Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

1965 Plymouth Hits a Tree


Recommended Posts

150 mph in a '65 Plymouth? First that's a little hard to believe. Not impossible. I just question that speed? This is a 426 Hemi car. It was rated, in 1965, at about 425HP. Some claimed 525HP. That will push a car to 150+ if it's geared right.

I also have a hard time believing anyone walked away alive from that? Nobody said anything about "walked away". "Survived" was the word used. Being brain-dead jelly on permanent life-support is still technically "surviving".

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to work for a guy who got a phone call from the police in the middle of the night, informing him that his son had been in a horrible accident. He said his son was only 4 years old and asleep. His Granada had been stolen out of the driveway and some dumb kid wrapped it around a telephone pole at speed.

The kid was badly hurt and successfully sued my friend's insurance company for a big number! Funny thing, the fact that he stole the car wasn't admissible in court! All that could be said was that he was driving the insured's car and he had an accident.

Its not right but I could believe it. I don't think stealing a car is a felony unless you cross state lines. Not sure..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its not right but I could believe it. I don't think stealing a car is a felony unless you cross state lines. Not sure..

Stealing a car with the intent to "permanently deprive" the owner of the vehicle is usually a felony, no matter if state lines are not crossed. It's a big deal. Muy bad.

In other circumstances, it can also be a lesser charge like "joyriding", and may depend on the jurisdiction, perpetrator's age, prior record, value of the vehicle, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to school with a kid that got killed when he was 16 he had a bad 55 chevy and hit a telephone pole at about 50 mph less than that and that 55 looked just as bad if not worse than that dodge but he was crushed by the engine it was actually driven back to the drivers seat. He had a closed casket funeral. My point is it would seem impossible to survive a crash of that magnitude judging by the looks of that dodge! ( just my opinion ) :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something doesn't add up here. The photos of the wrecked car don't correspond to what you would expect to see after a car hits a fixed object at well over 100 MPH. The engine would have been in the front seat. There is definitely more to this story than "car hits tree at 150 MPH." The damage is completely inconsistent with that sort of impact.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anybody else wonder what sort of collision this was? Certainly not a single point impact. Looks like he got airborne and crashed through a whole lot of heavy tree limbs rather than hit the tree trunk.

Edit: Looks like several of us were wondering the same thing. Anyway, shouldn't be too hard to check court records to ID the thief and find out how badly he was (hopefully) injured.

Edited by ChrisBcritter
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My guess is that it was set up as a super-stock nostalgia drag car, and wasn't intended to be run on the street. Of course, nobody told the moron who stole and destroyed it.

Before%20Pro%20Stock,%20John%20Hagen%20f

John Hagen's car from Minneapolis..Watched it race many times at Keystone Dragways just east of Winnipeg...Sweet car...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

150! And it hit a block wall before the tree? Been thinking more about this, and talked about it with another car buddy. Then looking at the photos from the salvage yard. I know you Mopar and Hemi guys would like to believe this happened at 150. But, the more and more I think of this story. It's just that, a story. If somebody told me that car hit a tree at 60 or 70 I'd buy that. But, at 150 even without the wall, that car should be a lot worst than that.

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What most likely happened:

The idiot steals the car. Drives off, realizes, this is a fast car! And speeds off down a road, thinking it was a straight road when it actually had a turn or two. He's probably going upwards of 90+, sees the turn, brakes lock up, the car goes sideways, the driver side front hits the tree, throwing the block and everything else to the left! The idiot survives, the car doesn't... :unsure:

My mom told me a story of her neighbor who was tired of having kids knock down his mailbox in their cars, messing it up. So he dug a 4 foot hole and mounted his mail box on a solid steel rod and poured concrete in the hole and stuck the mailbox in the concrete. That thing was going nowhere. A kid and his buddy come down the street, and try to run over his mailbox. The car wraps around the mailbox, driving the engine back into the interior, totaling the car, they survived but were in critical condition. Remember, this was at 2-3 o'clock in the morning. My mom said she heard a loud bang and screaming, the neighbor coming out on the front porch and yelling at the kids for trying to run over his mailbox. :lol: The whole car was around this mailbox. He got sued by the city but they dropped the charges, because, hey, the man was tired of his mailbox being run over!

The mailbox is still there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...