1931 Ford totalled by distracted driver
A pristine father-and-son-restoration 1931 Ford Model A was totalled recently when it was sideswiped by a distracted driver in a Toyota Corolla in an apparent hit-and-run collision.
William Smith of Orange, Calif., had just street-parked the vintage Ford — a vehicle his dad had received as a 16th birthday present in 1973 — not far from his work when he heard a crashing sound from that direction and walked over to find a new Corolla had taken out the car.
As Smith walked up to the scene of the collision, reports The Drive, the driver of the Corolla ran back into her car and tried to flee; Smith stood behind the Toyota to block her escape, but she was unable to reverse anyway because the Toyota had got caught in the shattered spokes of the Ford’s wheel.
She then jumped back out of the car and ran away on foot. When police apprehended her nearby some 20 minutes later, she confessed she had been on her phone when she drifted out of her lane and into the Model A.
The Toyota essentially totalled the Ford — which Smith and his father had spent the past few years restoring, finishing the project just six months ago — bending the frame and driveshaft, splitting the engine block and differential, and snapping all four wheels. Nevertheless, Smith has plans to see if he can re-restore it using a new frame. “My dad is not in any way happy about what happened, but he’s put a positive thought in my head that at least we’ll get the opportunity to rebuild the car again together,” he said.