senor honda

By Bob Marlow
It should break the heart of any “car guy,” even if that car guy is not a lover of old Mopars.
On Saturday, October 11, the driver of a Dodge Caravan minivan ran off State Highway 31 in Lebanon Township, New Jersey, and demolished a 1950 Desoto that was parked in front of an auto body shop.
Happily, the car was parked with no one in it, so there were no injuries other than to the minivan driver, who was transported to a hospital for treatment.
Security footage caught the moment of impact.

The Desoto had been the pride and joy of Dan Wyant Sr., who had refurbished the car as a retirement project. Mr Wyant died last year and so did not have to suffer the anguish of seeing his car destroyed, but that does not lessen the heartache for his family. “All that work; what a shame to see it destroyed,” said Dan Wyant Jr.
The car was parked in front of the auto body shop because the family was offering the car for sale, at a price of $13,500. But the destruction wrought by the minivan was so complete that a future sale is unlikely. Perhaps the car will give some parts so that other Desotos can remain roadworthy, but otherwise the car has been reduced to scrap.
It has not been reported whether the driver of the minivan was distracted, drunk, suffering a medical issue, or other impairment that led to the crash. The accident took place just past an intersection where drivers frequently pass cars on the right at speed, and if one were to execute such a pass and not steer back into the travel lane one would follow the path taken by this minivan.
The minivan did slip between a utility pole and a mailbox support before striking the Desoto, and it struck the Desoto with enough force to push it through a sign mounted in a concrete base and into a Volkswagen parked nearby. The Volkswagen had been brought in for a minor repair, but now needs a bit more work.
The minivan completed a pirouette and rolled back away from the Desoto following the crash, coming to rest against a curb. Looking at the photo we can see that, even though the minivan was more than 20 years old, 40 years of advances in vehicle design allowed the minivan to weather the crash better than the Desoto.
Nonetheless the Caravan will be a “total” also – should we mourn its loss, too?
Photos by Rich Maxwell. Security video image courtesy of CARS Auto Body.