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Our beloved PV was taken down by a stinking Neon driven by an illegal alien with no license. The car had just come back from having a J type M41 installed.
Fortunately there were no major human injuries.
Thanks to all who provided much inspiration and information in restoring our 544. We hope to someday have questions about a different PV sometime in the future. It is heartwrenching to even look at the car right now.
Best regards to all,
Joe M in WV
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Oh man, that is really sad to see. All those hours and anticipation, time spent perfecting some small area that only you can appreciate. But, it took care of you and yours, didn't it? That's what it means to drive a car with heart, it'll protect you, get you home, or let you fix it by the side of the road with some wire and a Coke can! It was only metal that got crinkled, right?
I hope that no serious injuries come up later. Look out for yourselves.
At the risk of being too simple, remember, the knowledge and experience you achieved by doing a restoration project can be seen as greater than the car
you finally finished. That can go into the next Volvo, and there are lots of them looking for someone to rescue them. Having had to deal with the BIG insurance companies ("Snake Farm, and "ALLsnake, and,..")and looking at the picture of your injured PV, a perverse part of me says, make the SOBs fix it, and fix it right!! Then you'll have a bodyman who has the experience. I'll bet that in the last 50 years someone, somewhere has straightend out worse PVs than yours!! I have gone through this insurance company struggle 3 times now. It was usually someone clueless who pulled out of a side street or parking lot in front of me without looking. The Hemmings route is a good tip, maybe the auction results that are found in some of those glossy British classic car
magazines. Maybe the guys at the Round Fender Register could help. The thing is that when you have to go in to settle, go in with a whole stack of evidence. You have to do the footwork, unfair as that is. You need evidence of any major investments (the M-41 OD conversion, for example), also a comprehensive list of the replacement cost of the parts needed, letters from a local Volvo Club (on a fancy letterhead, local, or almost local, newspaper ads with high selling prices for similar cars. You get the picture. It's a stone cold drag, but justice can be obtained, sometimes. I once had an adjuster give me more money than I deserved simply because he didn't know where to begin to find the right parts, and I did.
Not wanting to make any kind of gain from your misfortune, but I have 3 restorable PV's, and contact to a half dozen more. These are from the dry
SoCal deserts, i.e. solid metal, but powdered rubber and interiors!! Good luck,
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Joe,
Nothing much I can offer that'll make you feel any better, but wanted to offer my sympathies. The most important thing is the lack of human injuries.
Sure am sorry about the 544, though.
Best regards,
Cameron
PTown
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It's always a sad thing when a nice car dies, but especially one with so much history and with so much work put into it. I hope that your wife is 'OK' and does not experience the surfacing of any pain/injury over the next few days.
Best wishes,
Andrew J in WV (Morgantown)
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I've had a 58 which, earlier on I'd considered trying to protect from being rear ended. Understandably, flimsy bumpers and supports attached to 'unibody' sheetmetal isn't the best way to cover your ass, so to speak, and It was more important to me to get the car in shape mechanically, install an overdrive etc. etc. And now I hardly drive it at all (it's on the left coast and I'm in NYC).
This may not be the time or place, but it seems to me that with the wealth of experience present, the assembled skills and literally centuries (collecitvely) of time in/under these cars, we'd be able to design a simple but effective system to protect these cars from what's happened to Joe, and others.
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Anything stronger at the rear will just transfer the damage further forward, making an unrepairable hit at even lower force.
--
I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.
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I believe that the car did what it was designed to do. The front and rear crumpled, thereby protecting the passenger compartment. My wife was the only person in the car. She was wearing the seat belt. She was sitting in a left turn lane almost a full car legnth behind the Blazer. The Neon must have hit her going 35 mph or so. The PV was driven seven or eight feet forward and into the back of the Blazer.
The passenger in the Blazer did not have a seat belt on and suffered whiplash. She was still dazed several hours after the accident. My better half got so disgusted waiting three hours in the emergency room without being seen, and decided to go home unseen where she could at least be comfortable. Judy has some discomfort in her knees where they hit the dash and a bit of a sore neck. It is amazing how well she came out considering that she has a very compromised spine with five levels of disc fusion.
John is right. Additional protection for the car will put the occupants at greater risk. I thank the designers of the 544 for their foresight.
Joe M
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True whiplash (not this fakeola crud where people get out holding their necks) kicks in a day or two later. I've gotten it a couple of times in bike crashes. You feel fine, but gradually the muscles in your neck get weaker and more sore, until they can't pull at all, and if your head tilts in the direction of the original stress it will just keep on flopping (got use your hand to tilt it back). After a few days of that they recover.
Definately a good idea to get seats with headrests in old Volvos. I'm surprised your wife didn't get injured, and the passenger in the car in front of her did - presumably that car would have had headrests. Maybe they were sitting funny or in the rear seat?
I didn't see that the front was mashed too - I think it was just a rear picture in the gallery.
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I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.
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Oh what a shame... so sorry to see the likes of that.
Don't lose hope... there are other body shells out there, and you've got the bits to make another good one..
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-Matt I ♥ my ♂
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6458&item=4542932416&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
Cheap,too!
