Im just now feeling comfortable to share my story so take it how you want, Ive already heard tons of criticism so feel free to add yours if you must. April 16 2011,Alcohol was in involved....Passed out behind the wheel in my 65 c10 1am in the morning hit three trees in the center divider, snapped the top of first tree off 8' in the air so I must have launched the truck, shattered my heel from having it pinned in by the transmission hump and bottom of the dash trapped and soaked in fuel from the gas tank rupturing behind the seat had to be jaws of lifed out..I also fractured my pelvis in 5 places, fractured my cheek bone,and bruised and beat my chest from snapping steering wheel in half, took a year to recover and start walking again....learned a lesson the hard way...and thankful I didnt hurt or kill anyone, or kill myself....Glad to say I havent had a drink since that night going on about a 1 year 8 months sober, Feel I got a second chance at life and have a whole new out look it....the lesson I learned? Dont drink and drive and take responsibility for your actions and try to correct your mistakes, And have a whole new appreciation for life! Was a fun truck RIP: Tree trunk impression in the back of the cab:
OT 69 Hugger orange ROAD RUNNER bucket seat big block car , in 1979 , going too fast down a 2 rut road , got to going side to side , and it jumped out of the ruts went to the right , Probably only going 25-30 but the 5 foot stump didn't have any give at all , Alcohol may have been a factor , Joe
That is some scary stuff, the car hardly looks hit. Hope you recover fully! Another reason for using collapsable steering columns and 3 point seat belts where possible.
Three involving myself and family, all involving station wagons: 1. Around '65 my uncle was bringing us a red '62 Corvair wagon that was to be a second car for my mother; he hit a patch of ice and rolled it into a snowbank. 2. Late '67: My dad, my brother and me were on our way home in our recently-purchased '63 Dodge 440 eight-passenger wagon - a car I really liked - and an elderly lady in a '62 Continental turned left in front of us at an intersection. Amazingly nobody was hurt, particularly since our car didn't have seat belts. We got the car fixed but somebody told my father "unit-body cars are no good after they've been hit" so he traded it in on a '65 Impala. May 2002: (O/T alert) I had bought a really solid '77 Chevelle 6-passenger wagon at an estate sale for $200.00; only 72k miles, passed smog on the first try and even had power windows. I added Rally wheels and it buffed out nicely. About 11 at night was on my way home on the 605 headed south, doing about 60-65 in light traffic when the cars in front of me started hitting their brakes and swerving. I backed off the gas and just started braking when I saw an Acura Legend stopped dead right in front of me. Reflex action - jammed on the brakes and whipped the wheel to the left; missed the Acura and headed for the center divider. Steered right - into the skid - but the tail swung back left and smacked the divider, and I slid to a stop straddling the far left lane. The engine had stalled and I cranked it a couple times, then I looked out the window and saw an ambulance on the left shoulder about 60 feet in front of me. I thought I had blundered into a previous accident scene - so I jumped out and ran to the ambulance to try to get help, or some road flares. Just as I reached it, a FWD Chrysler New Yorker hit the right front of my wagon, bending the whole front end and tearing off my bumper (which almost hit me). The driver was not hurt, thankfully. Here's where the story gets a little strange. There was no previous accident before I showed up; and the Acura took off. Why was he stopped in the freeway? And why was an ambulance sitting parked in the center divider? The police spent more time talking to the ambulance crew than they did to me. When I went to the CHP office the next morning to file a report and asked about it they were rather tight-lipped, but I strongly suspect someone had been trying to stage an insurance-scam accident and it didn't turn out the way it was supposed to. In the end, I was unhurt, and I got about $800 from my insurance for the wagon, and sold the wreck to a friend for another $150, so I let it go at that.
Posted earlier, but it was small and wouldn't click up big. Street racer out of control caught us........... Hit the engine so hard that it pushed the rear out of square. Only 54K on the car darned it.
thankfully never totalled on. but I did back the shop truck right smack into the middle of the hood on a newly finished 70 jag e-type (waiting for the owner to come pick it up). only said 1 word, then grabbed a hammer and dolly and got to work fixing my mess.
1964 Oldsmobile Starfire...the thing would light the tires afire! The year was 1967 and I was street racing a Studebaker Daytona down the main drag (what was I thinking)! I had the right lane, had pulled ahead, just got to high gear and was going wicked scary crazy fast when a car pulled away from the curb, right in front of me! Drugs and alcohol were not involved. Luckily no one was hurt seriously, but 2 cars got totaled, the Daytona disappeared into the night (lucky bastard), I thought my Dad was going to kill me, and I lost my license (the judge and victim were not impressed with me)! People like me are the reason they have dry lakes beds, abandoned air strips, and drag strips... do your racing there folks!
My '68 Mustang w/fresh rebuilt #s matching 302... Flew it off a viaduct over railroad tracks...at somewhere north of 120mph. All three of us walked away. Almost 30 years later it still freaks me out thinking about it... Lessons learned: 1. don't drink and drive, 2. Seatbelts save lives, 3. I have spent all my luck.
On a steep hill in PA mountains about Jan 1956 I totaled a 1939 LaSalle rumble seat convertible. Was crowded by another car taking a race for the hill and lost it on the VERY icy road. Hit the bank then hit a tree and rolled it. Got the living crap thumped out of me, but only had a broken toe.
