Strangely enough, our dealings with the at-fault driver's insurance company (Nationwide) involved a lot less stress than anticipated. Their first offer of settlement was around $3K. Information found on the web indicated that the party suffering a loss has a right to how the settlement figures are calculated. I politely stated that the figure was low and I would like a copy of their calculations. The agent explained that only one 544 in my region could be located for a comp and it was for sale for around $3K.

I inquired about the condition of the comparison 544. They admitted that they had no information regarding the condition of the other car. I said that this surely doesn't seem to be a fair comparison. I also mentioned that my records show that close to $12K had been spent on purchasing and restoring the car.

The agent suggested that if I fax down any receipts on hand, they would take these expendetures into consideration. I offered to also send down adverts in Hemmings Motor News to help as comparisons. She thought it couldn't hurt to provide as much information as possible. Fortunately, Judy has a system of folders where she saves every piece of paper related to most stuff we buy. Over 20 pages of receipts were sent to the insurance company.

Today a very generous settlement was offered. It won't make up for the time and effort spent on the car, but we should now be able to purchase an excellent replacement for the lost Swede.

John, thanks for the suggestion to use Hemmings as a basis for price. I owe you quite a few beers if you ever head over to this neck of the woods. It is scary to look at the appreciating values of _all_ older cars. One of our priorities will be finding comprehensive and collision coverage for our 122.

Thanks again for all the support and direction provided. We were expecting a very bitter end to our loss.

Hopefully, the information above won't be of interest to anyone here -- other than accepting my thanks for helping in a time of loss.

Joe Menacker in WV