My good friend Brandon - The Dingo - on CF gave me a ride down to Va Speed to pick up the Cruiser. Tons of traffic on the way home. We stopped in Fredericksburg to gas up and it had just started lightly raining. Coming back onto 95N I had just moved over from the merge lane and doing maybe 50, the car suddenly made a hard left turn traveling at a 90 degree angle across an empty lane. The last thing I remember was a windshield full of tractor trailer wheels and thinking that this was the end and I was going to get run over by an 18 wheeler. I hit the rear tractor wheels dead on. Loud noise, the airbags went off and I spun around but still managed to beat the airbag out of the way and steer the car to the shoulder. Either something broke or I hit an oily patch. A couple behind me pulled over to make sure I was OK and told the LEO that I was not speeding or doing anything froggy and that the car just turned left. I called Brandon right away and he came back to help.

It had just started drizzling and I think the rain lifted oil out of the asphalt and may have even pooled. That makes the most sense to me at this time.

In thinking this through more, I believe that I was extremely lucky to hit the truck's wheels at a pretty perfect 90 degrees. Had I hit at an angle, the car would have probably spun under the trailer and trailer wheels.

The Tiger Shark nose is gone and the MCM hood also. Even if it can be fixed - doubtful - those parts are no longer available. Front fenders also gone. The front cross piece is toast along with the radiator and who knows what else.

Oh well, it's just a thing and after thinking that semi was going to part my hair differently, I'm actually pretty cool to it all. Some abrasions on my arms and chest and my upper back and neck are tightening up. Nothing major here. Shoulder X-rays were negative so it's just going to take some time.

It's been totaled so now we're negotiating a settlement taking into consideration to $$$$$ in mods. Depending on how the numbers work, I will salvage the car and part it out. WAY too many top shelf items on the car that remain untouched in the accident including the 427 motor, PFADT coilovers and bars, all leather interior, Kenwood/JL sound, etc. Even the wheels were untouched.

I will be ordering a C7 next week.

Last Friday morning:



Last Friday night:

 

Sorry, for your loss. I'm glad that you were not hurt. I would be interested in some parts.
Thanks, Paul

513 919 6128

 

ouch glad your ok that was a nice c5

 

holy **** bro.

I'm so glad your ok brother. Jesus that **** sounded crazy. wow.

 

Thanks folks. I shutter every time I think of how fast that semi was passing in front of me and how lucky I was to hit the rear tractor wheels squarely. A few feet either way, I wouldn't be posting.

I'm dealing with the insurance company now. I told them I want to salvage the car and will be parting it out from the engine back...including the engine.

 

Damn that is such a bad thing to happen to a car you've spent so much time on. But in the end your able to walk away and move on. Hopefully you make out well with the adjusters. What rear tires were you using?

 

With the Cruiser gone, I needed a new toy and to stay in the Corvette Community of which I've grown fond.

Ordered this today.

Night Race Blue/Yellow Calipers/Kalahari Interior/3LT trim/Z51/NPP exhaust and broke down and got the paddle shift A6 which will be tuned. I should see it towards the end of March which is fine with me.

 

Classy looking ride brother.

 

nice new ride, are you selling your old motor?

I always admired your car.

 

Thanks,

I'm going to enjoy the holidays and get back to the car stuff after that. I'll be posting.

 

Glad your okay bud, Cars are cars and can always be replaced... Hope everything works out for you with the insurance ect

 

Glad you are ok. You've done a lot with that car and it sucks for it to go out that way, but you'll have fun with the new one too.

 

Because of constraints and other BS, it took 6 months to get the car. It took soooo long I changed my mind on the colors. I finally picked it up last a week ago.

I decided to go full pimp.



Bud's Chevrolet in Ohio was able to get everything I wanted. Torch Red, Z51, 3LT jet black interior, carbon fiber dash and I went with an A6 this time.

It's not as brutal as the 427 C5 but GM did an amazing job on this car. I put an AFE CAI on it this morning and will probably end up FI this winter.

 

First and foremost I am truly glad you are safe and that no one was hurt. I'm also glad this worked out on the insurance end for you as well.

Did you ever figure out the root cause of what happened? If you could share some details it might help save someone's life on this forum.

What kind of tires did you have on the car and what condition were they in? Did you notice anything odd with the cars handling before getting onto the freeway? Did you see anything odd with the wheels/tires while you were filling up your gas (good practice btw).

If all that stuff checks out i'd be looking into a lawyer and making a case against GM or tire manufacturer if there was no error on your end.

Also, why in the heck would you want to get ANOTHER corvette and boost it's performance if this truely was a fluke? I'd be looking into a safer car with better all weather handling because if no root cause it means you are jinxed/cursed (time to buy some rabbits feet and 4 leaf clovers!). Cars aren't supposed to suddenly veer 90 degrees to the left.

-Satch

 

I am interested to know what kind of tires you were running as well. I live in Northern VA too. It gets pretty cold here sometimes and it takes a while for my street tires or even drag radials to warm up to a usable temp. In my previous C5Z I had a few times where I ended up in an unintended power slide when turning. The C5Z ran the goodyears and eventually the wideovals. Both tires reacted the same in cold weather. My Trans Am had Mickey Thompson 275/40/17 DRs and eventually 325/50/15 DRs would do this as well. After driving either car at speed for a solid 20 minutes or so the tires were heated enough this was not an issue but it was something you definitely needed to be aware of.

 

WOOO!!

Congrats bro,..do you love it or WHAT???

Totally different animal. Very cool bro,..glad it all worked out.

 

GM got sooo much right on the C7. Very torque-e engine. The interior is world class - I got the 3LT and even the sound system is pretty good.

I love the mag ride and the different combinations you can setup. I use Sport steering with touring mode on the highway. The A6 tranny is intuitive and will change to performance mode if you're playing. It downshifts immediately if you touch the brakes and shifts faster also.

I'm thinking the Eforce blower on it this winter and calling it a day.