Most of you don't know me. I've been a silent observer on this forum for the past 6 months. I've been gathering some materials about my little mods - like adding central locking etc. to later post here.

Yesterday the car slipped on the wet road - it all happened within a split second. The next thing I know - is I'm flying with the car upside down. The car hit the roadside, missed the tree and flipped over and I landed with it upside down. Fortunately I ended up without a single scratch... The site of the accident looked really horrible, so it's a minor miracle.

Poor b is completely destroyed... I really loved it;-( So dear fellow barchetta lovers, be very careful so you don't end up like me

That's terrible, so sorry. Very glad you're ok - you're so lucky not to be injured rolling in a soft-top. It's my worst fear of what could happen in the barchetta.

Perhaps you'll get another b?

Very sad news, however once again the Barchetta proves it's worth. I've heard a few stories of the Barchetta coping very well if it rolls and it seems to be true.

Actually the windscreen held the car in place pretty well. I don't even know how, but I was not injured at all. There was a crater on the roadside - that was the place the car hit the road and rolled over. Then about 5 meters nothing and that's where it landed. The windscreen (as far as I can remember in that state of mind) was somewhat deflected and the passanger side looked worse. Fortunately noone was sitting there. It was not terrible, but I guess that side looked worse.

I did not have rollbars installed - but as far as I know, they are just for show anyways. (I mean, they would not possibly be a whole lot useful in the Barchetta a similar situation. Not talking about factory fitted in other cars, just the aftermarket ones for the Barchetta.)

Surprisingly the airbag did not go off!!! I had the seat removed, so the light was on - but I would expect it to work anyways. Maybe because it was not a front impact... ?

About an other b... Well - that's not the issue I'm solving right now. I'm still in a mild shock mentally. I loved this car very much and I wish this did not happen... Maybe one day... ;(

Best thing for you at the moment is to relax and chill out.

One thing to remember for later is that your statistically more likely to have an accident soon after you have had one, so when you get back in the saddle drive very carefully for a while.

That sounds really bad! Glad you're ok, though.

This might be a silly question, but you wouldn't happen to have photos of what your B looks like now? (just so that I know how much I'll have to fix whenever I manage flipping mine )

Once you've put a convertable on it's A piller it's not something you want to repair or ever use again

ASCAS, I am really sorry to hear about your bad luck but am also very pleased to hear that you have been able to walk away from it, I would imagine it will take a little while to get over such a traumatic experience! You should buy a lotto ticket this week!

We drove past a very bad accident on the Windsor bypass today. Not sure what happened but fairly sure there was a fatality judging by the number of police on scene, the attendance of the TRL accident investigation unit and car being shielded by police. All of the cars on the scene looked new so it just goes to show it's all about luck!

glad you are ok sorry to hear about your b but what important is you walked away you can all ways get another car but people are irreplaceable so count your blessing!!

take care

it did a good job of protecting you so at least thats one thing......

Hope you can get another

Jim

sorry 2 hear you stuffed your B but nice 2 know you made it out ok. Dont forget to buy the car back as you can make a load of cash on parts from it..

Ascas, sorry to hear it mate. My worst fear is also flipping my B on some country road. I'm glad it didn't just crumple in the accident. I'm a lot more glad you got away without any injury though - I know it feels like the exact opposite, but I think you should count yesterday as your lucky day

Cheers for the info on the airbag not going off. I've also got my airbag light lit up on the dashboard from a broken pretensioner in the passenger seat. The guys at DTR garage said the airbag would still work but maybe I'll get a second opinion. (Doc - didn't buy that one off ebay in the end because there are apparently 3 different types of pretensionor and you need the one specific to your car's model/age - info from DTR bloke)

Thanks for the kind words everyone... One more detail about the crash - there was no ABS in the barch. (Bought it used already) I suspect it would get me out of this situation. As soon as the car started to slip there was no way out - my reaction was pure instinct: i hit the brake. Bad move - but given that it happned so fast, I could not really use analyze the situation.

Other than that it is a good lession for me and everyone "kinda dry" road is not dry (the sun was shining like cazy, but the road surface was still wet from the recent light rain) and "almost straight" section is not straight. :bang: It was my stupidity too - I have to admit.
There is one additional fact about the crash - which might have some informational value: the front brakes were brand new. Just installed a day before and not used - the brake power was not at its peak by any means.

Alan.D. : I never heard that it is more likely (at least statistically) to get into an accident again. Anyways this is good advice - i will have to be a lot more careful....!

Robot: no pictures now - maybe in the future. AlanD is right - the car is beyond reasonable repair... The cost would exceed the price of a similarly aged barch.

doc: I will try to sell the parts, but I live in a counrtry where the market for such things is very small. I wish I could sell it on ebay.de, but the postage price would make the deals unreasonable. There are lots of good parts left - especially the engine. Will see...

RIP #7985... One of the last pics.

Very sorry to hear about your accident, but I'm glad you're OK (if a little shocked).

It's a shame as it looks like it was a good looking car :-(

As for selling bits, you might be able to get some money for the smaller more post-able parts.

Anyway, take it easy and try and relax, it took me a good week to fully recover from a crash I had some years ago, even though I wasn't injured.

That's horrible. I flinch when a crashed B thread appears. As everyone has said, its great that you're not hurt. Hope everything feels better soon and you get another car. I felt shaken by a small knock so its hard to imagine how you feel.

Glad you are okay it sounds horrific what happened, hope you are back on the road soon with another Barchetta

ascas said:

There is one additional fact about the crash - which might have some informational value: the front brakes were brand new. Just installed a day before and not used - the brake power was not at its peak by any means.

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Who fitted the brakes? was the oil residue removed prior to fitting discs or was it just Pads fitted? were you advised that it would take a few days before the pads/discs bedded in?

ascas said:

doc: I will try to sell the parts, but I live in a counrtry where the market for such things is very small. I wish I could sell it on ebay.de, but the postage price would make the deals unreasonable. There are lots of good parts left - especially the engine.

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Not so sure mate small items such as window rubbers etc will be cheap to post but will make reasonable money. Items such as the engine would be usefull to Punto HGT lot so there is still scope.

we are "almost" near each other maybe postage will not be to much expensive, i am interested to window rubbers if they are ok and maybe to some other parts. take a shoot of parts that are ok and post them somewhere...

It sounds as though you were very lucky to escape unscathed. I hope you are not too shaken by the experience. It may take a while before the full shock hits you, so take it easy for a few days.

I had a big "off" at speed five years ago after some moron came around a blind bend on the wrong side of the road. I demolished 30m of hedgerow and came to a sudden arboreal stop half-way up an oak tree. I got out without a scratch, but then it was a Volvo... Strangely, none of the airbags went off (front, side, curtain), even though the car had rolled at least once.

After the initial shock I felt strangely exhilarated at the realisation that I had survived such a major accident - perhaps an explanation for the statistics on repeat accidents that Alan.D mentioned in his earlier post?

Silver linings? - I negotiated a very favourable insurance pay-out for the Volvo, bought a much cheaper car, and used the balance to buy my B!!

I hope that in time you manage to find another B to enjoy and to cherish.

Meanwhile, go carefully out there!