Dennis Barnhart, Eagle Computer RIP 1983, what fcar was he driving?

For starters I too am sorry for the loss of, I assume your Father?


I was a member of the group who inspected the car in the discovery process. I am aware the roof was off (I was talking about the roof section behind the removable section) and yes the door was sheared off but I did not go into great detail how just to avoid making it too graphic. The ownership details were provided to me by a dealership person at the time, I am sorry they seem to be wrong. I am also aware but was never provided supporting documents that there were suggestions or evidence your father was not the driver.

In any event I really think rehashing the accident is unproductive, I am sorry it got this far which is why the sleeping dogs comment.

I am a little curious about what really happened to the car though in light of the VIN still being used. If it is your fathers old car someone went to a lot of trouble.

 

By the way- how are you familiar with the car if I can ask?

 

Thank you! And I totally agree- someone would have gone to A LOT of trouble to rebuild. Would be interesting to see/hear if it was still out and about. Not trying to sound crass by any means- but maybe morbid curiosity has got the best of me as well. Just more answers to a neverending saga. I suppose I should be flattered by it all. I know in some way he would have been too! I was kind of sickened to find out that it might be out there only due to the fact that the guy who sold us the car was a close friend of my fathers and I used to babysit his kids! I still am in contact with him from time to time- and he is the one who brought the passenger to the office on that fateful day to test drive the 911 porsche we had for sale and then my dad offered him to drive "his new toy"- the rest is history. Side note that may be funny to some- my mom used to really like tom selleck- we used to kid with my dad that he bought the 308 to compete! HA!- Magnum Pi and all! Please let me know if there is any way I can help with everyone's interest- you've got mine peeked as well what its end truly was!

 

NNO, Carbon McCoy to some, is on the trail. I gave him some names to see if it can help to find out about the car currently. If you really are interested I am sure he will keep you informed.

Best to you

 

Thank you Mike. Sorry to be bold, but are you in the armed services?- (noticed Kuwait)

 

As a Los Gatos resident I drive that stretch all the time (it borders Lake Vasona, not Lexington) and I occasionally think about that tragic accident. As I recall, several Eagle employees bought exotic cars as a result of going public. A time to celebrate. Such an awful thing to happen when everything looked so right.

 

Is it possible to posts pictures on here? Someone had nicely said they would like to have seen my dad in the car and I have one. He actually bought it about 2 months before the comapny went public the day of the accident.

 

Yes Jennifer,

when you're making a response scroll down below the text-entry point and you'll see additional options. Under that you should see manage attachments.

Hope this helps,

Dan

 

"Manage Attachments" brings up another dialog box with a
"Browse" hot button, you can then peruse your hard drive for the file, double click the thumbnail to select, and then return to the dialog box and hit 'upload"...you'll see the file loading in the green bar.....

It has a certain size restriction so it may say "too large" and you'll see the various photo formats allowed......bmps are too large and dense they don't work...jpegs are fine, if small enough.....

HTH

God bless your Mom, my wife's response to my first Ferrari was "I hope you DIE in this car..." I am sure my children will always remember that moment! I can only imagine the feeling of being a passenger in your own car, in an accident like that.

 

Here you all go that were interested. This I think was actually taken at saratoga sales and leasing the day of purchase. I am sure a lot of you may disagree with me, but I still think this is one of the all time best looking cars ever built.
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No arguement from me, after my Divorce I bought two more! LOL!

Three kids, three 308GTBs......life worked out.

Thanks very much for your posts......it really is plausable a Pcar driver might be caught out as our cars are very different handling, I think. I had a girl with Pcar experience drive one of mine off the pavement shoulder recently..it wasn't even a curve!!

Very nice photos.

 

The 308 does seem to be a much sought after model. Forza mag. seemed to think in the long run it will be the new car to own over the current models. I just started to read this thread and let me say welcome and I too am sorry for your loss. This story is peaking my interest and will check in later to see what got discovered. Thanks for posting.

 

Here's one after the crash. After looking at them the sides weren't too terribly bad, but yeah, it was a mess. Carbon talked with me on this matter and the vin possibly being on another car so I have a question for you all. He told me that the car had been advertised in the LA times in '88 stating 1600 miles. In the numerous photos I have, the odometer reads 1888- does this lend itself to the fact that the plate most likely ended up on another car. Just curious what evryone's thoughts were as that struck me as strange. Thanks!
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That makes my cry.....

The VIN appears in three places on our cars, a removable plate on the steering column, a riveted metal plate in the driver's side door jamb, then they are stamped into the upper frame rail of the LH engine compartment.

So you'd have the possibilty of an out right transferance of the VIN to a theft car to hide it, or considering these are tube framed cars and pretty stout, someone straightening that actual frame and using a very common body kit, aftermarket, to make a "replica" 288GTO.

Rifledriver posting here has a long time involvement with the Factory dealers on the West Coast, so his opinion on the motor and transmission supports either case.

Carbon McCoy (real name, after a legal change) is our VIN chaser guru, so if he says it's still "out there" it most likely is!

HTH.

 

Yeah- just interesting after all these years of the sales company lying to us. Talked with my mom and she was sure they said it had been destroyed. Sad due to the fact that the dealer was such a close family friend of my father's at the time. Anything else that pops up about it I would gladly (gratefully) like to know as well as my brother, sister and mom. Funny how fate is, eh?

 

That image is a mirror image. If you look at the front emblem or the location of the wipers you will see what I mean.

As far as what happened to the VIN it was my initial thought that it might have wound up on a gray market car so it would not have to undergo the federalization process.

 

Since you seem pretty OK with all this I will also add for everyone else that the fuel tank on the drivers side was badly crushed by a secondary impact and did not leak a drop. It still had considerable gas in it when we inspected the car.

 

Two problems with that Tex. Totaled cars with good frames are not that hard to come by even then. The other is as you can see by the pictures that a great many parts and expensive parts at that, that are required to do a 288 conversion are damaged or destroyed on that car. Could it be done? Sure, but at a great deal higher cost than using another donor car.

 

That's a comforting crash report.......excellent catch on the photo, a print from a slide transparancy perhaps.

In the Leasing Company's defense (no affiliation) LOTS of things happen in Junk Yards just ahead of the crusher...good thought Brian, on a Grey Market Euro car assuming the USA VIN......

A shame, about the 288GTO conversion though.......

Jennifer, if you ever want to take one of mine out for drive, you'd be welcome.

 

I agree now Brian and think the conversion of a Grey Market car is far more likely.....we are just kind of playing "what if".
It'd take about two hours, a pop rivet gun, and a little welding/grinding to get that done, eh?

I am helping to track another "lost" VIN here in town though, down in the 308 Section.....

 

The photo's I have are the actual ones from the police department- I won't tell you what I had to go through to get them, but I have had them for quite some time now I assure you it was all legal - being married to a deputy now myself! I am also a EMT and firefighter so I see terrible situations unfortunately like this from time to time. As for driving one- I have always wanted to- got to steer my dads but that is different! Any chance you are in the NE Oregon area- I would take you up on that offer!

 

This one was in Portland!
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You'll just have to bring him come for a visit here, sometime...mine are scattered around Texas now...from here to Austin with the recent storm...

Many, many thanks for joining us here...epic thread!

Your father basically founded an entire industry..mind boggling, what it has become today.....I'm sometimes out at HP, all those servers spinning around and around...