Well, it's here. I still don't understand the chain of events this morning. I had a plan. A little bit complicated, but it was a good plan. Things did not go according to the plan.
Yesterday afternoon, the hauler called to confirm the delivery instructions. I confirmed the address and explained that it was a gated parking lot rather than my residence. The road to my house is currently torn up to replace the storm drain. It's a one lane mess and no way a big car hauler should try to get through. I was going to bring the car to my house later using my own trailer. It seemed that everything was clear and understood, the driver would call me in the morning when he was 30 minutes away.
I am working nights this week, 7 pm to 7 am. It was a quiet night and I came home to a beautiful sunrise. I was excited about the car arriving, but managed to get some sleep. I awoke when the driver called at 9:30. He would arrive at 10:00 am. I went to the parking lot to meet him. 10:10, I got a call from my wife. “Your Porsche is here.”
Me: “At the house?”
“Yes.”
“No way, I didn't even give him that address.”
“It's here. I'm going out to talk to him.”
“Okay, On my way.”
My friend and I pulled into my driveway as the driver was unstrapping the Boxster from his trailer. We got out and walked towards the car, still on the trailer. I was ten feet away and saw the car start to roll. The ramps on the trailer were not placed and the unattended car was about to roll off the back. My mind knew it was too late and stopped my body. Slow motion. Too far. Bam – front wheels roll off the end. Scrape – belly slides across the end of the trailer. Thump – front wheels hit the ground. Bam – the back wheels come off the trailer and the tailpipe catches as the rest of the car falls to the road. Not a long drop, but not a good drop. I made it to the car as it continued to roll down hill, reached in and set the brake.
My wife and friend Scott later commented on how well I kept my composure. I don't remember that. In my mind I was beating the truck driver to a bloody pulp. Luckily, in this world, I was taking pictures of the damage and appearing to take it all in stride.
Why was he at my house? Why did he unload on the hill rather than the more level ground. He could have easily backed to the end of my driveway and put the car off the road. I'll never know. I signed the form acknowledging the damage he caused and he drove away before I regained my senses. Tomorrow I'll start to figure out the claims process.
Nobody was hurt. The car was damaged, but it's relatively minor: The exhaust tip is ruined and the paint is cracked around it on the rear bumper. There is some damage to the undercarriage, but it would not have been caused by this. More likely by the forklift driver at Copart. From the pictures, it happened before the auction. I'll explain all that later in another post. I'm still happy with the car and I still plan to revive it.
Sorry for the lack of Boxster content in this post. Much more of that to follow.
