“We go over the bump, and right after that, in the corner of my eye, I saw a gray Chevy Traverse and BAM… the car got thrown down the road about 50 feet,” said Gabe Iannone, a student at a technical institute who has been driving home to New Jersey from school in Pennsylvania pretty much every weekend to wrench with friends on his 1975 Plymouth Valiant. Recently, he got the vehicle dialed in and running great, but then this past Saturday evening, disaster struck.
Iannone posted some photos to the Plymouth Valiant Fans Facebook page, where I spotted them last night and shuddered in horror. Obviously, my first concern was for the safety of those in the Valiant; the thing looks hammered. My second thought was how sad it was for the world to lose such a beautiful classic machine. Iannone replied to my message that asked about him and his car, and he gave me the full story of how he and his two friends were injured, and how his prized 1975 Valiant met its demise.
The Universal Technical Institute student bought the Valiant from a MOPAR-collecting friend in June, and though the 47,000 mile, 225 slant-six powered cruiser was running, it wasn’t smooth and it was pulling fuel from a jerry can. Last week, he did some tuning. “I got a gas tank for it, hooked everything up,” he said. He’d rebuilt a Holly 1920 single-barrel carb, and after figuring out that he’d forgotten to hook up the distributor vacuum advance, he got it running “A-OK.”
As he described his car, which had an automatic transmission and functioning air conditioning, I said “nice,” complimenting the machine. “Yeah, it’s not nice anymore,” Iannone quickly retorted, before continuing his story, clearly still reeling from the freshness of his dearly departed machine. “I live on this road called Corsons Tavern Road,” the 20 year-old continued. Referring to his 19 year old friends Ed and Christian, he went on: “We were going to the Walmart to buy some buffing compound to buff the hood, see how the paint would look,” he went on, “[We took the Valiant] because everybody likes the Valiant. It’s a comfortable car…[a] great car.”
They drove through an intersection, slowing down for a rather tall mound that everyone in town knew required hitting the brakes for. “Everybody knows to slow down even if the light’s green, to 30 mph. So I slowed down…we go over the bump, and right after that, in the corner of my eye,” he said, “I saw a gray chevy traverse and BAM… the car got thrown down the road about 50 feet.”
“I went through the light, she hit me going 55 because she said she wasn’t paying attention and didn’t see the light,” Iannone went on, admitting that he wasn’t sure how she’d missed that obvious red light.
“My windshield was somebody’s welcome mat,” he said. Referring to a house near the crash scene, which itself was within a mile of Iannone’s house, the student told me: “When [the house occupants] opened their door, they stepped onto their first stoop, and the windshield was over their welcome mat. All they heard was ‘crunch crunch.””
The driver in the other car was an older woman. “She was in her 60s…She didn’t get out of her car; she was so scared — didn’t know what happened,” Iannone described, saying he wasn’t sure how to respond at first. “I just hugged her,” he said, saying we all make mistakes, and that he’d “let the [officials] do their stuff.. I’m not gonna yell at [the other driver].” He figured it was a bad situation, and everyone felt like crap anyway; no need to make things worse by yelling. “I just let people do their investigation,” he told me over the phone, saying he was the least injured of the trio in the Valiant.
Ed, a heavier guy, was sitting on the right side of the front bench. “[The three-point belt] saved Ed’s life and it also saved mine,” Iannone reckons, saying Ed would have been thrown into him had it not been for that belt. “He took the brunt of the impact,” referring to his friend, who — like Christian — he’d known from high school (he worked with them in shop class, among other places). “[Ed’s] ribs were bruised really bad. And the doorframe and the windshield frame hit and smashed into his head. He has eight staples in his forehead.” In addition, he bit his tongue, which is now swollen.
Christian didn’t fare well, either. “Christian…wasn’t so lucky. He had a lap belt on. He ate his kneecap… when we hit…he broke his two front teeth off. He needs oral surgery. His teeth went through his bottom lip… it was 30 stitches.”
As for Iannone: “I have a swollen leg…and I almost lost my earlobe,” he told me, saying: “the column came down and smashed my leg.”
