I saw this on the wagon forums.

http://www.waldnet.nl/wn/fotonieuws/...d_Waldwei.html

Looks like the wheel and axle ventilated the fuel tank.

 

that is a shame.. i would not wish that on anyone,but a newer car with bland styling would'nt hurt as much! looks to be overseas by the plates. hope they rebuild her as im sure there are not many of those abroad..

 

Looks like the next Barret Jackson storey

 

Looks way to familiar

 

Man.... that sucks!!!

 

Think I'll run the Silver Bullet up to Ashley's shop today and have them check out all the wheel bearings!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Holy Cow! Man that stinks. I can sympathize with them as well. Had one fine Chebby Luv race truck burn to the ground due to an engine bay fire and not even 5 years ago I was with my Dad in the '35 Coupe doing around 45 mph and all of a sudden the drivers side rear tire and 1/3 of the axle passed us and started cartwheeling about 700 feet ahead of us in the ditch. Luckily that one didn't cause a fire.
Scot

 

It still hurts to watch your car burn down/up when it a newer "dime a dozen" car. This was my 2002 Pontiac Grand Am SE V6. It had 200K on it. I had just replaced all 4 struts a week earlier. I just switched to my winter tires and had it undercoated for the first time. The fresh undercoating caught fire from the exhaut 10 minutes from the shop were it was sprayed.











Adam

 

That's a shame, hate to see any car burn up and a Vista to boot. Just about as bad as Jamsbo's H/O. Hurts just to watch. Gotta check the car out when you pull it from the winters nap that's for sure. Check the wiring too, remember insulation gets brittle over the years and can fray and short out causing a fire. Remember to install that battery disconnect.

 

Damn, and double damn, glad no injuries. Was the vista in the Netherlands?

 

Might this have been towing-related? If not, does that mean I always have to look at BOTH ends of my 'Cruiser for signs of smoke?...

 

Back in 1981 I had the right rear shear off all 5 studs on my Vista running down the freeway at around 70 mph! I had a uni-lug aluminum wheel on it / when it came off it just went into the wheel well and did no body damage but it ground the shock mount off halfway thru the shock by the time I got it stopped . As a teen I never thought about how lucky I was .

 

Are we sure that gas was involved in starting this fire?

True, you can see where the Left Rear hit the tank, but in the first picture, most of the fire seems to be coming from the Right Rear, which is clearly on fire. The Left side is throwing grey smoke, but no flame, while gas burns with an orange flame and black smoke.

Could it be that he lost one tire, locked the opposite tire, which overheated, then burned, and that set the rest of it on fire, maybe including some leaking gas?

Either way, it's a sad thing to see.

- Eric

 

Dunno about the cause, but I'm sure that wagon 'suitcase' tank couldn't have helped the situation....

Years ago (late '80s) I had a '76 Malibu wagon that was freebee and had rust behind the rear wheels. Didn't care much about the rust until I made a trip to Chicago one winter. The drive itself was terrifying with the weather and the 85 mph bumper-to-bumper traffic in this old car. When I got to the hotel & got out, I noticed that the tank had fallen mostly out of the quarter. The straps had rusted & broke and the only thing still holding it was the flappy quarter and the hoses. It was hanging down to ~ 2" above the ground.

I scrounged some wire hangars from the hotel and laying in the freezy slush in the parking lot, rigged it enough to continue my trip....

Sad to see a Vista go.....particularly a '68..

 

I'm trying to figure out how that happened in the first place with bolt in axles. It should have never of come out of the tube to begin with.

 

The language is Dutch so it's likely. Too bad.

 

I see an exhaust pipe run directly beneath where a loosened fuel line would drip. Whether the tire caused the fuel leak is unknown.

 

do Vistas all have "O" type axles?

 

In 68, 69 and 70 they did.