Nope, not a joke.
Its 2:45AM right now.
around 11:30PM Saturday night, I was bored, listening to classic rock and decided to go for a cruise. I wanted to drive the '79.
On my way coming back, I go into the left turn lane, blinker on the light is green... I thought I had the green arrow. I nearly stop, nobody is in the intersection, so I start to make my left turn.
The next thing I know is I see headlights approaching rapidly, nothing really clicked until I heard a dull thud, I got jolted forward and my hood went flying up.
I realized I just had a wreck... not a little wreck, a big wreck. Sitting in the car, my foot still to the floor on the brakes and both hands on the wheel, no idiot lights were on, and the 425 was still running. I went to put it in Park... shifters jambed, stuck in Neutral. I go to shut the enigne off.... the ignition is jambed... I yanked the key off and got the engine to shut off, but the key is still stuck in the ignition. I get out of the car thru the driver door.. it is stiff and binding against the fender.
The car that hit me was a ~2000 Toyota Camery. It was a hispanic couple with an infant in a car seat in the back. The baby was fine, not even crying. The women driving was ok, the man in the passenger seat had a cut on his face, I think it was from glass as the windsheild shattered from the airbag.
tow trucks came, ambulance came, fire truck came, lots of cops came. The Camry rolled off tot he side, the Caddy is still in the intersection, I walked over and closed the hood (not that it latched) and the grille was hanging, I broke that off and put it on the back seat floor.
so AAA covered the towing, the car is currently at the gated yard. They are closed tomorrow, so I'll go Monday.
In the yard I got to really look the car over. Its definitly totaled. It was an extreme driver side hit, exactly like my mothers accident in her '84 DeVille (also involved with a Camry) The damn thing... the interior lights still went on, turn the key on and the dash lights come on and the seat belt bell rings...
The 425 is a beast though, it was still running... NOTING leaked.. I checked the oil level, it was full, tranny fluid, full... not even the radiator (which was hit) leaked, when I removed the cap, it was full. The whole frame is twisted, the engine is pushed hard to the right and back, the whole steering linkage is bent. The worst is that the frame is literally rolled back into the left front wheel, and it is locked up... we had trouble getting it off the tow truck. The drivers door is dented and the windsheild is cracked (after we got it off the truck) The fan isn't even hitting the radiator.. I wanted to try and start it, just for the self gratification, but the ignition is jambed... I'll deal with that later. If it wasn't for the fact that the frame is bent into the tire, she would roll.
I always told myself is something like this happened to the car, I would rebuild it... but, I don't think that can happen. Everything from the firewall forward AFA the chassis is shot. I am going to try my hardest to buy the car back and store it at our new property up North a bit, as there are lots of very useful parts and stuff I did to this car. I still can't believe this happened. I did not have full coverage, so its a loss on my part.
No tickets were issued... the tow truck driver said it is most likely a no-fault type thing where both parties were at fault.... I dunno man, this was my first car accident, I still can't believe it happened to me, and my car.
The only thing I remember is laying on the brakes trying to see why this car is right in front of me, then getting jolted forward and seeing my hood fly up. From a safety point, the car did great as everything worked the way it was supposed to, I didn't even hit the steering wheel.
My car hit their left fender/door... the Camry has gotta be totaled also... the damage on their car, while extensive, didn't look as bad as mine... then again, I was at the disadvantage both in position and speed, just like in my mothers accident.
The car... To have the frame strightened and all is going to be too much work then its worth. I guess my best bet, with anything on that car, is to find another car like it and swap stuff over... which isn't happening for a loong time due to time/money. It just sucks so much, this whole night I was driving it, about a half hour, I was just so happy with the car, everything has been working perfect, I was really enjoying it, and thinking about the big plans I have for it... its just so hard to comprehend, I am sure when I see it in the day and have time to think it over, it is just going to be so different... I feel like I owe this car something back, and when I start to dig into it, maybe the frame can be strightened out... or maybe it is just my mind going crazy to pretend this never happened.
Nearly 2 years and 10k miles with this car... took it from nearly going to the junkyard to making it a very showable classic. I paid $300 for it and put, all said and done, including new tires, painted door and tune up... less then $1,000 into it. It isn't a loss in terms of money. It does get to me that I could have sold it for atleast $3,000... but its a loss for what it means to me, because that car ment alot to me.
Ah gosh... sorry for the really long post.. I know its not the type of post someone would make after such a thing... but I am just shocked and frazzled, still can't believe it happened.
Tomorrow I'll stop by, even though they are closed, I'll snap some pictures... Monday I'll get more. The end of the 1979 Sedan DeVille d'Elegance has come... atleast for a while.... after such an amazing, faultless trip down from NY to FL....
Yes, I am glad it wasn't the Coupe.. I don't know what I would have done in that case... but still my mind is going crazy... WHY did I decide to go out for a cruise... but then again, driving and listening to music is one of my favorite things in the world, so I guess we need to ask ourself... why do we do the things we enjoy?
ah gosh... I gotta get some sleep now.
