[DeTomaso] A demonstration of character....

[Henrik Svensson]

Hi

I heard the sad news and I'm glad nobody got hurt. 

Regarding Tim's  character I'm not very surprised. When meeting with him at SPA last year I got that picture of him, always very friendly and with a big smile on his face in all situations. He's a very nice guy and I wish him all the best and hope he can get his car sorted...

Cheers

Henrik
#1477

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On Behalf Of MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sent: den 10 juli 2012 17:26
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: [DeTomaso] A demonstration of character....

Hi guys,

I'm winding down from the Le Mans Classic tour, hanging out at Stephane and Michelle Bergeron's house outside of Paris, and will be heading home in a couple of days.

There are a million stories to tell about the remainder of Charlie's LMC tour, and the event itself, but one of them deserves to be told above all others.

There was a very sad incident on Saturday morning during the touring laps 
of the circuit (no helmets).   Anybody who wanted to could pay a fairly steep 
price (200-250 Euros or something like that), and tour the circuit for 
about a half hour.   One of those who took part was Tim Hobley, originally from 
Australia but a long-time resident of Denmark (actually he just moved across the bridge to Sweden, but still works in Denmark and is in the Danish 
club).   Tim has a USA-model '74 GTS.

He was minding his own business, running down the Mulsanne straight, and he 
came to one of the chicanes.   He slowed appropriately and turned in, and 
WHAM!

A Frenchman in a late-model (2008 or so?) Mustang convertible was flying 
down the straight and apparently forgot (!) that there was a chicane!   He 
romped on the brakes, but far too late.   As Tim turned right, the Mustang 
crashed full-tilt into the right rear corner of Tim's Pantera, caving in the fender, then the Mustang left front tire mounted the right rear tire of the Pantera (shattering the 10-inch Campagnolo wheel in the process), drove up the 
side of the Pantera, and smashed down onto the top of the front fender.   
The suspension etc. got tangled up with the fender, and as the Mustang fell off the Pantera, it smashed the fender down several inches, and left huge gouges in the sheetmetal, and destroyed the headlight bucket along the way.

Sad photos here:

http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=36432

Most of us can imagine how we would react if we were totally clobbered this 
way.   Violence might ensue, and justifiably so, or at least some very 
harsh words would be exchanged.

But this is where character comes into play.   Tim was able to restart his 
car and back onto the grass to get out of everybody's way, and afterwards, a flatbed tow truck picked it up and hauled it to the designated De Tomaso parking area, and unceremoniously dumped it in the grass.

When I got to the scene a short time later, the owner of the Mustang was sitting down with Tim and they were discussing the matter in what appeared to 
be a very calm manner.   The Mustang owner took full responsibility, and 
under the circumstances, it seems that insurance will be available to either pay for the repairs, or total the car out.

I later saw Tim return to the wreck to open the decklid.   He got out a 
bottle of wine, and walked back in the direction of the negotiations, apparently to share it with the fellow who had just demolished his car!

In speaking with him afterwards, he was smiling, philosophical, and apparently determined to enjoy the rest of the weekend in spite of what had 
befallen him.   He showed no ill will towards the driver of the Mustang, and merely 
shrugged his shoulders and smiled when discussing the incident.

I have never been so impressed with somebody--so much so that I made a point of pulling him aside and telling him how much I admired him for his 
ability to take the high road and not resort to childish tantrums.   I seriously 
doubt that I would be able to resist that urge if the same thing had happened 
to me.   He rightly pointed out that it was an accident, and that nobody 
had been hurt (in fact he had picked up a hitchiker, a 18-year-old French kid who had been standing by the track entrance hoping to hitch a ride around the circuit--although the roof partially caved in on him when the Mustang drove over the top of them and the windshield and door windows both shattered, he was totally unhurt).

Anyway, my hat is off to Tim and I think we would all do well to follow his example in the event that a similar fate would befall us.

The car was towed to a garage in Arnage while Tim's insurance company mulls 
it over.   It will probably get hauled up to Roland Jackel's shop in 
Hamburg, and then the decision will have to be made, whether to salvage the car or part it out.

Too, Tim was now left stranded, with no way back to Copenhagen.   Since 
Roland drove his Longchamp, he agreed to give Tim a ride back to Hamburg, and he'll then take a short train ride the rest of the way.

Mike
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