The incident unfolded on July 17, 2025, on Dequindre Road in Madison Heights, Michigan. Owner Markku Jaakkola was heading home from a company picnic in his lovingly restored 1973 New Yorker 62,000 miles on the clock, original paint intact when a white Kia, attempting a risky center-lane pass, slammed into a northbound Chevy pickup. The truck spun, clipped a Ford Fusion, then ricocheted the Kia into the Chrysler's rear bumper. Debris flew, airbags popped, and the Kia’s front end folded like paper.
Jaakkola’s behemoth? Just a dislodged license plate bracket. Police surveyed the scene, nodded at the Chrysler’s steel bumper, and quipped, “They don’t make ’em like they used to,” before asking him to shift it to a lot. No injuries reported, though the Kia driver walked away shaken. The photo Jaakkola snapped, pristine classic dwarfing the wreck exploded online, racking up millions of views on Reddit, TikTok, and Facebook amid cries of nostalgia for Detroit iron.
Safety experts quickly tempered the cheers. Modern cars crumple by design: lightweight steel and crumple zones channel crash forces away from occupants, slashing injury risk. The New Yorker, tipping 4,800 pounds with its 440-cubic-inch (7.2L) V8, absorbed the hit through sheer mass but lacked airbags, ABS, or reinforced cabins. IIHS tests pitting 1960s iron against today’s sedans show classic drivers faring worse in survivability.
The car, imported from Kansas in 2013 and restored after a decade’s storage.