I destroyed my hand built 240D today in a Crunching accident at 40 mph less than 6 hours ago. My back is still sore and my hands stiff
This was the car where I rebuilt the engine, transmission and front end and ac from scratch.. Left alone, the car would have gone another 200K miles
I might have been absent minded and part of the accident might have been my fault, but generally i lead a G__ fearing Life, so why did this have to happen to me?
Now I am sitting here daydreaming about:
** Whats the meaning of everything? I spent years and years restoring that car?
** At least no one was injured and I am alive
** Do we control our destiny or is everything random?
** all the happy memories and things that took place in that car..
** man , what an incredible car
** the transmission rebuild went thru so well
** the entire sequence of the accident runs thru my mind over and over
*** Whats the meaning of Life..is this really a bad year for me..my Chinese zodiac symbol is Boar and I am supposed to astrologically have a terrible year...

Reflecting on the meaning of Life--I destroyed my hand built 240D today..

Man I feel yor pain.

Wish you the best luck possible.

YOU'RE RIGHT; YOU'RE SITLL ALIVE!

RR
OKC/OK
81 300 SD 270K
71 220D 300K+++

Carrameow,

I am very sad to hear of your misfortune, but I'm sure you realize the sacrifice that the car made for you. There are many other cars that you could have been driving in which you could have been seriously injured or worse. Even the MB's from the kseventies and eighties were very far ahead of most other brands in the safety categories.

Noone can know EXACTLY how you feel, but I think that I have an idea of how you feel. I remember when I first started posting here on mshop seeing the pictures of your garage and your car. I enjoyed very much our correspondence regarding what we were doing to our diesel cars.

I know full well from us getting acquainted about four years ago that you have been working steadily on the car all that time.

What I can offer is this: I believe I know you well enough to understand that the work on the car is therapy for all the software fighting issues and the other stuff we deal with in our professional life. Very few people would see it this way, but I too get my therapy from sticking my hands into a greasy transmission or engine. Losing the car is much like losing a pet. Take a little time to relax, then get another one and offer it the TLC that you did to this one. You have learned SOoo much from the first one, the second one will come out even better.

Hopefully the one that just got crunched still has many usable components. If you need help finding a rust free car to start over with, there are lots of them in Texas. Start watching ebay or whatever and if I can go look at a car for you, just let me know.

I'm sincerely glad that you were not hurt any worse. Take care of your back and don't take any chances. We're all thinking of you.

Best regards,

I'm very sorry to hear this.

But, trying to look on the bright side, you have the knowledge and tools now to rebuild another one.

How badly damaged is the car, when you say "destroyed?" Maybe this is your opportunity to learn how to do bodywork.

__________________
Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

Sometimes, no, most of the time, life is pretty unjust. Chill, and thank your higher power that everyone is physically OK. That's what really matters.

Your 240 was an extnesion of yourself...an expression of your creativity, talents and effort. You have every right to feel this way. After all, you've sort of lost a part of yourself.

I feel your pain. I once restored a '73 TR-6 from the ground up and less than a month after I put it on the road a woman backed into me completely destroying the hood, grille, headlight and right front fender. All of them, parts that were virtually non-existant at the time. I gave up on cars for 15 years after that, viewing them only as a necessary evil, to expedite getting from point A to point B. The rest is history.

Take care.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I mostly read and don't post a lot, however I feel compelled to post on this one.

First, yes it's a darn shame when a fine old classic of any make is destroyed. However, as you stated, no one was injuried. Have you considered how fortunate that is?

But secondly and most importantly, there are two kinds of people - those who are suffering and those who are going to suffer. Everyone faces adversity at some point in their lives. What defines a man is how he reacts to it. Rember this AVERSITY BUILDS CHARACTER!

Grieve for a bit, then go get another one, only this time find one that somebody else has already done all the work on.

Sorry about the loss. Good luck.

PS, Don't put any stock in all that zodiac stuff, it's crap.

I'm so sorry to hear that. I dread the day someone hits me and ruins one of my cars, all of which have taken hundreds of hours of my labor and thousands of dollars in parts, though I didn't go as far as rebuilding an engine. How bad is it? Do the engine and transmission still work? Perhaps you could transplant them to another car. Most importantly, no one got seriously hurt and you're still alive. Life always goes on, remember that. Right now you're in shock, but as time goes on, you'll reflect on this accident and learn from it, and there will be another nice 240D in your future, perhaps one that's even nicer and doesn't need a rebuild.

