IML: Old Imperial hits Kia, comes off the worst

["Hugh & Therese" <hugtrees@xxxxxxxx>]

Jason, I feel your pain!

You wrote:

> Driving through some wet/muddy/who knows what pavement after a rain, i
> was pulling up behind someone at a stoplight, nothing out of the
> ordinary, and before i could even think to go "?!!!" i remember
> hearing the "schhhhh!" of tires sliding across asphalt, and i had hit
> her.
>
> In front of me was a newish Kia, who ended up with some scratched
> paint on the bumper.  I, on the other hand, ended up needing a new
> front header, bumper, and hood.
>
> --There is no justice, sometimes.  Isn't one of the reasons we drive
> Imperials to be the indestructible tanks on the road?
>
> When I locked the tires up, apparently the front of my car bucked
> down, because the grille above the bumper was really what hit her,
> causing a fair bit of damage to my car!  My bumper had gone under
> hers, bending the brackets just slightly, which has forced my bumper
> down at an angle.  In addition, the grille was shattered (literally!
>
> --This all from an approximate 5MPH collision.

More or less, this is the same thing that happened to me from an even slower 
collision with a previous style full size Dodge pick up.  The skin on its 
tail gate was somewhat depressed.  They used one of those magnetic pullers 
to straighten it out and there was no paint damage.  My 58, on the other 
hand,
needed new hood and the chrome on the bumper was scratched so badly it had 
to be replated.  Trust me, the new chrome isn't one tenth as good as the old 
stuff.  My grille was OK but one of the headlight pods was badly impacted. 
Fortunately they were not so much damage as pressed into the car and could 
be saved.

The 58 Imperial's bumper is very low to the ground.  The bumper of the truck 
was much higher.  In your case, even the bumper of the Kia was higher than 
whatever vintage you drive.  I know a lot of people around here have mean 
things to say about modern cars and like to brag about how invincible our 
Imperials are.  Man, I wish that was true.

Hugh 




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