The young car-nut, whose dad and grampa had always had old cars, started his automotive journey with a Jaguar X-Type, but then quickly moved on to three Mercury Grand Marquis, all of which have been killed in accidents. It seems Iannone has lousy luck. “That’s all I drive. I buy these old fashion grandpa cars: Body on frame V8s,” he said, telling me he replaced his 1975 Valiant with a 2006 Lincoln Towncar that he picked up from a friend.
He reminisced about his gorgeous Valiant, into which he’d just thrown new belts, and a new radiator. He’d kept the AC compressor he had to remove to fit his oversized radiator, in case he wanted to restore the car back to original shape. “I put 1000 miles on it in 2 weeks,” he said. “[The car was] at 48,210 miles when it met its demise last night”
“I came home every weekend in college,” he said. “[I] busted my ass off with my friends.” He told me he understands that the Valiant wasn’t a traditionally “cool” car, and that it’s just one of those cars that leads old-timers to tell you: “You know, my mom had one of those.” Plus, the thing wasn’t in that great of shape, even if it looks nice in these photos. “You could see my torsion bar through the passenger side floor,” he told me. Still, the low-mileage car last inspected in 1996 had only cost him $1,000, and he loved it.
“What brings me joy is my cars,” he told me over the phone. “When I got this valiant, although it wasn’t perfect, it was my first gateway into the classic car community.”
“I worked at a tire chain, and I daily drove that car…for a couple months,” he said, telling me he is even renting a garage space for the car for $100 a month.
I’ve always wondered if the folks that named the Universal Technical Institute knew what most other people associate those initials with. And also if they serve cranberry juice in the cafeteria.
Imagine my surprise when I learned that a relative was getting trained at the CIA, only to find she was learning how to make sure a souffle didn’t fall, not a government.
Gave needs to buy the newest Chrysler product with a blown motor he can find, and shove that slant 6 with its slushiest of slush boxes into it. Make what is new old again.
If I was going to stop driving old, tiny, unsafe cars, this kind of thing would be why. You can be the best driver in the entire world, but you can’t control what other drivers do. Sometimes they do real dumb things, and sometimes you don’t get a chance to react. It’s a real risk, and not one that can be fully compensated for.
Kudos to Mr. Iannone for keeping his cool when shit went bad. He’s dead right that getting pissed off and shouty would only have made a bad situation worse. Compassion and deescalation are the way to go in a situation like that, but not everybody has the presence of mind—or the moral fiber, frankly—to take that path in such a stressful situation. He did, and I commend him for it.
I hope everybody gets fixed up and is OK from this, and that Gabe finds himself in an even better car soon.
Back a number of years ago, I used to drive my CJ5 on the highways. Over the years, I have gradually stopped driving my old, unsafe cars on highways or even at night. Those old lights are really terrible. I still love a drive in the CJ or MG, but now its mostly into town or over to a friend’s place. I leave the highway driving to a car with 3 point seatbelts, airbags and crumple zones.
Yep, I avoid highways in my 1972 Super Beetle and try to stick with local errands. I used to drive it all over town, on the main highways in rush hour, you name it. Since the pandemic I have seen such a degradation in driving skill that I am much mor cautious of where and when I drive my car.
Upgrade the headlights and all your exterior lights to LED. I’ve done it on my MG and it’s made a world of difference at night. I love driving on a summer evening in the MG, and with LED headlights, I can actually see things.
I’m with you on not driving on fast roads. I stick to 45mph surface streets. That’s where it’s most fun anyway.
That is actually next on my upgrade list! LED lights and a big, super bright LED brake light strip across the top of the rear window.
I’d place a very large bet that the other driver wasn’t paying attention to the road because she was too busy paying attention to her phone.
Kudos to Iannone for not losing his cool, but that lady shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a steering wheel. As the pictures of the Valiant (and the injuries to its driver and passengers) show, the kinetic energy of a car, even at moderate speeds, is in the same order of magnitude as that of a hand grenade, and can wreck similar damage. If you can’t drive with the same degree of attention you’d pay to a hand grenade with its pin out, then you shouldn’t be driving.
