https://www.copart.com/lot/44743011/...a-atlanta-west

I'm really sad to see this, but was hoping to could shed a little light on the extent of the damage?

 

Oh Nooooooooo...

Having followed his whole build, that's really sad to see.

 

As Mac said, that's so sad!

It was a great project that so many of us enjoyed and appreciated the huge amount of hard work and skill that went into it.

It would be lovely to think that it may go back on the road again one day.

Paul

 

That was hit HARD. The right rear wheel angle really shows the extent. Right front corner was also hit. Can't see enough of the left side to see if the unibody was tweaked enough to affect gaps.

 

Ouch. Barely two years after completion, too. I really hope it was insured for a good sum.

 

The interior still looks immaculate! Not quite as good as what this other car had before it met its demise....

https://www.copart.com/lot/56379771/...salt-lake-city

 

Did it die from embarrassment?

 

it says "total loss - interior styling damage"

 

Yeah, so.....

The shooting brake was parked on the street and a guy going maybe 25/30 MPH careened into it and ended up driving down the side of the car. The entire passenger side is dented/damaged, roof tweaked, hatch gaps off and rear left suspension and wheel damaged from being pushed into the curb.

I debated fixing it but ended up saying goodbye. Why? That's a lot of damage and it would be easier to start from scratch (now that I've done it once). And there were some flaws/mistakes that I would've liked to fix that would be difficult on this car but easier on another build. For example, the interior roof trim that covered the inside of the rear window was clunky and ugly but that was at the end of the project and I got impatient and just "finished it." Probably not noticeable to most but drove me crazy. The other thing that drove me crazy was that the seam where I joined the roof would "appear" in hot or cold temps. I used panel bond to connect roofs and it would expand at different rate than the original roof which was fairly thick gauge steel and the rear section of roof which was much thinner (being from a modern car/truck). That seam haunted me, but what can you do? I didn't think I had skills to weld it.

And one of the limitations I had on the original car was that I didn't want to use a pristine XJS in case I couldn't pull off the shooting brake mod and so this meant that I had to use a somewhat rusty car that needed an entire interior, a bunch of wiring and all suspension parts. Essentially I had to restore the car, and then cut the roof off. So, the "next time" I'm going to buy an intact car and just change the roof.

But, I'm extremely proud of my work on that car. Not to brag, but also quoting my dad (RIP), that is a project that few lay people could've pulled off. That car was ****ing gorgeous!

Hope I'll be back over on this forum sometime in the future withe next shooting brake project, maybe a 6.0 and a manual....

 

Poop, whelp hopefully I get outbid. I'm good at pulling dents and body work, but I don't have the equipment to pull a frame.

 

I understand the desire to start over on a new one despite the hours into the one you did first to get rid of the little things that bug you from the first build. Sounds like something I would do. Hats off to you for the workmanship and the perseverance to make a go on the first one. I hope to see you build another and then...another