Crashed my M491 on 1/1/15 run... Resurrecting "Herman"
 

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1424330079.jpg


It was a clear, frosty morning in Southern Cal, a bit unusual. But hey, it's tradition making the early a.m. run with all the local guys on New Year's Day! My wife an I were on the road greeting the dawn heading for the rally point. Life's good. It was a small run, about twelve Porsches strong. All were having a great time flying through the canyons in North San Diego County. I was breaking hard downhill, swiftly approaching a blind right hander when an on coming truck suddenly appeared coming head on. No where to go, added more breaking, then the terminal slide on the narrow frosty black top... No time to react. BOOOM! then silence...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1424330202.jpg


It was a hard hit. The windshield flew out as the front of the car crushed on impact. 1st, checked on wife, she's ok, tried to open the doors, no luck. By that time fellow Porsche friends were popping the doors open and disconnecting the cracked, leaking battery as the full fuel tank was leaking. An explosive situation. We literally walked away without a scratch, just bruised from the harnesses. A miracle indeed.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1424331614.jpg

A few months earlier a good friend of mine, SWB Sam, recommended Brewster Industries in San Clemente as a good place for service and mods. Well known for their long involvement in racing, major repairs and restoration work, these guys were outstanding! Check out their work in Herman's engine room...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1424330479.jpg

After the accident, I contacted Scott Brewster, who invited me to flatbed Herman, my '84 factory turbo look to their new facilities for an assessment. To my surprise and great relief, both he and his father, Bill, agreed that Herman could not only be saved, but returned to better-than-new condition. These folks have been a great asset in dealing with my insane insurance company. At this point, I am hoping the insurance company will offer enough $$ to fix the car...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1424330387.jpg

I'm pleased you and your wife are OK. Sorry about Herman :(

So the truck was on the wrong side of the road coming around a blind corner?

good to know your ok

Was the truck in your lane or did you go into his lane?

Oh man…glad you both are ok. Take your time with the car. I crashed mine in May 2014. Another Pelican gave me that same advice which kept me with the car. Good luck and keep us posted!

Wow...a hard hit, but glad everyone is OK and looking forward to updated as the car is restored to its former glory.

Thank God for the harnesses. Glad you're both ok.
Heartbreaking pics.
Nick

Hope you can find a bunch of expensive Turbo Look comps to convince your insurance company to repair and not total it. Engine looks great!

driving to fast
 

Your lucky it was a truck and not a small compact car. You could have hurt someone or worse. I know these cars are fun to drive fast but to many people die every year because of this. And before you all fry me what would you say if your 16 year old daughter was driving that truck.

Please Be safe on the road and drive fast on the track.

Wow! That's a hard hit! I'm glad everyone is okay and your car will be up and running.

I would say that Winders raised an excellent question.
Depending on the answer your scorn may be misdirected at the wrong driver, but maybe you are right. We'll have to wait and see.

Glad you are OK. Your damage looks very similar to the hit my 84 Targa took in November, but everyone I have talked to says my car should not be repaired.

Good luck.

Glad to hear everyone is okay and interested to hear where on the road the impact occurred. From what I see with debris field on the pavement and resting location, it appears to have been an over-cooked corner with impact in the oncoming lane. Does the bra say "MOVE OVER" backwards? That would be fitting.

Given that insurance companies are (still) involved, speculation on cause/blame and engaging the OP in these discussions is probably not a good idea. I think we can all agree with this statement, and focus the discussion on his car's resurrection:

Paul - I was behind you most of the morning on that drive and have to say it was a wonderful way to start the year until the accident. I'm glad to hear Herman is getting rebuilt and I look forward to seeing it completed!

Take care,

- Keith

Dang Paul. I guess Herman will live again. I am glad you are ok. I have not seen herman in a while but the engine looks GREAT!!

Oh, I suspect the evidence at the scene is pretty clear cut......

1st, thanks for all your well-wishes for my wife, myself and of course, herman.

Just to let you know, I wasn't driving like a half-crazed mad man. I've owned herman since 1998 and have logged over 175,000 fun-filled miles for a total of 282,000 on the clock.

I was only going about 35 mph on impact and the truck was probably doing about the same. It all happened so fast thru the corner, I can't recall if he was crossing the line on my side or not. I just know, there wasn't enough room...

Since this was my first accident since 1969 and only the second in my 65 years, I assumed full responsibility. The way I look at it, if I wasn't there, none of this would have happened ( at least on my side). Lesson learned: Be wary of unknown roads.

It would be great to get some recent M491 comps from you guys to up the value. So far, Farmer's Insurance wants to total herman! Yikes!! They are offering $38,000 and asking $15,500 for the salvage??!!?? Insane!!!

Scott, Bill and the rest of the gang at Brewster's are confident they can do all the required work plus a repaint in the neighborhood of $30,000k for damage they can see. If new comps show higher values, herman can be fixed for up to 75% of his comp value. So, as you can see, comps are VERY important right now.

Any recent M491 coupe sales out there?

Either he was in your lane or not. The road is plenty wide there. If there wasn't enough room, and you were in your lane, he had to be in your lane. Does the evidence at the scene show that?

With enough money it can be fixed. If the insurance company totals it and it is fixed back perfect, it will still have a salvage title and much reduced value.