Grim reminder of the biggest drawback of driving with classic cars. I do drive my classic car in modern traffic, with family and all. On my side I try to do my best to avoid unnecessary risks; always more than enough profile on the tires, also not too old. I have done a socalled ‘grip and slip’ course with my classic car, where you improve your driving skills and learn to avoid slips and how to react upon them. And yet, whenever I see these type of aftermath pictures I always have doubts…
Also, I applaud the driver for remaining calm and not yelling at the other driver at fault. In general there is too much aggression in traffic. But… and please let me finish; would this not be the one case where it might be more effective to yell? If everybody hugs each other, the other driver might be left with the feeling that she was also a victim, and yes, she was, in a way. But she also almost killed three people because of her not paying attention. Yelling at her with pure, adrenaline powered raw emotions might be the wake-up call she needs to realize she should need to improve upon her driving skills. I don’t know, maybe not a great idea, but in this case I would understand if the driver had ventilated his emotions a bit more outspoken.
I appreciate all the comments about safety, and don’t disagree that modern cars are much safer, but we all have a choice in what we want to ride around in. I grew up in little old two seat sports cars and still drive them around for fun. I drive like I am on a motorcycle, assume nobody sees me, and stay out of people’s way. Not to say something bad couldn’t happen but I feel it decreases the possibility a lot. Just because you are not at fault in an accident doesn’t mean it is unavoidable, conversely some things can’t reasonably be avoided (like being rear ended when you are stuck in traffic at a stoplight, happened to me once, saw it coming, crept forward a bit, but ultimately nowhere to go).
Anyway, back the the choice thing. Some people choose to ride motorcycles, scooters or bikes on the roads. The reasons may be different than the reason for driving an old car, but nevertheless they often relate to personal preferences that are independent of safety concerns.
At some point it still comes down to a balance, safety has some weight in vehicle preference, as do competing interests of purchase price and operating costs. Then there is the intangible of the driving experience.
Anyway glad safety is better these days, but glad it is not the only consideration people make in purchasing vehicles, as if it was the world of cars would be a much more boring place.
I have a 1968 2door post that needs a new heart hit me up if you want it gvmichelsiv@gmail.com
This kid is unlikely to get much of anything from insurance for his car. He’ll probably be out of pocket for its replacement beyond a pittance.
Ubiquitous dirt bags like this cluelessly selfish woman not paying attention is a big reason I abandoned the idea of building my own car and decided on a boat instead. I’d be fine with these people if they faced actual consequences and maybe there’d be less of this behavior. This woman should never be allowed to drive again.
We had a wagon one of these when I was a kid in a darker green with fake wood. Even as a kid, I was not impressed. It’s just old, not classic.
Dirt bag, clueless, selfish? Sorry, but you have no idea what she is like. All you know for sure was that she caused the accident. Could have been for lots of reasons unrelated those attributes.
We also don’t know if the young man could have avoided the accident. He seems thoughtful enough, so his thoughts on avoidability would be interesting. No, I’m not blaming him at all – this was obviously not his fault.
Of course it was a goddamn Traverse. I have yet to see one of those turds operated at anything approaching competence.
My only totaled it hit was when a guy in a Lincoln ran a red light and there was no way I could avoid T Boning him in my ’96 Silhouette.
I still recall being aware of the lag between the impact and the air bag pop.
This is why we need more roundabouts!
I had a similar experience with an ’81 K10 and a Subaru Outback that ran a light. 65 mph, head on, small overlap. 27 stitches from the neck up, screwed up arm and leg, skull fractured from the bridge of my nose “two knuckles deep” according the surgeon and took two surgeries to get things back together to where I could wear my glasses. My dog was in the car with me, and went under the dash; leg broken in 4 places, multiple broken ribs, bruised liver, lungs, and who knows what else. Adding insult to injury, the company I worked at went out of business the following week while I was laid up. After that, wife and I agreed that maybe some safety features were OK. I’ve been in more modern cars since.
My mom had one of these, 74, light blue, slant six, auto, AM radio, no AC, and needless to say manual windows and locks.
Car she had when I got my driver’s license. In the days when everybody had a V8 I had a powder blue slant six sedan. I bought my own car after a year of borrowing the Valiant (when available).
I smashed it a couple times but never killed it.
Anyway, mechanically they were pretty solid cars, and I appreciate them more these days (though I have no desire to own one). I am sorry the car got crunched and very glad no-one was hurt worse. Looks like a very bad crash.
How much did you buy the Valiant for? 😛
No really though, glad they’re still alive, too bad they were injured though 🙁
Just shows you how far safety has come.
