John and Janine purchased a 1962 Impala that was on consignment with Jimmy’s Customs Rods and Classics. It was jet black with red interior and classic Cragar wheels making it a real sweet classic ride. It was a southern car in very excellent condition. I wrote an appraisal for 30K which they sent with photos to their insurance company. They went on to enjoy the car attending local car shows all over the Twin Cities where they were quite competitive, winning trophies and more. They also made some upgrades to the car and it became even more competitive at the shows.

On their way to a local show very early one Sunday morning; as they were cruising down the four lane highway (169 South from Shakopee, MN), John looked in his rear view mirror to see lights approaching way too fast. It was approximately 6:30 AM. John was already in the right lane and had started to slow down and as he headed for the shoulder they were struck in the left rear quarter panel of their black beauty sending them into the swamp off the shoulder of the road. They were obviously shook up but uninjured. Don’t you love a full chassis car! The police said the drunk driver was traveling at about a hundred to hit a car going fifty five or sixty to do that much damage. The drunk driver rolled his truck and was hauled off with injuries. John and Janine were OK, thank God, but the Impala didn’t fare so well.

As you can imagine, John and Janine were upset that their show winning Impala was potentially headed for the scrap heap or crusher. If you are a car guy or gal, I’m sure you can relate to the pain of this potential loss. "Where are we going to find another Impala of this caliber" was their question to me as I started writing up an estimate to see if it could be saved? Our estimate came in right under the 30K and because of the "appraisal in their portfolio" the insurance company, John Janine and I decided to save the car.

We had determined the frame was repairable so we sub let the work out to a trusted frame shop. We would then have to find a donor car and back half it. That’s body man talk which entails cutting off the whole rear of the body and sectioning on the donor rear clip including trunk floor and both rear _ assemblies. (See photo). We located a donor car at "Impala Bobs" in Arizona. I headed southwest to pick it up with truck and trailer, just about a year ago thanksgiving as a matter of fact. This also gave me a good excuse to visit my daughter and grandkids for thanksgiving in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

We made all the repairs to the rear of the car and as we prepared to paint it, John Janine and I made another command decision to paint the whole car. John Janine and I invested more money and time on top of the insurance estimate to paint it complete. So we dismantled the front end of the car, repaired dings, road chips, and minor rust and made the black beauty way better than before the accident. Cool! It’s all about the car don’t ya know.

We were very close to finishing it for the end of the 2008 season………….watch for it in the spring 2009.

The moral of the story is two fold………….
1.) Make sure you have an updated appraisal for your "Classic Car" port folio with enough $$$ coverage.
2.) Be careful! Watch your back even at 6:30 on Sunday morning.

Jimmy Gaboury