Hot Rods HELP solve the missing model A mystery!!!!

If the hauler is taking money for hauling stuff, then He is likely considered a commercial business....with regulations(for securing the load) and liabilites (for loosing or damaging stuff)...my opinion.

 

yup ,the hinges went with the doors ....and the rest of the body.. that one strap got loose or cut from rubbing.. it fell off..

 

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Yep, even though there was tape on the doors it's more than obvious that the driver's door wasn't latched or closed tight and a few hundred miles bouncing on the trailer and that strap pulling on the door probably brought the door down far enough that the strap came loose and the wind did lift the back half of the body off pulling the cowl back in the process. The strap is tied over the cowl because the end probably got drug off dragging it down the road until the driver pulled in somewhere.
Living right on a major north south highway in the west I see all kinds of crap that has blown off trucks, trailers or out of the backs of pickups.

Well, did anyone down the Eastern Seaboard happen to find the back section of a Model A coupe minus the cowl laying in or beside the road lately? No doubt someone found it unless it blew over a steep bank.

 

The question is how liable is an auto transporter that lashes a vehicle down using standard practices (wheels, chassis) and likely a standard contract, and the body falls off.

 

Here was my point on the tape. I often tape the rear of a door just in case the latches pop open (actually I tie with straps), but IF the hinges were bolted to both the doors and the A pillar, there is o way all of that crap came loose and blew off the cowl. I can even buy that MAYBE the rear body bolts rattled loose and a wind caught the body, but the doors? NO WAY.

 

I have been on the road alot, and seen alot of things that I didn't think were possible. Only one person knows the truth, the Driver.

 

look where the front tire is on the trailer. was it unloaded or just the camera angle?

 

I seriously doubt James Taylor will know.

 

shit for brains should have strapped the body to the chassis and the chassis to the trailer.

as i think someone else just said a cover over the car of some sort so the back of the body is not like a parachute on a dragster might have been a good idea.

that body and 2 loose doors flying through the air at 65 MPH must have been something to see once that strap let loose...

are there any new dents on the rear fenders? if there is that would show it flew off, but if there wasn't it could be that it flew over.

 

Looks likea MYSTERY!! Rutt roe Shaggy!!!

 

if the body was not securely bolted to the frame the only thing holding it on was duct tape.

how did they lose the doors but not the strap?

 

That strap is ready to come off in the first pic, couple bounces on the spring that load the suspension and the strap is coming off.

 

The strap that was thru the doors says 'Erickson' on it in the first pic. That same strap is then shown in the second pic draped across the cowl and is wrapped around the spare wheel. Driver knows something, me thinks.

 

There are no hinges on the cowl in photo #2. Running straps through the door and to the trailer is wrong IMO, it would only aid in working the door loose. Once the door is loose the back of the body is a sail. Bob

 

I'm not disagreeing that the driver knows what happened, but I also believe that it's totally possible that a "professional??" transporter could have more than one strap stenciled with his or his company name with him. Unfortunately, odds are we'll never know the whole story.

 

Can we see more photos that prove the reason the cowl is still there is because the steering column held it there? A roll of shrink wrap would have been a great thing to have before this pile of parts was sent rolling down the interstate. Bob

 

That car in that condition should have been shipped in an enclosed trailer... Not saying it was or was not stolen But I could see a few parts flying off going down the road... Driver should be responsible for his load...

 

For some reason the driver felt the need to strap the body down. That tells me something was not quite right. He should have strapped or roped the body to the chassis,instead of the trailer, as the car will bounce on its suspension, and most likely what happened is the strap came loose on one side, the body blew off, and he saw his strap flying, which is why he still had it, or stopped for gas and had an "Oh Shit " moment. I would have probably tied that car down with 2 rolls of rope, just to secure it to the body, I sure would have been watching my Mirrors well enough to know what was happening on my trailer.
When I was transporting cars, I was teased for using so much rope by my clients, but I never lost anything off the cars I towed, which were mostly projects and field cars, from the 20's to the 70's in various states of assembly.

