Goodbye to our Beast- a 1973 Sportscoach
It was our retirement trip. Planned 6 months duration, We'd been out 6 weeks. Driving along in New Brunswick, a lovely morning, almost no traffic on a 2 lane highway, approaching Bathurst, NB. We'd left Kouchibouguac a couple hours earlier and we were headed for the Gaspe.
A car comes over the hill and then, with no warning, swerves head on into us. The impact took off the left side and the entire front of the RV, including the steering and brakes. We continued with no control across the highway and into the gulley, mud, water, and rock wall on the left. Our pride and joy, a 1973 Sportscoach, with 43 years of happy memories and its 4th rebuilt Chevy 454, 8 months old, was destroyed. Even the Jeep Wrangler toad was totalled (well, almost, we convinced them to just give us book value and we paid to have repairs to make it roadworthy to get us home.)
The other driver was apparently a 4 insulin shot a day diabetic who'd been sick that morning. She died in the impact. Our Beast died keeping us both alive. Cuts, scrapes, bruises, worsening of my back injury (I can't stand or sit for long and was horizontal in the side bed/couch) , the wife (driver) has broken bones in her foot, but we're both alive.
It's been 2 weeks and our Jeep was just repaired yesterday. We leave for home tomorrow. If you have a classic Sportscoach and need windows or other rare parts, contact B&C wrecking yard in Bathurst NB for possible salvage. The engine is probabky ok, and the generator 4kw Onan ran like a top, but we can't get them home.
A car comes over the hill and then, with no warning, swerves head on into us. The impact took off the left side and the entire front of the RV, including the steering and brakes. We continued with no control across the highway and into the gulley, mud, water, and rock wall on the left. Our pride and joy, a 1973 Sportscoach, with 43 years of happy memories and its 4th rebuilt Chevy 454, 8 months old, was destroyed. Even the Jeep Wrangler toad was totalled (well, almost, we convinced them to just give us book value and we paid to have repairs to make it roadworthy to get us home.)
The other driver was apparently a 4 insulin shot a day diabetic who'd been sick that morning. She died in the impact. Our Beast died keeping us both alive. Cuts, scrapes, bruises, worsening of my back injury (I can't stand or sit for long and was horizontal in the side bed/couch) , the wife (driver) has broken bones in her foot, but we're both alive.
It's been 2 weeks and our Jeep was just repaired yesterday. We leave for home tomorrow. If you have a classic Sportscoach and need windows or other rare parts, contact B&C wrecking yard in Bathurst NB for possible salvage. The engine is probabky ok, and the generator 4kw Onan ran like a top, but we can't get them home.
