Wrecked the 65 GP!
 

Well, yesterday morning on the way to work I got caught up in a 5 vehicle pile up at 5:20 am in the northbound commuter lane on I-17 in Phoenix.... I was the last car into the foray. GP is pretty mashed on the right front corner. Not a fatal hit to the car & is repairable, but will need quite a bit of work to put back together. Bent the r/f corner of hood (repairable), front bumper & R/fender is toast, not repairable. Fender well is repairable. Will need everything for the right side headlights, I think the core support will be ok. It got pushed back on the right side a bit. Blew out 2 tires. Had it towed to my tire shop & got a couple of junk tires put on so it could roll. After work I went over there & did a bit to the bumper & fender well so the right front tire would roll,, then drove her home on side streets, 25 miles! I have lots of pictures from the accident site, but they are on my work camera & for some reason, they wont download. Will post up damage pictures as soon as possible.

There were 4 cars & a motorcycle in the smashup. 1st a 3 series BMW, 2nd a 90's era Malibu, 3rd the motorcycle, 4th a Nissan & last, me. No injuries noted, everyone walked away. The Nissan was half sideways when I nailed it in the drivers side rear door with my Right front fender. Not a pretty sight.

That sucks! BUT the good news is the front end parts are the easiest to find in good shape since so many cars share them. A rear 1/4 would have been far worse. Hopefully you'll be back on the road soon!

you walked away

it was a good day

Here are pictures of the damage. So far, I will need the following,,,

1 right front fender
2 front bumper
3 right hood hinge
4 right headlight surround
5 maybe right headlight bucket assy.

Was it insured?

I have plenty of driver quality headlight bezels and I may have a hinge. Is the wheel opening molding OK?

Fully insured. 500 deductible,,,I was loaded up & ready to go out of state Friday afternoon right after work. Wheel molding is damaged. may be repairable.

How does your "law" view this accident Keith?? Over here, in essence the accident damage load almost always falls back the last car in the pack. You in other words!!

So unless you can demonstrate that the first car was at fault, its you who wears the bill. Or your insurance Co. does in reality.

18 months back I noticed a car (BMW SUV) in the middle lane (my lane) pull up quickly and a Toyota hit her. I pulled up and was looking for a way past left or right side when, whump, I got hit in the rear. Got such a shock and as my foot was poised over the accelerator waiting to go when I had a space, I inadvertantly touched the gas and lightly hit the Toyota. Before I could blink, the car that hit me backed up and took off. End result was my insurance had to cop my car plus the Toyota in front AND a bit of the BMW because the BMW driver put in a submission that while the Toyota had hit her first, my car pushed it into the BMW twice..... Their logic was I was too close to the car in front of me. If I had left a greater gap, my car would not have hit the Toyota and so on. Still burns me up.:mad::mad::mad:

Ian

Sorry to hear about your accident. I enjoy reading about all the miles you have been putting on that car in the extreme heat out there. If there is anything good about an accident, it's that it was a frontal hit. Really lucky the fender was pushed back and went into the door opening, missing the door. Looks like careful bolting on of new parts and some shimming and you will be back on the road. I am guessing a replacement front bumper with good chrome will be your biggest single expense. Good luck getting it fixed up.

Sorry to hear about this. I too was enjoying hearing about the 65. Glad no one got hurt and hope the GP makes a full recovery. Sounds like the motorcyclist was very lucky to get away without any injuries...

You walked away, that's a good thing. And that it's still driveable is a good thing too. That type of car damage seems to be pretty common:

http://www.slyagent.com/78bonne/pt2-begin.jpg

Be prepared though, the core support and bumper mounting may all be toast too. Front end parts are definitely easier to come by than rear parts like quarters!

That's a general truth, but only for a rear-ending type collision. That he slammed into the side of the Nissan sounds like it was a pretty nasty pileup and insurance tends to not auto-assign blame to the last guy in that case.

As a fellow 65 GP owner, those pics are painful to look at. Lucky you know Steve B. so well!

I would not try to repair the hood. It will never look right. Glad you are ok.

Sorry to hear about your ride, Keith. Thought abut upgrading? :)

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/5682337983.html

66 421 4 speed GP. Is somewhere in your neck of the woods!

Saw that one. A friend is going today to look at it. Needs total rest though.

Glad you're OK, Keith.

If I can get physics-geek on you all for a second: look at how the fender rolled over itself...tells me that the impact force was inline with the rib atop the fender (at least at first, then vectored sideways, making the headlight door face out).

...Reminds me of, and does anyone remember the scene from the movie, "The world according to Garp" when he was looking at a house for sale with a realtor and a plane flew into it? He then looked at the realtor and said, "we'll take it." - like that house, your '65 has been pre-disatered (statistically)... repair it and add another 250,000 miles on it.

Shew!!!! I thought you were going to mention the scene where he flies up the driveway with his lights off. :eek:

That's the way I am looking at it. This car has been pristine for 51 years,, I figure I have another 51 years till due again!

Sorry, Keith, but at least it's repairable and you're OK.

Off topic...
 

Uhh...no, not THAT scene.

Keith - Always liked to look at your GP at the cruise in and talking with you. Now that you have to do these repairs. I guess you will have to paint it now. Loved the story how the kid buffed the one fender.