DISTRACTED DRIVER TOTALS FATHER-SON RESTORATION ’31 FORD

A pristine father-and-son restoration 1931 Ford Model A was totalled recently when it was side-swiped by a distracted driver in a Toyota Corolla. William Smith of Orange, Calif., had just street-parked and left the vintage car — a vehicle his dad had received as a 16th birthday present in 1973 — when he heard a crashing sound. As The Drive reports, the driver of the Corolla tried to flee, but she was unable to reverse because the Toyota got caught in the shattered spokes of one of the Ford’s wheels. She ran away. When police apprehended her, she confessed she had been on her phone. The car was totalled, the accident 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, he told The Drive. Driving.ca