Some may remember, 1 day before I got my Park Avenue, my dad drove this home:

04-05-08_1603.jpg

A 1997 Buick Park Avenue Ultra. The supercharged 3.8 series 2 was the life of the party! It breathed its last breath today however. He was making a left hand turn to get on the interstate, and about ready to lay some smackdown whine on a pickup next to him, when somebody in a pickup ran a red light doing what my father estimates to be around 55-60mph <in a 35mph zone mind you>. He took the hit, and got knocked into the truck he was turning with. He got hit with glass spray, got a bump in the head, and is pretty sore right now, but has no broken bones, and bruises from the seatbelt. The other driver stumbled onto the sidewalk, and laid down. He was not cohearant when medics arrived, and he got hauled off to the hospital. My dad went to the hospital anyway, got some good drugs, and was sent on his way.

On to the carnage:












Couple of interior shots. There is some blood, so for the sake of others, I will post links:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...10271129_1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...to10271130.jpg

My thoughts on it? This car saved his @$$, and I am grateful nobody was riding with him. What really hits home is that I have ridden in that exact same seat, on the exact same ride, at the exact same time in the morning. We worked together until about 10 months ago.

So long Sally, you gave yourself, so that my father could live. I could ask nothing more. Rest in peace, may your sacrifice not have been in vain.

Holy cow!!! She took a beating but protected her riders! Gotta love these boats of ours! Glad no one got too hurt.

RIP Sally, say hello to White Curse up there for me will ya!

Missed this one:


It buckled the roof line just forward of the 'B' pillar.

Oh, there was one other tiny little detail that I left out, it happened to be a security service <aka rent-a-cop> truck with employee in full uniform, on duty. My father suspects a cell phone was involved.

Glad to hear your father is okay. I have to agree with Mike, Sally definitely gave her life for her rider.

So many times we see accidents where the car'* engineering did it'* job very well. It'* great to see a car take such a hit and leave the passenger compartment intact. Hope those bruises and bumps heal up quickly.

holy crap! for that car to be so rippled like that the other guy is lucky to be alive. hope your dad gets better fast. R.I.P. sally

This is the other vehicle:



Much worse than I thought. I didn't realize the right fender crush was beyond the front wheel.

That little 2000 lb truck hit a nearly 4000 lb PA. I like the way the PA took the hit better than the truck.

Glad your Dad is OK. I always felt snug and safe in my 2 PA'*. Any plans for the drivetrain?