Beretta.net

Ozzwoman9 wrote:I know someone that took two 3rd gen firebirds and made one. One car was rear ended, the other smashed in the front. Guy stripped both cars down, cut and welded them together. Looking at the car today, you would never ever know that it was in any kind of accident.

I've never gone quite that far to save a car, but my old Camaro has been saved three times now, the first T-boning, a front-end collision (I cannot say 'accident', because the driver at-fault ran a red arrow on a left turn through pure negligence while I was half-way through the intersection) that crushed my car's radiator, upper core-support, cowl-induction hood, one fender, and the nose. The third time it was saved was after an arson lit an adjacent vehicle on fire while my car was parked at a friend's house, and the back-end of my car was toasted. I still have to fix that damage...

My '92 Grand Am was smashed in the front too before I bought it, and I replaced the entire front frame-work in front of the strut-towers by drilling-out all of the spot-welds and cutting the main frame-rails. After the work was done, the car looked factory-fresh up front under the body-work, and tracked straight enough for me to take my hands off the wheel for ~15-20 seconds at 70+ mph without deviating from the lane at all. I used a laser-line system to confirm that the car was straight to within 1/64th of an inch, so I was very happy and proud of my work. But I was also trained under FAA guide-lines for (air)-frame repair and welding...

But yes, with talent and skill and a lot of time, things like this can be done successfully. Maybe this Beretta here CAN be saved... Excuse me now, I can't type anymore, I think I dislocated my shoulder from patting myself on the back...

didn't get the memo! I love saying that!

Welding together pieces on an assembly line is one thing. Welding together two halves of a frame is another. I'm no automaker, but I don't see it being a good idea.

"One form of lemon is called a cut and shut or clipping, a form of body collision "repair" based on buying a wrecked car and sawing off the wrecked section to replace it with a matching section from another (similar) car. If improperly repaired these vehicles may be inherently dangerous; at high speeds, or in an accident, the car may come apart due to the weaknesses of the welds or pins connecting the two segments of the vehicle or mismatches of segments. In the UK cut and shut cars are treated like any car that has had major repair work resulting in what is essentially a new car. They must first be inspected for road-worthiness, be assigned a new registration number and pass the standard MOT test. If this is successful they will be given a "Q" registration, meaning they are a kit, or composite car and not an original unit from the manufacturer. In some states of the USA, the sale of cut and shut vehicles is illegal. Cars created using two or more large sections of previous ones are sometimes called "zipper cars"."

I think my uncle had a Camaro that was put together from 2 different cars in Colorado.

Looks like he dropped the price down to 800, who wanted to make the El Cameretta?