Its 2:45AM right now.
around 11:30PM Saturday night, I was bored, listening to classic rock and decided to go for a cruise. I wanted to drive the '79.
On my way coming back, I go into the left turn lane, blinker on the light is green... I thought I had the green arrow. I nearly stop, nobody is in the intersection, so I start to make my left turn.
The next thing I know is I see headlights approaching rapidly, nothing really clicked until I heard a dull thud, I got jolted forward and my hood went flying up.
I realized I just had a wreck... not a little wreck, a big wreck. Sitting in the car, my foot still to the floor on the brakes and both hands on the wheel, no idiot lights were on, and the 425 was still running. I went to put it in Park... shifters jambed, stuck in Neutral. I go to shut the enigne off.... the ignition is jambed... I yanked the key off and got the engine to shut off, but the key is still stuck in the ignition. I get out of the car thru the driver door.. it is stiff and binding against the fender.
The car that hit me was a ~2000 Toyota Camery. It was a hispanic couple with an infant in a car seat in the back. The baby was fine, not even crying. The women driving was ok, the man in the passenger seat had a cut on his face, I think it was from glass as the windsheild shattered from the airbag.
tow trucks came, ambulance came, fire truck came, lots of cops came. The Camry rolled off tot he side, the Caddy is still in the intersection, I walked over and closed the hood (not that it latched) and the grille was hanging, I broke that off and put it on the back seat floor.
so AAA covered the towing, the car is currently at the gated yard. They are closed tomorrow, so I'll go Monday.
In the yard I got to really look the car over. Its definitly totaled. It was an extreme driver side hit, exactly like my mothers accident in her '84 DeVille (also involved with a Camry) The damn thing... the interior lights still went on, turn the key on and the dash lights come on and the seat belt bell rings...
The 425 is a beast though, it was still running... NOTING leaked.. I checked the oil level, it was full, tranny fluid, full... not even the radiator (which was hit) leaked, when I removed the cap, it was full. The whole frame is twisted, the engine is pushed hard to the right and back, the whole steering linkage is bent. The worst is that the frame is literally rolled back into the left front wheel, and it is locked up... we had trouble getting it off the tow truck. The drivers door is dented and the windsheild is cracked (after we got it off the truck) The fan isn't even hitting the radiator.. I wanted to try and start it, just for the self gratification, but the ignition is jambed... I'll deal with that later. If it wasn't for the fact that the frame is bent into the tire, she would roll.
I always told myself is something like this happened to the car, I would rebuild it... but, I don't think that can happen. Everything from the firewall forward AFA the chassis is shot. I am going to try my hardest to buy the car back and store it at our new property up North a bit, as there are lots of very useful parts and stuff I did to this car. I still can't believe this happened. I did not have full coverage, so its a loss on my part.
No tickets were issued... the tow truck driver said it is most likely a no-fault type thing where both parties were at fault.... I dunno man, this was my first car accident, I still can't believe it happened to me, and my car.
The only thing I remember is laying on the brakes trying to see why this car is right in front of me, then getting jolted forward and seeing my hood fly up. From a safety point, the car did great as everything worked the way it was supposed to, I didn't even hit the steering wheel.
My car hit their left fender/door... the Camry has gotta be totaled also... the damage on their car, while extensive, didn't look as bad as mine... then again, I was at the disadvantage both in position and speed, just like in my mothers accident.
The car... To have the frame strightened and all is going to be too much work then its worth. I guess my best bet, with anything on that car, is to find another car like it and swap stuff over... which isn't happening for a loong time due to time/money. It just sucks so much, this whole night I was driving it, about a half hour, I was just so happy with the car, everything has been working perfect, I was really enjoying it, and thinking about the big plans I have for it... its just so hard to comprehend, I am sure when I see it in the day and have time to think it over, it is just going to be so different... I feel like I owe this car something back, and when I start to dig into it, maybe the frame can be strightened out... or maybe it is just my mind going crazy to pretend this never happened.
Nearly 2 years and 10k miles with this car... took it from nearly going to the junkyard to making it a very showable classic. I paid $300 for it and put, all said and done, including new tires, painted door and tune up... less then $1,000 into it. It isn't a loss in terms of money. It does get to me that I could have sold it for atleast $3,000... but its a loss for what it means to me, because that car ment alot to me.
Ah gosh... sorry for the really long post.. I know its not the type of post someone would make after such a thing... but I am just shocked and frazzled, still can't believe it happened.
Tomorrow I'll stop by, even though they are closed, I'll snap some pictures... Monday I'll get more. The end of the 1979 Sedan DeVille d'Elegance has come... atleast for a while.... after such an amazing, faultless trip down from NY to FL....
Yes, I am glad it wasn't the Coupe.. I don't know what I would have done in that case... but still my mind is going crazy... WHY did I decide to go out for a cruise... but then again, driving and listening to music is one of my favorite things in the world, so I guess we need to ask ourself... why do we do the things we enjoy?
ah gosh... I gotta get some sleep now.