"Daddy I just wrecked my car!"

[thirsty]

I got a phone call from our daughter the other day, she was so hysterical I could hardly understand her but I did make out "Daddy I just wrecked my car!". I was at my buddy's shop just starting to talk to him about painting my 86...so I was a half hour away. That was a terrible ride talking to her until the police/ambulance got there. On the way she told me that she was perfectly fine but her car was ruined. She had rolled it. My poor old work truck really took it hard on that trip. I was really scared that she was just telling me that she was fine. When I got there of course all the emergency vehicles and personnel were there. I had to go thru the scene to get to the ambulance where our daughter was. I was pretty nervous about her being ok when I saw guardrails missing, parts of her car scattered on the side of the road, and her car over the bank in the bushes. When I got to the ambulance I was so relieved to see her sitting there uninjured. We were lucky.

Amber's car



Our 16 year old has the same passion for her little blue cavalier that we have for our old square body trucks. She had just put her car all the way over and back on it's wheels then rolled backwards down an embankment. She was more mad at herself than she was shaken up! In 9 months she had not even scratched her "baby".

You can see her disappointment in this photo.



That little chevy did a great job protecting her. I am grateful for that.

[Lt.Del]

Glad she's fine.  Just chalk it up to a learning episode. We've all been there.  She'll have that "sick in the stomach" deal for a while.   I'm sure she learned something and realized how lucky she was and why she buckles up and that no one else was hit. She'll be replaying it in her mind for a while.  And, no, it wasn't a bad dream.

[frogman68]

Very great news . I know she is sad about it just remind her that a car is replaceable she is not.

Must be something about blue cavaliers (mine is a 04) mine has been in 5 accidents in 6 yrs good thing is none were my fault so my insurance didnt go up

Again very glad she is ok

[treestandjunkie]

WOW!! I am glad she is OK!

[thirsty]

Thanks guys. I thought we were having a bad day when that happened til I woke up the next morning and realized it wasn't a bad day at all, It was a good day.
The day that happened I was gonna scrap the car and Amber asked me if we could save the seat out of it and make a chair for her room or something. I started looking the car over good and decided we could fix it for her if she loved it that much. I found a perfect parts car and got a commitment from her bodyman uncle to travel 3 hrs to help me with the roof and pillar section. My best friend (also the man she calls Uncle Todd) offered up his skills. All I can offer them in return is food and beer because I only had liability insurance on the car.

[howlinwolf]

my sister did the chair thing out of her 77 mustang.  i drove my cavalier home after i rolled it...

[Lt.Del]

Good luck with it...that will be some kind of undertaking to get it repaired w/ that kind of roof damage.  You sure it wouldn't be better (and safe) to just transplant the drivetrain and interior from her wrecked car into the "parts" car and paint it blue?  It may kindof defeat the sentimental purpose, but, she will still have many parts from that car.  

[Irish_Alley]

Glad shes ok



I guess I was just like your daughter, when i wrecked my 04 impala ss “my baby”. Wouldn’t let my wife drive unless she had too lol.
But one thing I learned even though I was able to walk away like your daughter, next time I might not be able to. So now I enjoy life everyday like it was my last, been going out with the same girl since high school it was almost 8 years. Then before my wounds were healed up from the accident I married her, now just waiting for the next step in life and starting a family.

[VileZambonie]

Glad she's ok, but remember when those cars suffer structural damage they're never the same. Take a piece of metal and bend it back and fourth twice and what happens? It either becomes very weak or breaks. The car did it's job to protect her, now I'd use it as a parts car and find another one. A fender bender is one thing but a collision and rollover...can it handle another one? Think about it.

[thirsty]

I understand fully about the damage. Two bodymen that do collision work have given the thumbs up on it. I'm not going to be doing the roof repairs, just all the other stuff. I wouldn't consider doing anything structural myself. That will be done by professionals. Also waiting to see if the parts car has a title cause that will be another option. Need to see just how good the other car is after it comes.

I really appreciate the concern about the safety of the car.

[78 Chevyrado]

Glad she's ok!   Good luck fixin er up again!

[baddogg79]

Wow, so glad to hear she is ok. That car is a mess!

[thirsty]

Next step for her and the little chevy is a trip to the alignment shop. The shop we use also does alot of racing and helps alot of local race teams. Cavaliers are a pretty common 4 cyl race car in this area, so this won't be the first one that they have seen that went on it's lid. Also family friends so they will take it personal. I'm proud of Amber, she is paying for this and also doing all the deal making herself. Maybe she's practicing to take over my 86' project.

[Jim Rockford]

Those shoes she's wearing don't look very good for driving? What caused it to begin with ?

[thirsty]

She said she looked at the "Vanzandt" street sign for a second and got into the guardrails. She is a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan and it reminded her of the band. As she realized what was going on she attempted to correct herself by turning the wheel to the left to get away from the guardrails and it sucked her right in.