on topic: Just heard back from the mounties. It appears I have to go fill out a witness's report. The Tempo driver is claiming the '32 ran a red light and was speeding. The '32 driver has nothing to fear - that light was definitely green, and since the '32 driver was directly behind me up to the Sbway turn off I can vouch that at least up until then the '32 was NOT speeding, in fact he was probably going under the limit as I had just slowed down to turn, as I just told the mountie on the phone. Not that it would matter - the accident happened at a parking lot exit PAST the intersection, not in the intersection itself. Even had the light been red it still would've been the Tempo driver's responsibility to make sure the traffic was clear before pulling out of that parking lot.
Make sure the Tempo driver doesn't get anything his way.
What a shame.
Dammit! *whipes drool off keyboard* That is a beautiful car (http://www.hotrodders.com/images/smilies/thumbup.gif)
$40,000 for a Dodge Stratus?!?! Whaaaaa???? :confused:
Back off man. I know they're not bad@ss like cats or birds but my first car was an '86 Topaz and I loved that car like a little brother. I literally drove that car into the ground. It finally caught fire and burned on the side of the road with close to 300,000 extremely hard miles on it (it was, afterall, my first car and I thought it was a tank). Maybe I'll get banned for saying it but if someone offered me a mint '86 Topaz I'd trade my TBird for it in a heartbeat. I don't care if it gets me banned from this board, I'll always love those little cars. I hope to restore one someday. Ok, that's all...just wanted to vent.
But yeah...I'm sure the Tempo owner was no where near the zealot that I am...probably just some a-hole who dosen't know how to drive. I almost squashed a Corvette with my Cougar in the exact same scenario once. I woulda been mad pissed off if someone chose to wreck their 'vette at the expense of my beloved 3.8 Cougar....lol, I love py cars. Maybe I should get a Pinto :evilgrin:
yeah but make it a pinto wago with a big block. Yeah my freinds mom took out a couple of loans on the car for house repairs and stuff. I know that she owes more then the car was worth by alot.
Easy there, flash! Nobody's gonna ban you for liking Tempo's! Hell, if that was gonna happen I'd be in REAL trouble for my wagon fetish! I was not shiznitting on Tempo's (I even rather like the two door models, especially the V6 5-speed models, they kinda look like mini 'Birds), but let's face it - a four-door early 90's Tempo does not even bear mention in the same sentence as a '32 Ford hot rod except for the fact that the Tempo in question was responsible for the death of the '32.
Believe me, when I had some of my other T-Birds I'd have traded them for just about ANYTHING mint. My current '88 'Bird IS mint, though, so I wouldn't trade it for anything (within reason, of course)
I am driving a $100 tempo right now.
Donated My Topaz when I got my Mustang. I couldn't kill that car.
1967 Cougar. No preference on what motor it has because I would swap it for a 460 backed by a T56. It HAS to be black
As promised, I have just added two new sections on COOL CATS related to this topic:
Cougar Used Car Values - http://www.coolcats.net/welcome/values.html
Getting Your Cougar Appraised - http://www.coolcats.net/welcome/appraisal.html
Oviously this can apply to any car (i.e. Thunderbird). Just wanted to share the recent information I obtained in the hope that it can help people. If you have some info that you think should be added to those pages, feel free to let me know (eric@coolcats.net). Sharing your info could be valuable to others. My feelings are that if you're a member of this board, or are reading it, then you are a true enthusiast and this information is aimed squarely at you. You're going to benefit the most from it.
To ThunderChicken: Yeah, I get a little defensive sometimes ;) I belive you shoiuld be proud of what you drive whatever it is. Even my 12 year old Tempo got some respect becuase I kept it so spotless. But I completely agree...seeing something like that '32 Ford get wrecked before your very eyes has got to be awful.
To Haystack: What year / 2 doors or 4 / wanna sell it? ;)
its a 1987 4 door and t runs like has a broken motor mount and lots of door dings(less then either of my cougars though) And I a prolly on the wrong side of the country(salt lake city utah)
Oh well, it's gotta be a 2 door anyway. I think all the peope with 2 doors thought they had a little sports car and beat on 'em. All I can find are 4 doors. It's the right year tho...I'd really like an '86 but '87 would be ok. Tough little car to kill tho.
nice! thats one awesome led sled love the colors ;) now all you need is a tommy gun ;) :macgun: