It was the best week. Penny was done, on the road, and any issues were minor. She ran fast, ran hard and felt great.

The people on the road like her, they snapped pictures and tossed "thumbs ups" wherever she went.

It was the culmination of 1.5 years of re-doing her into what I envisioned. A lot of people put in a lot of time and it showed, I was tired but proud.

Since last Friday I had been driving her a lot. Nearly 500 miles so far. Today (Saturday) I was going to take her down to Best Of Show Coachworks so we could rack her up and do a "bolt check". Mainly just to make sure everything was nice and tight. We were also going to fix the window trim that came loose and fix the resulting nick. Small stuff. Was also going to take the guys for a ride in the car.

Got on the 91 fwy and headed off. Car was running sweet and it was nice. In Corona I hit traffic. No surprise, this is California. It was the type that went then stopped, then went then stopped.

I was stopped in Penny.. fully stopped when I heard the screeching of tires. I never saw the full sized GMC 4x4 truck... but I felt the impact.

Luckily I had my foot on the brake rather than just sitting in neutral. That kept me from eating the car in front of me. That and the large gap I generally leave as a cushion.

I knew I was screwed.. royaly.

The guy was sorry, I was furious. At first I thought he pissed himself then I realized he had spilled a drink all over himself. I wanted to choke him.. to death.. repeatedly. After many curse words I calmed and realized that he was sorry. Hey, it's not like he set out that day to screw up my life. The good news it that it was a fully (and I assume heavily) insured company truck. If you live in SoCal you know that was a relief.

He admitted full fault to myself and the CHP. What else could he say with the back of my car creamed? Nothing... I had the flatbed truck carefully load her up and take her to Best Of Show for repair. I'm sure it will take months.

The bad: Needs all new sheetmetal in the back except the roof. Both quarters, both valances, trunk, etc.

The good: (there's always good) the hit was high so all the energy went into the quarters and not the frame which on cursory inspection looks fine. She drives and moves... Oh, and I'm ok.

I was wearing my full harness, it kept me in place and also kept me from banging the cage. I'm sore, I have a headache, but I not in the hospital.

There was really nothing I could do, I was fully stopped in traffic. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I guess that's life. I'm sure his insurance will pay (after being a Pain in the ***). BOS is very versed in dealing with insurance companies, so I'm not concerned.

Penny will live again, with fresh sheetmetal and even nicer body work. I joked with the BOS guys that the only f'd panels are the ones that they didn't paint. Of course they didn't paint those panels because they were spotless..

I will post a picture.. but it's not for the faint of heart.. Remember to be safe out there. You can do EVERYTHING right and still get tagged by someone yapping on a cell phone, sucking down a latte or putting on makeup. It's an inatentive world.