Let me tell about Fido, my Volvo that died for me. I had my beautiful 1987 red, 5 spd 245DL for less than 2 years with
only 73k miles. It was in superb condition when I bought it & took great pains to keep it that way. I named him "Fido"
because to the unknowing eye he looked like a dog-slow car. God, I miss him.
Just a few days before Christmas 1991, my boyfriend and I left for a restaurant to celebrate my birthday. I drove since he'd had extensive knee surgery 2 wks prior. We live in rural SE Lower Michigan and headed for Toledo OH about 1/2 hour away. Four miles from home we were hit head-on by a drunk driver (0.27 alcohol level) who completely crossed the centerline in a 1978 Ford F-150 pickup (pre-yuppie assault vehicle) on a country road.
My speed was ~45mph and his was estimated at ~45 mph, thus the 90 mph approximate closing speed. I could describe the mechanics, but the Michigan State Police accident scene photos here pretty much say it all. By inspecting the pavement gouges, the Trooper said that both vehicles stopped cold upon impact. This was his first Volvo crash, but he had heard about them & was very impressed that we lived. People say that it doesn't look like we were both going that fast.
But, what would be left of us in the 1980 Mustang I sold for the 245? As I've said, only another Volvo maven really knows what's in these pictures.
For a dumb reason known only to me, I did not have my seatbelt on, though my boyfriend did. Watching the hood fold
up & wondering how much of it would meld with my face/person, I ate the steering wheel, stuck my left fist thru the
windshield and jammed my right foot & knee under the dashboard (I am short - 5 ft - and I sat about 6" from the steering
wheel just to use the clutch properly). On the recoil, my head slammed into the headrest, then back into the steering
wheel. My boyfriend, who had reclined his seat a bit slammed up into his shoulder belt then back into the seat (the knee
was ok but he got whiplash and a seatbelt melt streak on his new jacket, but that was it). The noise was deafening.
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