My boss got hit by a truck who drove into him on the motorway and then did a runner. He swears his Subaru Outback saved his life, if he had been in his beetle or type2 then he’d be dead…Classic cars are cool, but there’s a reason you save them for the weekend away from the rush hour and commute.
Guy across the street from me when I was 8 years old got a four door Valiant like this when he turned 16. Worked at the local grocery store. He was the oldest child, and I was friends with his two kid brothers, who were 8 and 11. He would load us into the thing in the summer to go to the candy store, or the model shop to get a new Revell model to glue together. I remember the first time I got in it, I asked him if he had air conditioning. You know what he said, of course.
“It’s got that 440 air..” His brothers just cackled like hyenas, as we rolled down all four windows, and he tore through the neighborhood at 40 MPH. First time I ever heard that joke. Certainly not the last though.
My mom had a ’75 Valiant which was totaled in analogous fashion by an older person simply not paying attention. Since we were rear-ended my mom and I had a bit more metal between us and the offending driver so we were both just a bit shaken up and sore rather than significantly injured.
I can’t say I ever liked the car; in fact it was one of the vehicles I liked the least of what our family owned. Nonetheless, the misfortune of this situation is palpable. Even an ordinary malaise era machine is still a classic at this point and it deserved a better fate. Here’s hoping the young man can get himself into another cool ride and keep the dream going.
Keep articles like this coming, as it reflects the ethos and shared passion of the Autopian community. Also, I’d like to offer encouragement to all the young people out there keeping the flame of maintaining a hooptie alive.
I always slow down at intersections looking for anyone who might be about to run a light or stop sign. (I also check behind me for anyone who might rear end me when I do this.) This is a habit I picked up from motorcycling.
This is because it doesn’t matter who is in the right if you’re the one who takes the brunt of it. Even if it’s not your fault when something bad happens, your safety and the safety of your passengers is still your responsibility.
I got hit by a guy in my 98 Integra in a similar fashion. His ride was an 86 Buick 4 door of some sort and my insurance company and his insurance company opted to fix mine mine was less than $10k.
He was on a first date and ran a red light and was possibly impaired a bit. I walked away with a couple of sore ribs from the center console.
Amazing how car safety tech has come in the last 30years, let alone 50.
Glad the Plymouth valiantly sacrificed itself for its passengers. A few inches aft and it would have been far worse, as the initial impact from the Travesty would have been between the Valiant’s axles and would have a more perpendicular hit, rather than forcing the Valiant into a deflection as it did.
Stuff like this is why I reluctantly yet pragmatically upgraded from a car nearly as old as me with one airbag, to one designed with front and side airbags and side-impact and whiplash protection built-in. YOLO, there’s no save/reset.
DISCLAIMER: I am glad that all three occupants of the Valiant are alive, and not paralyzed.
BUT… I really hope all three of them take some time to sit down and reflect upon the wisdom of driving a car that uses a jerrycan for a fuel tank.
Of course. Far better to use a radiator overflow bottle rigged like an IV bag and suspended from the rearview mirror.
It had a gas tank (for what that would be worth in a car that age). As it says in the story: Last week, he did some tuning. “I got a gas tank for it, hooked everything up,” he said.”
The fact remains, it was a 1975 car, and it’s a miracle that these guys are OK. I used to drive crapcans, but when driving to visit my mother in palliative care every weekend on a two-lane highway with deer crossing and a serious crash seemingly every two weeks, I got nervous about safety. I figured the law of averages would catch up to me eventually, so I got a car with airbags.
Later on when I had kids, I could not deal with the idea of having kids in the car without modern safety features. I still love older cars, but the wee ones are way more important than my wants.
When my son was born, I was daily driving a Pontiac Sunfire. I had seen crash test videos for that car, and decided that there was no way he was ever riding in that car. It mostly sat in my driveway, only getting used when I would run to the store or the office by myself. After a couple years, I decided to finally get rid of it once and for all.
It’s all about risk management. You should absolutely be driving something modern and safe with your kids in the car on a daily basis. But having a fun car for the occasional fun trip is significantly lower risk than having it as your primary vehicle. And the added benefit of it being a “fun car” rather than your appliance is that you’re in a different state of mind when you’re driving it. You won’t be as complacent and that definitely has a massive effect on the likelihood of a serious accident.
