'My 1967 Cougar gets hit by monster GMC "lifted" pickup (pic's incl.)

[Jim B.]

My totally original '67 Cougar got hit by a woman driving a big GMC pickup just moments after it was parked correctly in a shopping mall parking lot.

The driver apparently was trying to get out quick, and cut through the empty parking space next to my cougar but cut right (in the wrong direction! of the parking lane to get to the street exit.

She didn't quite make it.

She hit the Cougar, somehow managing to wedge its left front corner between the right rear tire and rear fender of her big pickup truck.

As seen here:







Some paint got scraped off here on the fender extension, even on the front of it,



The old Cougar's 46 y.o. sheetmetal held up pretty good, and its bumper may have got bent, but the GMC pickup's fender took a pretty devastating hit by comparison...







I managed to back the car up with no more damage;


Her driver's license was valid, but the insurance card she showed me was six years out of date and the vehicle registration was four years out of date, so that was kind of weird. Certainly if the Police stopped her she would have some tall explaining to do.

Since it was on private property and no injury, I did not call for the Police...

But she provided a current (she said) address and phone number, and said she would "talk to her book keeper" Tuesday. Date of loss was the weekend past) and so far I have not heard anything.

I told her, "No no, go talk to your insurance man and report the claim."

I would rather NOT have the fully licensed and insured car repaired via a direct insurance claim to my own company, pay the deductible, and have them try and subrogate to recover.

Just let heer insurance company or HER, take care of it.


I am hopeful the damage can be somehow repaired without repaining the front fender extension or fender, (the fender appears undamaged except for huge tire marks and the extension looked ok but for deep scratches and chips here and there that had appeared from this impact.

Don't these old cars have some kind of special environmentally unfriendly pain that would need to be mixed?

I'd like to try and keep things as totally original as possible. The factory painted pinstripes were thankfully untouched.