P235176K609001, goodnight
 

Well, it’s taken a couple days to process and deal with the profound sense of loss at losing my pride and joy. My son took the car to work on Monday morning. It was wet, it had been raining. He went around a corner and slammed into a minivan. The car is destroyed. Countless man hours and dollars evaporated in the blink of an eye.
I am angry, sad, depressed, everything all at once. We have insurance but an agreed value of 20,000 won’t take us far. I’ve been halfheartedly looking for a replacement but there’s nothing. My son is traumatized as well. He got injured a little and he’s obviously disappointed and my wife says that I should be supporting him more than I am. Of all the vehicles that we own, I don’t know why he took the Tempest that morning. I know he loved the car, and maybe that’s why. I guess that it’s true: you always hurt the things you love the most.

SOB, so sorry about this.

Thankfully your son will be fine and hopefully no one else got seriously hurt.

The car, damn, that’s sad. After 54 years on the road, this had to happen.

Time will heal.

Start looking for another to get the thrill back.

Regards, Chris.

I’m glad your son didn’t get hurt worse. I’m very sorry for your loss.

Wow so sorry about loosing the car but the important thing is you didn’t loose your son. Let him know your mad but support him also it’s a lesson he will have for life. Hope he heals up quick.

I bet he feels pretty freakin bad already, must have been a good kid or you wouldn't let him drive it in the first place.

If it was me ... I think I'd give it a go to fix it. I'd consider a challenge of a life time. And get the boy to help you with it.

Most important, no one is hurt badly.

Sorry to hear. I understand your feelings totally. I used to have a Lemans Sprint and it was my daily driver, from '69 to '83. repaired a bunch of rust in the sheet metal, repainted it, and swapped the 3 speed with a 5 speed. really enjoyed driving the car.

One day I was going up a ramp with a sweeping curve to the left and a Javelin going in the opposite direction went into a skid and crossed into my lane. Hit him broadside, bent everything forward of the windshield, even wrinkled the rear quarter. Similar to yours. Was depressed about it for a while.

Stripped it down, sold drivetrain and other parts, still have many parts from it.

A few years later I found a '67 GTO, rust free, still have it, don't use it as a daily driver.

Yours can be fixed. In retrospect, mine could have been also.

Don't make any snap decisions, good luck.

george

here's the result of mine

Sorry for your loss
JL

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

:eek:
First and foremost I am truly glad your son is OK.

That looks like it was one hell of a hit.
It almost appears the hood was pushed through the windshield,
that would have scared the sh!t out of me.

Yes, we get very attached to these old machines but never lose focus of what's more important, your son is OK.

Anything can be fixed.

When and if you decide you may want to try and save it just say the word,
I'm sure we all can get you going again.

Cheers.

Tough to swallow but when you think about what coulda happened...
Hmmm. I have this '69 Sprint Convert that needs some loving...

Sorry that your car got wrecked. It will take time,but maybe you will find something else in the future.

Glad your Son is OK.

Glad heis relatively okay. Look on the bright side: family project to build it (or something) back.

Dam...that's a shame......bright side your son is still with you.....hell of a place for that windshield to go I will say....
Take sometime and make a decision on what to do with the car ....might be surprised ...and as said, perhaps father son project in the future

Congratulations! You still have your son to hug and hang out with. Three feet to the left and you might not have that privilege anymore.

Sorry you loss the car,it can be replace. Thank the Lord your son will be ok and hope the other cars driver is too.

Glad your son is safe.... I think that could probably be fixed. Somewhat extensive, but fixable i believe.

Know the feeling. I was 20 and my 18 year old brother needed to make a run to get some carb linkage for his 1968 Bonneville he was putting a tri-power on to get it up and on the road again. He got up early before school and borrowed my '56 Pontiac which was my pride and joy and something I had put a lot of work, and my money into, getting it looking really good.

On the way home a woman in a brand new 1977 Nova pulled right out in front of him and he said he had no time to react. Broad sided here and totaled out the Nova, and of course my car. He called and was shaken up and scared, but my first question was, "Are you OK?" Ya, I was not happy seeing the car come home on a wrecker and it eventually got scrapped, but he was OK and unhurt as was the woman in the Nova, so I never said anymore about it.

As everyone has said already, Glad your Son is ok. Car can be replaced or fix, but Humans are hard to find spare parts for.
I would be upset as well, But maybe next time have insured for more. Buy it back from the insurance company, for spare parts if not fixable.

Thanks, everyone.
Thank you for your kind words. I haven't looked at the car since I took those pictures. My son called me right after the accident and I drove right over there from my jobsite because we both live and work downtown. I just don't have the heart to go see it. So I probably never will. I did take a quick look inside at the scene and I could barely make out the kick panel and vent under, the cowl was so crushed. So I don't believe that baby will ever see the road again. It was bent on every axis.
Anyway, even telling you guys about it is difficult. I don't mind saying that suddenly I felt old, in questioning myself if I would ever do that all over again. We'll have to see.

Today I had a customer pick up his pride and joy that was damaged in an accident, a 1962 Corvette LS-3 resto-mod with 23K damage to the front end.
He drove it the 2 hours back to Virginia, and when he got home he emailed me thanking me for helping him feel like he was in his 20's again, as he put it. Last month he celebrated his 80th birthday.
If you can find a way to save your Pontiac, I say go for it!