45 minutes into the Tomcatt drive on Saturday, I, unfortunately, allowed the front right wheel to run off into the grass as I was rounding a sharp left turn. There was no shoulder, and after that, gravity took over. We wound up about 35 feet down a steep ravine. Luckily we did not roll, but as you can see from the damage to both sides of the car, bounced off a couple trees, and came to rest against another tree, which is why we didn't continue into the ravine, about 75 feet below us. Roy (Canberra) saw what happened (we were following him,) so Jonas and he turned around as quickly as possible. Since we were so deep into the underbrush, they couldn't see us at first. Only when I blew my horn did they find us. Jonas climbed down the hill and helped Bea get out (both doors were blocked) and I was able to climb out without help, but still in shock. Bea's glasses, hat, and cell phone were knocked off. My glasses, my cap, and my right hearing aid were knocked off. My phone was lying in the passenger side floor. Roy had already called 911 and since we were in the middle of nowhere, it took about 30 minutes for the Ohio State Trooper to arrive, and another 1.5 hours for the wrecker to show up, after I had called USAA. After the car was pulled up from the ravine, I found my hearing aid behind the passenger seat (how did it get there?), the tow truck driver found my cap in a tree, the Trooper found my glasses in another tree, and after I pinged Bea's phone he found that. We never did find her glasses, though. During the wait for the tow truck, we had a quick shower so the Trooper let us wait in his car. Bea suffered some superficial cuts and scratches from the broken mirror on her side and I have a jammed middle finger on my right hand that I had x-rayed, but is only a bad bruise. Waiting to hear from USAA if they are going to total the car, which I think they are. In the meantime, been searching the internet for a possible replacement. We are so thankful that we are OK!

Here are the pics I was able to take:

Funny place to park a car, the Trooper said, when he arrived.



Here it is being extracted from its resting place:





And the final good-bye:

 

Surprisingly, there was absolutely no damage to the front of the car and the airbags did not deploy. And I am really sorry that the drive portion of the meet had to end this way. Oh, I also got a minor ticket for "Failure to Control'" though the Trooper profusely apologized for having to write it.

 

So glad to read you two made it through without major injury. Right side up is a good way to land.

 

Wow, glad to hear you both are ok, there are some nasty places to run off the road there.

 

Sad to hear of your misfortune on the Tomcatt Drive, Gene, and especially glad to hear that you both were not badly hurt. I know from experience on following you on Vintage drives that you were leading, that you are one of the best drivers in Vintage. Sometimes on a narrow twisty road just an inch or two is enough to pull you off the pavement and into the trees. Wow, it could have been much worse! Glad you are planning to replace the silver S!

 

Gene, glad you and Bea are not hurt. You can get another S.

 

Gene and Bea,

First off: I am happy to learn that the S did it's job in protecting you. And that you were not HURT. On the other hand, I am sorry to learn that this happened and that your beloved S-2000 may be totaled by your insurance company. That is why in 2019 I arranged to have my S insured by Haggety by an agreed upon rate of $50K.

I am VERY sorry to learn this.

 

Wow, that wasn't the report I was expecting Gene! Thank God neither you nor Bea were "not" hurt badly but still that must have been one hell of a scary ride, especially the blow to the driver's door. It must have felt like you were falling off a cliff. Thanks for sharing your experience in such detail and the pictures. I suspect that's from those days of flying choppers in Nam.

I'm a member of the MG Vintage Racers and an article in a newsletter I received today had this to say, "As you can see, we as vintage racers must realize that with age and increased speed our visual acuity decreases, our field of vision decreases, our depth perception decreases, our colour discrimination decreases, and our reaction times decrease." I know all of that applies to me these days.

I don't know if you were a member when this was reported. If memory serves me right this was on the Dragon. No one was seriously hurt. The S2000 is an awesome car when it comes to safety.


Once again, I'm so glad you were able to take a deep breath and walk away!

 

I'm really sorry to hear this, Gene. II'm glad that you and Bea are all right. The car can be replaced but it would be difficult to find another Gene and Bea.

 

So sorry to hear this, but your car ended up in the best position possible. You two really came out of it well. Whew...