Log in

View Full Version : My Teenage son's Pro Touring machine got hammered by bad driver...



Ben@SpeedTech
01-18-2017, 12:32 AM
Hey all, my family had a rough day yesterday, my teenage son Roman was driving Coppertop, his Pro Touring 78 Cutlass wagon, on his way to work and a very negligent driver pulled right out in front of him while he was going about 40 mph. He tried to autocross around her but she never stopped and smashed into him as he was about to go by. The impact destroyed the front right of his car and it spun her around causing her rear bumper to crumple his rear 1/4 and blow out the rear window. His momentum caused him to cross over 2 lanes of traffic and jump a curb, ruining his brand new 18" wheels and Nitto tires. What a bummer. On mostly a Wendy's fast food paycheck budget he's been slowly fixing up this car for about 2 years and has recently collected a bunch of parts including Cipher seats, Speedtech suspension parts, and a Texas Speed cammed 6.0LS. He has some bruising from the seat belt and generally otherwise is ok, but he's real torn up about the whole thing, feeling the loss of his first car, which he's put so much into.

We'll now have to put the performance upgrades on hold and direct efforts to try to save the car, and could use everyone's help. Parts chasing will be a challenge, the front clip is unique to 78-79 Cutlass wagons and Salons and is different than the 2 and 4 door cars. We're not interested in swapping to a different year or make clip (i.e. Malibu), our cars match each other and that makes it that much more unique and fun for us. If anyone hears of parts for sale that will match up PLEASE get in contact with me. We're anticipating the insurance company will low ball us so hopefully we can find parts that fit his budget. We're not needing perfect show quality, just something that is in decent shape and will take only minor massaging to put to use. I have a spare bumper he can have and we'll likely get a fiberglass hood, so we need to round up a radiator support, front nose, fenders, and a right rear 1/4 panel. Thanks in advance for any help with this.

Here's a link to his build thread (sorry, not updated for a while)
(https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/105097-78-Cutlass-Wagon-quot-CopperTop-quot?highlight=coppertop)
.
and Click for Accident News


(https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2017/01/17/rsw-lunchtime-collision-ends-with-1-in-hospital/#.WH8nALnSNuD)

andrewb70
01-18-2017, 07:27 AM
What a real bummer. Glad he wasn't hurt...

Andrew

mc84_zz4
01-19-2017, 07:23 PM
^^ x2, glad to hear it's only bumps and bruises.
The car can be repaired, consider it another talent to notch on your belts.
If I had any parts I would donate them to the cause, but I do not.
I will scour the local pik-n-pull this weekend, I'll keep an eye out for parts for you.

GEARBOXGARAGE
01-20-2017, 07:11 AM
Saw this on facebook... my heart sank when I saw the picks and heard about it. Glad he is OK, cars can be rebuilt. But it gives you a chance to change anything that you may have wanted different.

Ben@SpeedTech
01-20-2017, 11:38 AM
Thanks guys! Yeah aside from a broken heart Roman's physically ok.

Here's some more pics, racing together in 2015. It was a real hoot for us as father and son to show up at SCCA events together, there aren't many local CAM cars so it was usually us and a couple other late models in CAM. All the little import guys loved the cars and respected their capabilities.

More pics of the damage. He had just added 275-35-18 Nitto NT555s and the 18x9 rims 2 months ago, all 4 got pinched and broken when he went over the curb. Not sure if the insurance covers them? He was tight on cash at the time so he unfortunately opted out on the road hazard warranty. :/ Next set will have it, you never know right?

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/01/Twins20102072_zpskbgi7njl-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/01/Coppertop_zpskkmlepkq-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/01/Coppertop2_zpsqxvekna9-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/01/16003041_1643388805962273_56413608929169-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/01/15965323_1643389119295575_63272362062866-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/01/16174674_1643389209295566_25741071660947-1.jpg

MonzaRacer
01-20-2017, 02:20 PM
One word Ben, LAWYER!

Turbo6inKY
01-25-2017, 08:36 AM
One word Ben, LAWYER!

Yup. All that damage is easily repairable by a good body shop. You'll just need a lawyer to squeeze the insurance company to actually repair it instead of totalling it for $400, which is what they'll try to do just based on the Year/Model

rod cole
01-27-2017, 05:12 PM
I have the nose and bumper in oklahoma. Free but may be to far for you. No fender though

Ben@SpeedTech
01-30-2017, 07:42 AM
PM sent