My entry in 1996's demolition derby consisted of a 1984 Chevrolet Citation X-11 2-door hatchback. It seemed to be a pretty solid car, but at approx 2400 lbs it was slightly out of its league. Most competitors were mid-70s vintage full size cars weighing in at around 4000 lbs. But I was desperate for a ride, so I went ahead and fixed it up. (For more information on prepping a derby car click on the "Preparing a Car" button to the left.)

I always put a lot of time into the painting, and it finally paid off with the "Best Looking Car" trophy.

As for the race itself, it turns out that the front-wheel drive Citation was quite nimble in the ring, enabling me to duck around the big guys for a little while. But good karma lasts only so long, and about two minutes into the derby a big old Impala nailed my passenger door hard.

A number of factors stacked up against me on this one:

• rules state that the interiors must be gutted, so I had to completely remove the passenger side bucket seat;
• the car was a two door with very long doors;
• being front-drive there's no transmission hump, just a flat floor, and
• the car is fairly narrow.

Therefore when I got hit, the passenger's door ripped right off its latch and was able to swing across the inside the car, coming to rest on my right hip.

The car was still running after the hit, but my survival instincts told me to shut off the engine and call it a day.

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