My apologies for the poor quality of these photos (I used a graphics program to lighten them up a bit) . . . they were taken at the site of the accident by a shocked but uninjured driver.

Uh OH! This is what my Statesman currently looks like after being hit in the side by a Toyota Corolla. Hmmm . . . pity I didn't get a photo of it.

Whilst driving along a country road with some friends, I was hit by a speeding motorist who wasn't watching where they were going. They had a close look at the side of my car before ending up in the ditch entangled in a barbed wire fence

accident site pic 01

Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt. My friend hit his head pretty hard on the window, as he was sitting in the back seat next to the door that took most of the impact. I was driving, and got a sore shoulder but nobody else in the car was injured.

My car was transported on a truck to a storage building where it was to be viewed by an insurance company. The insurance company wrote it off and quoted me a pre-accident value of $1650 (It cost me much more than this to buy and I thought I got a pretty good deal!).

accident site pic 02

One good thing about this whole shocking event is that I get to keep 'The Wreck'. While in storage the engine 'got sick', and when I got it back was only running on 4 cylinders. Obviously 'They' don't know how to start a car of this type! It now requires a full tune up. Thanks guys!

backyard pic 01

I didn't have any insurance. As I was not at fault the other people's insurance company paid me the value of my car and gave me 'the wreck' as it was considered not worth repairing. It now sits in the back yard waiting for me to decide what to do next.

The accident showed up all the rust that is in the rear mudguard which was not visible beforehand. Had I known there was so much I probably wouldn't have even bought it.

Rather than just a simple panel beater's job to repair, it is going to be a major restoration. I need a new roof skin because it is riddled with large bubbles of rust. Two new doors for the driver's side, with new electric window motors, probably a new rear guard (including tail fin?) and a new set of wheels. I need to replace the windscreen as it has a long crack in it from a stone hitting it on a previous occasion. I was lucky there was no broken glass.

Although all this looks bad, I have taken it out for a drive since, as it is still driveable. I had some funny looks from other drivers on the road.