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That's a crying shame, Joe. Statistically, I'm sure Volvo owners cause less accidents, especially in our vintage treasures. It's too bad the other drivers are not so careful. I guess there's no way to stop disqualified or illegal drivers, except for the courts to impose more harsh penalties as a possible deterrent. If your insurance does not have "no-fault" coverage, I do hope you can salvage some parts, to restart the laborious process of finding another candidate and the rebuilding and healing process! With deepest sympathies....
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Cam a.k.a. CVOLVO.COM
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What a shame. On the bright side, if you can find a non rusty shell, you've got a good interior and drivetrain to put into it.
--
Volvo Farmer: 21 Volvos '58-'91 445-544-122-144-1800-240-740 sorry, no FWD
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I assume that WV has a fiscal responsibility law and that your insuror is
pursuing collection efforts against the perpetrator. If not they should be.
Likewise his identity should be in the files of the various agencies so that
he can't register a car or get a license until he makes it right.
I really appreciate that you sent me a pic of the jewel before this happened.
If you want it back for evidence I would be happy to furnish it.
I lost my first 544 pretty much the same way - rear-ended on an icy road
in Tulsa (50 miles from home) and pushed into a car in front. Both ends
smashed. I got a check for $400 and bought another one a few days later
for $250 (1967)
Interestingly in better conditions I was similarly rear-ended in
a 122 and the damage to my car was minimal. But you should have seen the
Oldsmobile that hit us and the Datsun it pushed us into.....
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!
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Seems like a really good reason to figure out very obvious and bright rear lights! (a pet fear in all my classics).
--
Mike!
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George:
The photo we sent was made at home from a digital image. We have a lot of pics of the car and all the receipts on the restoration. The actual owner of the car had insurance and they are being held responsible for damages. Most likely, they will try to offer us a couple hundred bucks for the "funny old car". We should be able to find enough similar condition PVs that sold in the $5K range but that will be a fraction of the effort and expense that went into the guy.
We still have our '66 122 and plan on saving the transferrable parts for spares. This is the second nice PV in the family that was totalled in a rear end collision. Your experience with the 122 being able to take a bit more of a beating has us thinking to be on the lookout for a nice four door 122 sedan. Although the 544 brought more smiles and interest from others, we are having a hard time bearing the thought of going through this again. A four door will make it a lot easier for our Saint Bernard to get in and out of the car.
The 544 specific parts that are not damaged will be available to anyone in need. We are probably going to keep the M41 for the 122 but I believe the shortened drive shaft will be specific to the PV.
Thanks again for the tremendous support,
Joe Menacker
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Yeah - the 122's 'frame' rails go all the way back to the bumper mounts, while the 544 is mostly just plain sheetmetal aft of the rear spring mounts. That being said, I think both will bend if hit that hard, and neither will be particularly repairable (cost of repais compared to cost of replacement). I'd keep my eye open for another PV - they are just that extra notch up in funkyness. And they are more fun to drive too, at elast in my memories of the 2 122's I've own. They are more fun to drive than the two 1800E's I've owned as well!
--
I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.
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My condolences.
A Neon doesn't have a soul. A PV does.
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I really feel bad for you. That is the looming nightmare out there for all of us who drive our PV's all the time.
I hope you have uninsured motorist coverage, not that you could ever get enough.
Dennis
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Dennis:
The car suffered very little damage between the pillars. It appears that the ends of the car were well designed to absorb impact. It is just unfortunate that the bumpers and grille parts are so expensive now. Otherwise, we might have considered having the body damage repaired.
That 544 was in pretty bad shape when purchased. There were still a lot of things in need of attention. I did get to drive the car with the overdrive installed for a couple of days. It was no problem crusing at 80 to 85 mph. Maybe this was fates way of stopping us before something more catastrophic occured. Speed capacity seemed to be taking precedence over brake system, suspension and steering restoration.
Best regards,
Joe M
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Very sorry to hear about your PV. It's not like a new car - you can't just run out and replace it. There is a lot of sweat equity in our cars that isn't represented monetarily that you lost.
I shudder to think what an insurance company thinks our PV's are worth. If you have uninsured driver coverage, try taking a Hemmings with a few PV's listed with you to negotiate the settlement. Way back when (15 years ago?) someone totalled my first 1800E. Their insrance companies first offer was (Hmmm - 15 year old Volvo) $500. I took in a Hemmings and showed them the asking prices for other 1800's and got them up to $5500.
PS - looking at those pics makes me think about getting some seats with headrests sooner rather than later...
--
I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.
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John:
Thanks much for getting the photo up and the tip on getting figures from Hemmings. This will surely be an unpleasant experience fighting the insurance adjuster.
I hope to keep in touch through the 122 forum. That car was purchased from the original owner who seemed to have taken good care of the car and stored it in a garage. All repairs on that car have been fairly uneventful so far. It is kind of weird having everything just as the manual shows and all the parts as listed.
Take care,
Joe Menacker
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I'm too tired to fix the picture. It's in the gallery.
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Hi,
You had a really beautiful car. This must be heartwrenching.
-Ted
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Was a real nice car, , I've got a 122 wagon, but there really is nothing like a PV.
best of luck in finding another vintage volvo
how does that quote go?...'if you dont build your car up you never really own it'
best
ozzi
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