Folks Of Interest 1942 Lincoln Zephyr destroyed by semi on Michigan highway

My friend Barry Wolk and his wife were driving to an event in Michigan in their just finished, 1942 Lincoln Zephyr when they were rear-ended by a semi. Luckily, they will be fine, but the recently restored Lincoln is totaled....
http://forums.aaca.org/topic/260885-classic-car-hit-by-semi-michigan/

 

Good to see they are both ok!Considering how bad it was.

 

Jeez... what a bummer. Glad they are ok, for sure. Gary

 

Very glad they are going to be ok. Hard to look at those pictures. Back some time I was following his trailer build, he knows his stuff.

 

Always tough to see. Glad they survived. It's a miracle.

 

Holy $h!t, that is so sad. Glad they are OK.

 

No matter how rare the sheetmetal, it is life that is precious. Here's to a speedy recovery.

 

That's disgusting and a downright shame that such a beautiful car was destroyed. Nonetheless, the truly important part is that the occupants survived and will be fine.

 

Glad your friends are ok, important part for sure. Hope they have a speedy recovery of any injuries sustained in the crash.

 

As the owner of a 47 Zephyr and 30 years as a trucker, that sux on both counts. Sadly, many of today's "new breed" of truck drivers are no better than most car drivers. Glad they all got out with their lives.

 

You know this might have been one time when I really didn't need to see photos in a thread. Sure hate that happened, glad they are going to be alright.

 

Glad they OK, but thought truckers were better drivers.
Guess they a new breed, as BamaMav said.

 

thank heavens the folk are ok ,mind you I bet they are very shaken up after that

 

My dad is a 40 year truck driver. He said he sees it all the time that's why all the new trucks have auto braking if you get to close the truck will slam on the brakes. He says for good experience drivers it's a pain in the ass but for the newbie cell phone packing rookie ass drivers as he calls them they need it . Glad to see there ok but crashing that nice ride sucks though. He has 7 million accident free miles and 65 years old just left out this morn heading to sunny California

 

Wow. So glad to hear that they are okay. It certainly could have ended a lot worse.

 

From Barry on the aaca forum:

Yes, that was us. We're both still in the hospital with major bruises and abrasions, but no broken bones. It's a wonder we survived at all.

We were on our way to St Joseph to show the Zephyr in the Concours we're involved in when the car started bogging down. I didn't want to finish the trip at 55 so we turned around to drop off the Zephyr and still hit the show.

We were minding our own business in the right lane when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the semi barreling down on us. I assumed they would pass but the driver never slowed down. At the very last second she swerved and hit my left rear that violently spun the car twice and forced us into the bridge abutment which flipped the car 5 times before it landed on the roof.

I never lost consciousness but when we came to rest my wife was hanging from the seat belt. I reached up and unlatched her belt and she fell on me. At that point I realized the car was on fire, but my left leg wasn't working. I pushed her out of the car through the open passenger door. I climbed out over her to see flames 10 feet tall five feet from me. Somehow I managed to get up on my working leg, grabbed her limp,arm and dragged her 10 feet from the car before I collapsed.

By that time some incredibly brave people stopped to help. The first guy picked my wife and carried her up the embankment. I crawled another 10 feet before the gas tank exploded, fully engulfing the car. Six people came to where I was and carried my big ass up the hill to,safety.

The semi got sideways and she lost control flipping the trailer and demolishing the cab, yet she walked away from the wreck. The trailer had a load of baled scrap steel. Things could have been much worse. The driver claimed to have had an asthma attack, but made the mistake of telling the State policeman that "I looked up and saw something red." The police have requested her phone and medical records.

We're still in St. Mary's in Livonia. They might release me today, but my wife's pretty banged up, but, remarkably, no broken bones.

The car is clearly totaled. It was great fun while it lasted. I've never been a fan of just sung lap belts, but they clearly saved her life and she surely would have been thrown from the car.

 

If you're the queasy type. Don't look. However, the takeaway if you decide not to look is that you should always wear your seatbelt. They saved us from being tossed out of the car at great speed.

The car was struck by the semi on the far left by the truck's bumper on the far right. It appears that the bumper rode up and that's what started tipping the truck. It's also what save us. I remember the front of the car getting airborne as we accelerated rapidly. That impact is what sent us spinning off to the right towards the bridge. The energy of that impact was used up somewhat in spinning, but we must have been going much faster than previously as Dave visited the site and paced off the distance from the bridge we hit and where we landed and he says there's no evidence of us touching the ground for 120 feet, where we rolled to a stop, upside-down.



Speaking of upside-down it should be noted that this car was designed as the safest car of the time as it incorporated a very lightweight "frame" that has the rest of the body welded to it, and it has unintentional crumple zones. What likely save us, aside from the seat belts was the fact that the car had a very sturdy roll cage built into the A,B and C pillar. You can clearly imagine that from this picture.

This is pretty impressive.



One side spear survived. I'm going to ask for this as a souvenir.



I think the front fender impacted the bridge. My wife recalls the spins and the impact with the bridge to the sound of breaking glass. That's all she remembers. I remember too much.



I think the trunk lid stayed withe the car, but the hinges melted. The towing company found our luggage and my tool bag. The hat box survives, so it must have been tossed out while spinning. All we've lost is a Garmin, a cell phone, 2 iPads and my handicap hanger tag. They were in the glove box. All that was left were cinders and a ball of aluminum.



I feel badly that Dan Kirkpatrick's beautiful interior was destroyed.



The truck was pretty mangled.



I believe the RH bumper tip of the truck is what rode up on the rear fender.





Happier days. Fond memories. Wear your seat belts.

 

Wow. Quite an accident. Sorry about the car, but as you realize, it could have very easily been much worse. You guys live to build another beautiful automobile. Glad to hear you guys are alright.

 

WOW what a story.SORRY, to hear about your car but GLAD your both ok.Bruce.

 

Wow. Glad you and your wife are ok. Sorry to see something so nice get totaled like this.

 

Glad you both are ok....

 

Oh no! This makes me sick...Barry, you had several guardian angels looking after your wife and you. So sad the car didn't even make it through one show season after all the effort expended on it.

 

You must have a lucky horseshoe stuck in your butt!

Glad that you n the Mrs are OK. Cars are replaceable.

 

Read about this on the AACA Forum, so glad you two are ok, that was one tough Lincoln. Hope the recoveries are quick and painless. Bob

 

Did this happen on #275 in Michigan?

 

M14 and Joy Road....near or part of 275.

 

Oh man, so happy you and your wife came out relatively OK.

I'll bet the phone records will be showing text messages about the same time of the accident.

 

Lost for words, thank god you are OK! It could happen to anyone of us when we least expect it when doing nothing wrong. The car is irreplaceable however most importantly the occupants survived. It still breaks my heart to see that your dream ended so abruptly! Hope you have a swift recovery although the memories of the incident will linger for quite a while.

 

Gawd' damn. I feel bad for the wife, you .... and Mr. Lincoln. Happy, that two of the three will be okay eventually. God bless !

 

Sad to see that the beautiful car was destroyed, but most importantly glad to see everyone involved is still alive. It very easily could have turned the other corner. I'm praying for a quick recovery for everyone.