I'm not a very religious person, so I always wondered what people meant when they said, "God works in mysterious ways," well today I think I found out, and I think it really just means, "God took a huge crap on me Today."
Chris at Best of Show and I were working out the last round of gremlins on my '69. He fixed the laggy throttle pedal, a crimped vacuum line, and we had just finished bleeding the new rear calipers I ordered to help address my knock back problems. He takes it around the block with me and everything is great. There is no delay on the throttle, the brakes work as they should and don't have any air in the system. we get back, Chris hops out, and I get in the driver's seat. I'm psyched. I'm headed out to the track with the SoCal guys this evening. I pull out of the shop, wait at the light on the corner of the street for a minute, finally it turns green. I nudge the gear lever into first letting it make its familiar little clank, and ease the clutch out while feathering the right pedal. The car feels solid, everything about it finally exudes a natural quality about it. The steering is precise, the brakes firm, and the throttle crisp. I head out into the intersection, roll over the train tracks, and get almost through, then BAMMM!!! Some lady in a Saturn just blew through a red light. This light had been red for so long even Stevie Wonder would have seen it, but no, she just drove through that intersection like I never even existed. First thing I thought was "what the F*** are the odds of this. I couldn't have been in my Mustang. then I realized what Steve Rupp must have felt like...Ugh.
If you have sensitive stomachs, avert your eyes.
It's ugly but I walked away from it unscathed, without even so much as a single scratch, which makes me extremely fortunate. I think I really have to attribute it to some of the high end, well designed parts on the car. The Forgeline wheel that got the direct impact of the other car has minor scratches in the powder coat. That's it. It might be bent, but it sure as hell didn't crack or break, which is what I would have expected. The subframe might be tweaked, but it held together for the most part. On impact the control arms got pushed all the way into the headers and bounced back. It was the bolts that got pushed through the mounts though. Unbelievable. I would have figured everything would have crumpled like an aluminum can in an old car like this.
As for the preliminary damage report, I need:
a quarter, and we've got to remake the gill openings, front fender, headlight door, an entire RS nose, Marquez valance, Forgeline wheel, Anvil inner fenders and hood, headers, Ring Brothers hood hinges, and a new subframe. The list just goes on, and doesn't include tweaked fixable parts. Hell the entire car needs to be repainted. Hopefully the engine is fine, but it apparently made a horrible noise when Dick turned it over. Might just be the crushed header primary. Hopefully it is nothing more.
So for all of you out there reading this, make sure you have a good insurance policy. As upset as I am, at the end of the day the car is just a big metal money pit, and can be fixed. I think we all dread an event like this ever happening, and I can't express how glad I am to have an agreed value policy with Hagerty right now. That and my well being...
Matt
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Photos: warning - will make grown men cry
Hybrid Mode