Think long and hard before spending that much to fix a car that will forever be tainted with a salvage title. It is just a car, and has no feelings. It can be replaced.

Sorry about Herman and glad you and your wife are OK. As far as repairing Herman from a fiscal perspective, the numbers just don't add up. If you pay $15,000 and then spend $30k to repair her, you have a $45,000 M491 with a salvage title, not including what you have already put into her. You can certainly buy a much lower mileage M491 with a clear title for that. Of course, the motor work done to Herman would be lost, but I bet you could negotiate the buyback lower. IMO, the motor has value and that is what I would try to get.

Maybe find one that needs a motor, buy that cheap and then pay ~$13,000 for Hermans motor and put it in the new car? Use any parts you need from Herman to get the new car done right and then part out the rest of the car for a few grand here on Pelican and you have a good car with a great motor and don't have to be in a negative equity position like you will be if you resurrect Herman.

Good luck either way you go.

Paul,

Is there an M491 registry whose members might be slightly more in tune with recent trades? It's a special car that is likely more challenging to comp out from a value perspective.

Will

Thankfully you and your's are ok.

My 81 (last fall) - $23k offer and $9k buy-back.

Suspect the standard is 40% salvage buy-back.

I bought it back and 23 seems fair for my driver but 38 is lean.

Unfortunately, That car is done. I wouldn't even try to fix it. If the body shop tells you it will be better than new.... I would take that with a grain of salt.

Your frame is bent, the cage is bent, the suspension is tweaked, the a-arms are gone, the strut is bent, the windshield frame is bent, etc, etc. there is no way to get every single point back in spec.

That hard of a hit went throught the frame.

I know you love the car. Save yourself a lot of grief, and buy another one.

Easy for you to say, Winders. From the time I saw him to time of impact was about 1.5 seconds. The "evidence" doesn't show one way or the other. As you can see there are plenty of skid marks left from other drivers and actual grave markers on the far side of the road for those less fortunate...

The telling comment made by a local resident close enough to hear the impact of my collision was that this very turn is the worst and deadliest of all on that particular road. I am just happy and thankful my wife and I survived and are alive to tell the tale...

Fear not my Porsche brethren, I have no plans for fixing a car with a salvage title. The idea is to fix herman with a good title and only after very careful structural evaluation. Brewster Industries is not your typical paint 'n body shop... It's an independent Porsche-only Service, Racing and Restoration shop with a long successful history in Southern California. Extensive frame fixtures and a lot of race track shunt repair history fills their catalogue of experience. This project, if and when initiated, will be approached from many angles with much soberness and thought.

Is the lane you were supposed to be in wide enough for your car? Is the lane the truck was supposed to be in wide enough for his truck? Based on the photos and what I know the State of California requires of roads, the answer is "yes" to both questions. Now that we settled that....

Were you in your lane when you saw the truck? If you were, and there was not enough room, the truck had to be in your lane, right? Otherwise, there would have been enough room for both of you around the corner.

So, were you in your lane when you saw the truck?

Yes, I was in my lane when I saw the truck! The road was very frosty, I'm quite sure I panic braked, causing my car to go straight, not around the curve. This is exactly why I chose to take responsibility for the accident in the first place!

It's a no brainer... I slid straight across the line. As a matter of fact, although he may have caused me to panic brake and slide straight line across the apex, he very well may have stopped me from sliding straight off the road over a cliff to join the other dead folks down there! Whatever, I'm just glad to be having this conversation among the living and above ground... Cheers!

I really don't think the guy needs you breaking his balls. Even if he did make
a mistake I don't think anyone appointed you guardian of the highway

I am not breaking anyone's balls. Just trying to distill what actually happened since the OP's original description didn't seem logical.

Guardian of the highway? I don't see anything like that in my posts, Dan. Are you the guardian of Paul in this thread?

I hate to say this, but I couldent agree more! It will never be the same, ever

Sober thinking is definitely required, Paul.

That impact bent your car. The whole car.

I suppose anything's possible, but I'm reasonably sure those days are gone.

I am assuming that there's no 'agreed value' insurance here... If the insurance company isn't holding all the cards, they at least have a pretty good hand.

I am happy nobody was hurt, but I'm super-sorry for the loss of a perfectly good M491... there weren't many to begin with!

Rob

Glad you are OK

Good luck with the quest!!

Glad to hear everyone was alright. It's a shame that some wannabe prosecuting attorneys have felt the need to step in.

You don't seem to the know the difference between fact finding and prosecuting. You might want to figure that out before you type on that keyboard.....

cool car
 

hey what size wheels were on that m491

I will take Herman send me a PM......

I have to qualify this statement with "I think". Your wife not being able to open her door made me think that.

I hesitate to ramble about my wreck. Your's looks knarly but a lot (layman talking) of the impact appears "eaten" by the facia parts which is similar to mine. Your bumper also submarined, reducing the shock to the box and global structure.

I don't understand the physics of impact other than **** happens fast and force finds a place to dissipate. My hopes are (again, just talking) the impact to the left inner box structure wall resulted in squishing it more downward than rearward.

Pulling for you to keep it.

I would offer the insurance company $7500, buy an SC or Carrera roller, and put the 491 parts on it...