__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

First of all, I'm glad that you are ok. Its easy to focus on the damaged car but the gift of life is of immense worth.

Secondly, on the meaning of life question, here are my thoughts:

1. Life is broken because we flipped God off
2. Random-ness (car accidents, etc) result from the broken-ness
3. When looking for who to blame, some look in the mirror while others look out the window
4. Hope is primarily found in 'restored relationships', God first, then others

Got any pics of the car?

This reminds me in a small way of when I flew to TX from MI and drove a fairly nice 123 home....only to have it totalled the following year.

Don

__________________
DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

Also about the Zodiac and meaning of life, I agree with the Great Boob. Don't put any stock in the zodiac or even God if you ask me. You could be the most God-fearing person on Earth and have the best Zodiac sign, but bad stuff can still happen and vise versa. We all go through good and bad. It's just the nature of our universe. The best we can do is stay alert and try to avoid danger but also live life to the fullest and make the most out of it.

__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

I feel your pain, did mine in January. Glad you are OK.

Hope you had plenty of pictures before the accident. You'll need them to justify a decent insurance settlement (provided you had collision coverage).

On the bright side you'll probably be able to keep title on the car and use it for parts ($197.00 for me hehe). My old 617 went to an ex-Navy pilot who blew out his sinuses due to a plane mal-function and the Navy said "see ya". Too many miles on it for me to keep.

So perhaps if you can't use ALL of the old parts, you may feel some comfort by offing some of the parts to a worthy soul.

240D RIP

__________________
84 300DT Puke Yellow. Totalled after 438,000
84 300DT Orient Red. 169,000 (actual mileage may vary)
2002 Explorer EB (wife's)

Thanks for your kind words..hours on that car went 10x faster then hours in front of a Cisco Book...........

I feel your pain. Life seems to have it out for us at times, but I guess we must deal with it, as hard as it may be.

Strange how life deals out it's cards isn't it? At least everyone is still alive.

being a Disel motorhead is a lonely hobby in todays world of 4 valve electronic injection engines..

I loved that car and its toothy grin when you looked at it from the front ...even now I am staring at that empty space in the driveway...

I am with DieselAddict and Great Boob....

I really don't care about the car at all ... except in the part about it protecting you to where you have only minor injuries which will heal soon...

You might have been in some POS which did not protect you.. and you suffer the rest of your life from it...

Perhaps as an Engineer you have put more value on Machines than you realize.....

Machines mean NOTHING compared to your health and safety.

Carrameow
Sorry to hear about your loss. You are alive and that's what counts. My 2 cents. For what it's worth.

It's GOD not G__ Don't ever be afraid to stand tall with your convictions.

Chinese Zodiac. Refer to above for your guidance.

"Whats the meaning of everything? I spent years and years restoring that car?"
--- Remember its the journey not the destination. I'm sure you enjoyed doing the car.
And you are now fully qualified to rebuild another, but if your not looking forward to that idea I understand.

I also wonder about all the work we put into a car and then it could be destroyed. I have a 1965 Mustang that is my sons car. A complete rebuild. What if it's totaled or worse what if he dies in it because it's a 65 Ford. I had him driving a 86 300SDL. I have spent hours on my 300TD and now I will do the same on the 240D. What if they are destroyed? Why does God allow this. he'll let us know when you get up there.

I spent 4 years in the Air Force not flying. I was very pissed that I was not allowed to go to Pilot Training. Part of the Vietnam cutbacks. 75% of college graduates that year, lost their Pilot Slots. But maybe I was meant to spend 4 years learning about weather so now as a Captain for American Airlines I don't kill myself and the 129 passengers on my aircraft. God works in mysterious ways at times.

Give yourself some time to greave about the loss and move on. Find another 123 and rebuild it. Having done the 65 Mustang I know about 25 things I woud have done differently. So start fresh, look for that other 123 you want and go for it when your ready.

Maybe you were meant to rebuild the car so it was there to keep you alive.

Dave

__________________
1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car