The love of my life was a 1964 ember red Chevrolet SS convertible that I nicknamed Candy after the Four Seasons song.
If there was a finer machine than Candy in all of Texas, I would have loved to see it. Candy was kept so clean inside and out that you could eat off it; and mechanically, it ran perfectly. The engine oil was changed ever 1,000 miles, and Luigi, my mechanic, gave it a tune-up ever 2,000 miles. Candy was waxed almost every month and I rarely drove her in inclement weather or on rough, pothole-filled roads.
Candy was so pretty that she attracted two prom queens as dates, and was a regular crowd pleaser, later in life, in my town’s annual beauty pageant.
Unfortunately, after many seasons of quality rides, when I received a job transfer to Indianapolis, Candy didn’t go with me. I knew the harsh, salt-filled roads of Indiana wouldn’t favor the paint, and I didn’t fancy renting space in a storage facility to drive it a few months a year. So my nephew, Harold, inherited it and he continues to send me photos of prom queens and beauty queens riding in Candy.
Though driving Candy is now a distant memory, when I had her, one of the things I was always cognizant about was avoiding an accident. Of course, I took the necessary precautions such as mostly driving in the daytime, avoiding driving in bad weather, and having quality insurance, not to mention watching for signs of speeding, reckless or intoxicated drivers like a hawk, but I always had this nagging feeling in the back of my head, “Is what I am doing enough?”
Then when a friend and fellow car enthusiast got into an accident, I got the answer. Besides doing everything with extreme caution, have a quality law firm in the back of your pocket as back-up.
My friend, Jeff, saw a Toyota approaching nearly 100 miles per hour and it ran his cherry Mustang off the highway and into a ditch. He was lucky he wasn’t killed, but not so lucky post-accident. First, the Toyota driver’s insurance company low-balled him by insisting that a new Mustang would be more than enough compensation to make up for the loss of his 1966 Mustang. This Mustang was in mint condition and had a lot of adjustments, such as a powerful engine replacement, electronic windows, a complete sound system and installation of an overdrive transmission. Jeff felt the improvements alone went way north of $5,000. My friend discovered, far too late, that insurers do their best to pay out on ACV, which stands for actual cash value.
Tired of hassling with the insurance company, Jeff looked into hiring Emerson Law LLC, a law firm in Indianapolis, to represent him. Law firms like Emerson Law will do all they can to help you with your legal problems, such as a car accident.
Here is some advice when you are looking for an attorney to consult with about your problem.
- Ask about their experience, particularly with automobile accidents.
- Ask if they have handled similar auto cases as yours.
- Ask for their assessment of your case.
- Ask the attorney to give you a rough ballpark of what the case will settle for.
- Ask whether there are any overriding facts in favor of you or the opposing insurer.
- Ask who, in the firm, will specifically work on your case and who will be your contact person.
- Ask for an explanation of all fees involved.
You may wonder if consulting an attorney is really necessary, but individuals who have been involved in similar accidents as yours speak volumes about how unsympathetic insurance companies are to car collectors. They simply can’t understand the blood, sweat, and tears you put into acquiring the vehicle, cleaning it, maintaining it and carefully restoring it. To them, it was simply a car. To you, it is a living, breathing piece of art.
