1987Comanche Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 17 yr old kid playing with a cell phone rear ended Becky Sue, the nicest car I own. I was at a dead stop and he plowed into her at about 30mph. Cop asked about skid marks and I said "what skid marks? He never bothered to hit the brakes." As she had no head rests we went for a wild ride. ER, Dr. all that good stuff. Going to take a while to get back up to speed after this one. Unfortunately I think Becky Sue is done: bumper, tail pan, decklid, gas tank, rear frame cross member, symmetric ripples in the quarters, driver's door doesn't shut correctly anymore. Interestingly he didn't break the tail lights...his car was too small to hit her entire rear end at once.
Pete M Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 glad you're alright. :thumbsup: guys with early MJs that don't have headrests should take note. she doesn't look "done" to me but it'll take a lot to get her back into shape. I'd still drive her :D
Minuit Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 Let me be the first to say this: F :mad: people who use their phones driving. And any other distraction for that matter. It's a beautiful car. I hope you can save it.
jimoshel Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 Cars can be replaced. People can't. Glad you're OK, and that looks repairable to me.
oldseddie Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 I've got a 69 Hurst/Olds and I'm scared to drive it for just this kind of thing. Nice Olds BTW.
HOrnbrod Posted June 1, 2014 Posted June 1, 2014 Condolences on your good-looking Olds mate, and glad you are okay. Hope it's fixable - looks very possible. And hopefully the little twerp that rear-ended you is walking now, not driving.
1987Comanche Posted June 1, 2014 Author Posted June 1, 2014 Pete's comment on headrests is spot on. I always thought whiplash wasn't that big of a deal and the ambulance chasers overemphasized it. Now that I'm living the dream my opinion has switched 180 degrees. Whiplash sucks... I think the frame & tail pan can be pulled but finding body parts for a '65 88 makes finding MJ parts look like child's play. The big box insurance company (kid's insurance) must have discovered what I already knew. Earlier this week they were talking repair. They called yesterday discussing total loss. The value they quoted yesterday was insulting, espec for an original car with 50K miles, #s matching drivetrain, build sheet, and Protect-o-Plate.
oldseddie Posted June 1, 2014 Posted June 1, 2014 I know a retired Oldsmobile service rep that moved to OK and has a barn full of Olds. Let me know when you are up to working on it and I can get you his number. He does Hershey every year and knows who has what.
1987Comanche Posted June 4, 2014 Author Posted June 4, 2014 Update: She's totaled :rant: :mad: They gave me an ok price on her after some spirited negotiations. She's in the basement now. Watching them come haul her away with a wrecker is going to be really painful but their buyback price was nuts.
AMCJeepMJ Posted June 5, 2014 Posted June 5, 2014 Sorry to hear of what happened to the car. Headrests: I recently upgraded my 87 to the headrest-equipped bench. I hope I never have to use them.
1987Comanche Posted June 7, 2014 Author Posted June 7, 2014 Well the deed is done. Drove past the salvage auction yard today and saw her sitting up front. I stopped, took a pic, and kept going. It was too painful to stay for more than a minute:
jimoshel Posted June 7, 2014 Posted June 7, 2014 You going to bid on it? Get it back and try to repair it? Can't always tell just by a pic but that looks very repairable to me.
1987Comanche Posted June 11, 2014 Author Posted June 11, 2014 No Jim, I think it's for the best to let her go. The auction house has a fee of $250 to get in the door + whatever the bid might be. The collector car insurance adjuster attempted to locate parts and, after 3 days, called me to ask if I knew where to get a bumper, decklid, gas tank, etc. We had a brief, but frank discussion and he guesstimated $25K to properly fix the car using parts on hand and make her look like new again. Way more than the insurance payout :cry:
Rymanrph Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Well that will ruin your day/week/month. I'm working on a '68 Barracuda and headrests are something that concern me. I've already converted to three point seat belts, but your situation has me thinking again about adding some sport seats at some point. If you change your mine and decide you want to buy it back, I know someone here in NC with a dealer's license that buys stuff from iaai auctions all the time - might be able to save some money on the buy back.
1987Comanche Posted June 22, 2014 Author Posted June 22, 2014 Picked up a 69 Cutlass S convertible yesterday and brought her home. Like every car she has needs but the paint job is presentable, interior is pretty good, and the body/underside are in great shape. The only issue I had was that it was HOT and that convertible is HEAVY. The Suburban seemed to really struggle beyond about 57mph so I just took it easy the entire ride home. 95 degrees towing a 69 Olds convertible with a black truck means she was working hard. Clean underside:
ComancheKid45 Posted June 22, 2014 Posted June 22, 2014 Great to see ya get your hands on another Classic! No better way to heal your mind :thumbsup:
shelbyluvv Posted June 22, 2014 Posted June 22, 2014 I had the exact same car in high school. Same color, wheels, top and white lettered tires. You didn't buy that car in Pennsylvania did you?
1987Comanche Posted June 23, 2014 Author Posted June 23, 2014 No, she came from the outskirts of Atlanta, about 40 min from where I bought Georgia. She's definitely been a southern car all her life. Other than the condition of the underside, factory A/C on a convertible (even though it's non-functioning) is a dead giveaway.
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