 

Any chance the "seller" fixed up the "buyer" with his "shipper"? If that's the case, there could be a setup.

The door fronts were probably taped to the A posts because the hinges were bolted only to the doors and not bolted to the cowl. This would support the body being blown off or stolen from the trailer. No crook would spend the extra time unbolting cowl hinges.
It was stated that the seller "bolted all the body components on". Not really, if the doors were only taped to the A and B posts.
I blew up pic #2 to 500% and from what I can see on my monitor, I can't make out any door hinge pins.

If the seller is not in on the scam, as mentioned, the Driver could have sold it at a roadside stop for quick cash and then came up with the old "lost the load" story.

Most likely, 4 dudes loosened a few bolts (if it really was bolted to the frame) and then tossed it in a pickup bed while the driver slept or dined along the route. It would be real easy for someone to tail the guy until he stopped.

BTW, the strap that was through the doors and everyone says was mysteriously moved to the cowl? It was simply moved to the cowl by the driver after the body was removed (stolen, blown off, etc.).

Transporter is responsible. Hope he's insured. If that load showed up short on my receiving end with that excuse, he would have had his rig blocked in and all sorts of hell would have gone down.

 

driver is 100% responsible and liable, local guy was pulling a load that was loaded and strapped down by someone else, something came off and struck a car and killed passenger, truck driver is now in prison for 10 years

 

I don't see any wood in this car, nor does it appear that it had any sub rails.
Also see daylight between the splash apron and fender. Looks like the duck
tape was the only thing holding the cowl upright. I could be wrong though.

 

It is always the transport operators responsibility to load and securer any load any lose or damage is on him so he will be paying

 

I was in the high dollar car hauling biz for three years.. '88 to '91.

I loaded a custom aluminum bodied 70's Mercedes in California and took it to Detroit. The move was for my regular customer. I took detailed pix of everything I hauled.

When I got to Detroit the guy at my customer's dealership pointed out some damage to the front valance way under the bumper. I had pix in my camera… got them developed and, sure enough, it showed the same damage before I loaded the car.

I still paid for the damage… didn't do it but I had to satisfy my customer. Cost me $1,000 for my deductible on my cargo insurance and my insurance carrier paid the rest… an $8,000.00 repair as I recall.

Bottom line…. the carrier is responsible.

 

things keep getting stranger! lost stolen who cares but some body would pay ether in cash or there ass! i have hauled cars all over this great land of ours most just parts like this one never lost anything i didn't know about!

 

I want to know at what point during the trip did the driver notice the body was gone. Why didn't he call someone at that point to report a theft or the loss of the body?

 

This from the very first contract I saw online. I still say they are in for a fight if the transporter used a similar contract.

4. Customer must prepare vehicle for transport. All loose parts, fragile accessories, low hanging spoilers, etc. must be removed or secured. Customer shall remove all non-permanent, outside mounted luggage and other racks prior to shipment. Vehicles must be tendered to Carrier in good running condition (unless otherwise noted) with no more than a half tank of fuel (preferably 1/4 tank). Any part of the vehicle that falls off during transport is Customer's responsibility including damages caused by said part to any vehicles(s) and/or person involved.

http://www.montway.com/auto-transport-terms.php

 

Yes…. I believe this is the point the Transport Company is pushing….

 

So is the customer the buyer or the seller? I assume the buyer paid for transport, but had no way of "securing loose items" since he was 2100 miles from where the car was loaded. That being the case, the buyer is likely screwed, unless he can squeeze something out of the seller.

 

Obviously some attempt outside the norm (the strap through the doors) was made on the transporter's part to secure the body. You might argue that this constitutes knowledge on their part that the body was not adequately secured to the chassis, and therefore some liability.

 

Hindsight being 20-20 it appears to me that the straps should have gone both across the cowl and through the quarter windows. As was mentioned earlier through the doors is a bad place to strap it down even just for a trip across town much less across the country.

I'm wondering if the hauler was one of those carriers from the TV show "Shipping Wars". Looks kind of like what some of them might do.

HRP brings up a god point about how long the journey took from pickup to delivery.