At least for me, I find I have to force myself to do that math and make the calculated risk. All of the absolute dullest and most insufferable people I know are the ones that let worry about safety rule their life. And almost universally, their kids end up doing the dumbest, riskiest things when they finally get some independence.
This makes my heart hurt. Thankfully those guys will be OK, that Valiant folded like an accordion. And it’s a sedan so it has a B-pillar- I doubt my little Dart Swinger hardtop without one would fare even as well as this Plymouth. Makes me want to keep my kids out of the car. Very sobering.
My first car was a 1973 Valiant Scamp, sister to the Swinger. I’m quite sure that it wouldn’t have done so well either.
Got T-boned in my Dodge Grand Caravan a few years ago. The other guy’s airbag deployed. I had a bruise from the seat belt, (the van didn’t have side airbags) andthatwas it.
I say thank you nanny state for the HSS door intrusion beam, otherwise it would have been much worse
First props for behaving like a gentleman. First thing is every one is alright. Second if facts are correct maybe grandma needs to lose a license. This is another reason public transportation exists. Can’t drive but can still get out.
Not like PT is worth a damn in this country
Kudos to the woman for admitting fault. I know when I was a kid I was T-boned by an older woman who had just had her pupils dialated at the opthamologist, and hit me after veering way out of her lane while I was stopped behind the line at the light. She denied responsibility and said I ran the light. The cop believed her and I got the blame. People suck!
But really, MANY people shouldn’t have their license. Driver testing and driver ability are absurdly low in this country. It’s difficult to believe that somebody as young as this driver – who is only in her 60s – should have her age taken into question up front. She’s probably just a terrible and distracted driver.
We expect people to keep driving to work and being productive until they’re 67. That’s a mid-life age. And you’ll be getting there sooner than you think.
These dudes were super lucky. A foot to the left and there’d be no posting this anywhere except a Facebook obituary (is that a thing? I have no idea).
I guess I’ll be the one to ask whether stories/pictures like this inspire any reflection from the writers who, let’s face it, own a lot of older cars?
My wife was injured in a high speed wreck when another driver ran a red light several years back. She was driving a current model year car, which I have no doubt saved her from paralysis at a minimum or death at worst. Since that moment, and since becoming a dad soon after, my mindset on the “beater/classic as daily driver” has changed quite a bit.
THIS!! This really should highlight how far safety has come! And I just want to also emphasize that there is a VERY, VERY large gulf between “surviving” a car accident and walking away unhurt.
Yes, 2nd thising this.
I’m daily driving a 2012 Cadillac because of air bags. I want an old car, have a 1994 PickUp which now basically scares me anywhere north of 50mph. Previous daily was a 2002 Saturn SL1. It…was…scary.
If you’re going to worry about safety of your vehicle, stick with the transit bus. They’re not as convenient, but quite safe.
Nearly 30 years ago I was hit head-on in my ’84 CRX at about 40mph, the other guy in a big Fiat. He had an airbag, and ran round to ask if I was OK. I had a fractured spine and broken fingers, and I was trapped in the car for an hour. I was off work for three months and haven’t fully recovered.
Immediately afterwards I wouldn’t even get in a car without airbags, but when I was OK to drive I got another CRX, and until about 5 years ago didn’t have a daily driver with an airbag (and even then it was by default as non-airbag cars are getting rarer). I still ride motorbikes.
I think I understand the risks, and I definitely understand the consequences.
I was just saying the same thing. Old cars are fun for a low speed drive in sunny weather. If I’m going to go on the highway or drive at night, I take the Subaru.
Even the best driver in the world couldn’t avoid the accident in the article. If that had been me in my CJ5, I wouldn’t have survived that accident.
That moment came for me when someone driving the most recent gen of Taurus hit my 2009 GTI right at the passenger side A-pillar. The airbags didn’t even go off, but the car was totaled. I was pushed into lanes going the opposite way, thankfully there was no oncoming traffic. I didn’t have a scratch on me, just a mildly sore back for a few months. But if I had been in my (admittedly rusty) 1972 Super Beetle I would have been in much worse shape, not to mention losing a car that I’ve had since I was 11.