[DeTomaso] DeTomaso Digest, Vol 68, Issue 23

[Christopher Kimball]

That is truly a heartbreaking story.  Will insurance properly cover all costs to totally restore the car?

We're all pulling for you.

Sincerely,

Chris Kimball
President, PNW

> From: mjmouton at performancemed.com
> To: detomaso at realbig.com
> Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:31:04 -0500
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] DeTomaso Digest, Vol 68, Issue 23
> 
> I am the individual with the crashed Pantera.  I live in Lafayette, 
> Louisiana and have had the car for around 8 years.  I just finished a 3 year 
> restoration on the car, new paint, interior, motor etc.  The car was 
> accepted by Jeff Cobb to be in the live oak concours event in Baton Rouge. 
> On the Friday before the show there will be a car cruise escorted by the 
> police though the city and countryside and Tom Tjaarda was scheduled to 
> drive/ride with me in the car.  I had meet Tom at the previous year's event 
> and had a wonderful time with him and enjoyed our conversations.  He is a 
> true gentleman
> 
>             On Sunday afternoon on March 14 I took the car out for a quick 
> ride with a friend from out of town.  We had gone about 5 miles and just 
> turned onto a two lane country road. After traveling down the road about ¼ 
> mile a car was coming towards us and looked to be slowing down in order to 
> make a left turn (across my lane) onto a side road.  I thought they were 
> going to just let me pass giving them the opportunity to check out the car 
> as we went by.  They were just about stopped when all of a sudden the car 
> took off and turned left right into my path.  I hit the brakes and turned 
> slightly to the right towards the shoulder/ditch.  The Pantera's front left 
> side took the major blow from the oncoming car and then we went into the 
> ditch.
> 
>             I have a four-point seat belt harness on the car and I 
> considered this to be a lifesaver.  The passenger in the Pantera received 
> just minor scratches and bruises.  As the driver I sustained major damage to 
> my right leg/foot/ankle.  This is apparently due to the fact that I had my 
> foot on the brake and the impact forced the front firewall considerable into 
> the driver pedal compartment.  I have not been able to see the car since the 
> accident to get more info on the specific damage and where areas "crumpled" 
> into the driver compartment.
> 
> The driver of the other car had her license for about 3 weeks, but she is 
> OK.
> 
> Merrick Mouton
>