Let’s do a few more car carrier mishaps. This one happened in Miami in 1982, when a vehicle struck the tractor of this rig hauling shiny new Oldsmobiles, knocking the one on the cab to the street.
Here’s another view:
A good shot of the undercarriage of a RWD Cutlass.
Remember being a kid seeing car chases where cars would jump gorges and land on the other side laser straight? Or flinging hot wheels cars down a flight of stairs and being able to play with it later with nary a scratch? This cutlass fell 10 feet and its twisted and mangled beyond repair, reality bites.
+1
One thinks of a car with a real frame under the body as something sturdy. It looks like the perimeter frame in these doesn’t do much more than keep the bodywork off the ground. Falling ten feet put some serious twist into that car.
At least the body shop is just around the corner…
But they first need 3 estimates.
It’ll buff right out.
So it appears the other vehicle in this collision, or at least one of the other vehicles, was a cut away van chassis with a box on the back that was knocked off relatively undamaged.
When I was in HS the local Chevy dealer had a delivery of a Corvette that apparently fell off during the unloading process. It of course was totaled but they donated the shattered car to the school’s auto shop program.
I think that might be a Ford hauling all those GMs; that’d be different.
So THAT’S how they got the formal roof out to replace the Aeroback so quick!
It’ll buff out.
Scary stuff – glad I wasn’t there
OUCH! I feel sorry for the purchaser if this Olds was an ordered to specification vehicle. Another two to three months to see his dream car.
Dream? Maybe not so much. I think it has the slow, underpowered 110 hp 3.8 V6, given the shape and size of the radiator shroud. These were very reliable but feeble.
I had an ’83 Cutlass Supreme Coupe with the Super Stock wheels and the build sheet found behind the rear seat indicated a handling package addition. Bucket seats and center counsel as well.
Very slow with the 3.8 V6, but very reliable. Only issue was rear seal developed a bad leak and I kept a case of motor oil in the trunk. Finally gave up when the A/C went flat.
Still a very nice car.
Hopefully, those excellent Super Stock wheels got promptly reassigned.
My guess is that the cutaway van body is a previously damaged take-off that was being used as a shed behind the dealership’s body shop.
Another guess is that this was an unloading accident behind a dealership. Some tie-down chains seem to be hanging free. Maybe the load was unchained, then the truck had to be moved? Possibly either park didn’t hold or a hard snub of the brakes sent the Cutlass off the plank?
That’s what it appears to be, too. Good eyes.
Cars dropping off of carriers or falling off a service lift was not that uncommon. In the 10 years I practiced as a dealer attorney we dealt with similar situations.
The worst was one of the hotter sellers fell and the manufacturer demanded the dealer accept it and fix it. Had it happened, there would have been all kinds of disclosure issues.
Back in the days when Oldsmobiles were still hugely popular. These were ’83 model year cars–how do I know? Grille texture! And my mother had an ’83 Cutlass Supreme Sedan with Super Stock wheels–it was a nice car (it did have the V8, so slightly better than the standard “Gutless Supreme” with the V6).
Also interesting to see the Ninety-Eight Regency Coupe on the carrier–that one was pretty rare (13,816 produced, versus 105,948 Ninety-Eight sedans).
That’s how they got the rear windows to open!
I wanted to mention that how they got the rear windows to open.
What was GM thinking? My driver’s ed cars were a baby blue & two tone green new ‘79 Pontiac LeMans – that was a sore point while in the backseat.
Someone in my older brother’s driver’s ed class rolled a Sunbird in the parking lot.
I wonder if anyone on site said “Oh, G!”