This came up on a FB post. Haven't seen anything posted here about this. My apologies if it has. Glad that the owner, Ben Haag, is OK! Things could have been A LOT worse! Car just made the trek to Bonneville. Suspension failure, apparently. Ben Haag "I'm not sure where to even begin... What was once a dream, has faded into a pile of wreckage. Today was not such a thrilling day for me and the " pale rider" 32 ...3 window that i built.. What started out as a failed trip to PA, turned into a total loss of a 32. A salt filled alternator kept me from driving to PA last night. Luckily it did. Because today at noon, i was leaving a friends house after the alternator replacement, and a major front suspension failure cause the 32 to spin out of control, no steering locked hard to one side, sliding through a ditch sideways where the wheels dug in and the car flipped straight up in the air, barrel rolling, landing on its passenger side roof. i reached down and shut the engine off, The doors were safety pinned shut and stayed shut. I held myself in place under the steering wheel, and thats where i stayed until the car stopped moving. I pried the drivers safety pin out,. and beat the hell out of the door to get out. climbing out only to see my pride and joy at a total loss.. I built this car to drive to bonneville, and i did just that. This heap saved my life. It could have been so much worse. As of right now, even with good insurance, i doubt if ill be able to rebuild another car. Its a sad day in my world. But very lucky to be here to share. everyone knows i drove this car, and drove it hard... this time, i was actually being kind to it..."
That's too bad. What a loss. The bonus is not being in a hospital bed. The car can be replaced I'm sure. Keep a positive outlook and replace or rebuild it.
Maybe the color/pic angles, but nowhere near a total loss. We're all "1/2 full glass" for you, especially that you survived intact. Get back on that "horse" and I too am happy you're ok.
Very glad that he walked away from that. Sad for the car, but it does look fixable from what I can see.
Doesn't look that bad! Pull it apart fix the dents and straighten things out. Just think you won't have rust to deal with. It is just metal it can be fixed, glad to see you didn't get hurt and are around to fix it.
I saw the photos yesterday (on Instagram) but I don't see them here (phone app). I'm sure Haag is bummed out about it. Somebody will want to fix it. Maybe in a vintage stock car style? Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Like everyone else,I believe the car can be repaired but Ben may not have the inclination to do the job or the expense involved. It was a nice looking car and well built to keep it's occupant safe. HRP
If built once, it can be done again. I've seen built cars on here that have started out in far, far worse shape than that one is now. You came out uninjured, thank goodness. You built it from the ground up and the only thing keeping you from doing it again is you. Good luck.
No part of the body didn't get some damage. It did stay together as a whole and that is due to the the quality of the work. He had door lock pins in place that kept the doors open or it could have been a lot worse. Said he was able to open the pin and force the door open when it came to a stop.
You would have to go though the build thread for that. He did say that he was holding on to the steering wheel for all he was worth. One thing about it there wasn't a problem of being thrown out or partially out of a window on that car.
It AINT that bad! It is pretty damn straight for what it went through. Most cars stray out way worse than that. All the nellies need to quit crying and scream fix it!
Whats great is that we are hearing about it from him and not reading an obit in the paper. I know its disheartening to see your work destroyed that that, but don't get rid of it, let it sit a while and then you may decide its worth your effort to start on it again.
So glad he was able to open the door and walk away. Being on a back road and not on an interstate is one reason things weren't worse IMO. Speaks well for the workmanship that went into the body construction. Bob
With the spring behind the axle, when the main leaf of the spring, spring perch or shackles fail, the spring just drops to the ground. That is why it is called a suicide front end. That is why most Fords come with the spring on top of the axle....if something gives, the axle is there to keep the spring from hitting the road, and digging in. Sure glad you didn't get hurt.....MAKE SURE to buy the coupe back from the insurance company, no matter what your plans are now!
I had just gone through the whole build thread last night and now this.....very sad but glad Ben is OK. JW
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