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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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