1954 Ford Customline into a mini van when i was a teenager. I told the old couple that my grandad had given me the car years ago and they said since no one was hurt that it was okay. They drove off with a smashed up van.
Non HAMBer friend of mine pulled off one of the biggest bonehead moves of all time! You remember the anti-theft device called "The Club"? They also made a "Club" that connected from the brake pedal to the steering column. For some reason he drove off before removing his club, and had no access to the brake pedal! He and his original '67 4-spd Nova crashed a telephone poll to avoid oncoming traffic light! Doh!!! Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Early one morning, a cow hit my '69 Ford XL convertible. Did all I could to avoid Bessie -- she was sporting an ear tag numbered 6667. I'd stripped the car down for paint and was taking it to the shop that morning. The car was so jacked up I gave up.
Thank God you were able to live to learn a lesson, that's a hard hit right there. Congrats on 1 year 9 months sobriety
I was a passenger in a '72 Cutlass S coupe that belonged to my friends' Mom. We were on a gravel road, very smooth and rut-free, so we were haulin' ass to a keg party in the desert. We were in a decreasing-radius left curve, and were going too fast to hit the curve correctly. So, we sailed off the side of the road and over a 40' embankment, into an arroyo. We went end over end six times, according to the friends that were following us. The engine and trans came out of the car, as did everything in the trunk. Busted out all of the glass. There was not a straight panel on the car, and the car was bent at the rear seat, so that the car formed an inverted "V" on its wheels. The only thing in the car that was salvageable was the radio! My friend was driving. He suffered a concussion and broke his left arm. I had a huge bump on my head and cuts on my arm and face. Both of us were wearing seat belts. I knew everyone on the highway patrol and the county sheriff's office. When the first officer arrived (the crash was 22 miles from town!), he came up to me and asked "where are the bodies?". To which I replied "Me and him!". He was amazed that anyone survived, much less walked away from the car. It was at that moment that I decided I will always wear a belt. They've saved my life twice now.
'65 Malibu 4 door. I was looking at a car over my shoulder and ran a red light. Ran right into a friend of mine driving a Ford van. Took the whole front end off the Malibu. I remember watching the horn ring jump off and fly out the window and across the intersection in slow motion. I didn't get a scratch on me - not even sore muscles the next day. The cop who showed up was best man at my cousins' wedding, so he ticketed me for "inattentive driving" instead of running a red light. Went out and bought a '49 Studebaker Champion 4 door....
I've only totalled one car and I did the world a favor by doing it. I was selling Chevys in 1985 and being the newest guy at the dealership, I got stuck with the small crappy stuff as demos. I was given a 1985 Chevy "Nova" (basically a rebadged Corolla) to drive as a demonstrator. One day our runners borrowed the car to pick up another new car from out of state. That night as I was driving down the highway on my way home, I noticed something was rattling in the glove compartment. I lifted off the gas as I leaned over to check for the rattle and when I sat back up, I noticed I was drifting onto the shoulder of the road. I gently pulled back into my lane but S I attempted to straighten out, the rear end came out on me and I started to fishtail (the roads were damp from earlier drizzle). I tried in vain to correct it but ended up going off the right side of the road in a sideways slide. The car bounced over the curbing on the side of the road and when it landed, the tires bit and the car started to roll. It was all happening slow enough that I actually had time to think and lay cross the front seats, figuring that the driver's front roof pillar would probably collapse and drop the roof on my head. Turned out I was half right.... that bitch went up on the driver's rear quarter as it rolled and dropped onto the roof, crushing the passenger's side of the roof instead.... You know, the side where my head now was! Luckily I was down low enough that the roof didn't touch me and the seat belt kept me from getting tossed around. I walked away without a scratch on me. The next day, I went to see the car in daylight and removed the only worthwhile part on the whole damn thing- the Nova nameplate off of the front fender. Would you believe they gave me another one of those pieces of shit as a replacement? Needless to say, I was happy when I finally got rid of that one!
65 c20 still trying to find a suitable replacement Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
I totaled an 1989 Z52 corvette that had 25k miles on it back in 1992 I was 19 years old and had no insurance. Total loss, very hard lesson learned.
Not ever crashed anything of my own but I was once a passenger in a U.S.Army Blackhawk that 'made contact with terrain', it was somewhat secondhand. Doc.
A bit OT and quite a bit more fixable than some of the wrecks on this thread, but it still hurt nonetheless, and right after the new engine and trans, and right before I was gonna swap out those cheesy rims for a new set of Centerlines. Here's a before-n-after of my '73 Nova SS from about 10 years ago...
68' camaro, my first car after I turned 16 in 1976. Got sidewise racing the neighbor kid. Went right into a street sign pushing the trunk into the back seat. I cried like a little girl. The only good thing to come out of it was the fact that prior to buying the camaro my dad and I had gone over to look at a 55' nomad a guy had for sale. He wanted one grand which was all the money I had. My dad wouldnt let me buy it cuz it had been "hot rodded" with a 4 speed, mag wheels, and Corvette valve covers (I'll never forget the Corvette valve covers)...it was awesome. So in retrospect my dad saved a 55' Nomad. If anyone knows the Nomad that was for sale in Livermore, parked over in Springtown. I'd be interested to know what happened to it...first love kinda thing.
thanks for sharing your story. Takes alot of character to share something like that. Congratulations on the 1 year, 8 month milestone.
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