[klayfish]

Randy,
Hopefully it is just soft tissue whiplash injury that you sustained.

About the questions you asked, it's very hard to give precise answers without seeing the specific wording of your insurance policy. But as a general rule of thumb...

Each company has a method of determining the cars' value, which is approved by the state Dept. of Insurance. We use an outside firm which surveys the local market frequently to come up with a value. As you noted, because your car is not extremely common, it may be a little more difficult to get an accurate value. I doubt they would use the Kelly Blue book. I haven't seen one in a while, but if you look at their fine print, they say the values given include the cost for a dealer to condition the car, prep it for sale, advertise it, overhead, etc... Insurance companies won't cover those. They value it on the private market. The modifications you have on your car likely won't be part of the value, unless you have a special endorsement on the policy. They insure the "stock" Mustang Bullit. You're entitled to remove those mods, as long as you replace them with the factory parts. If you can document the condition of your car, you should be fine. You are certainly entitled to know how they come up with the value, so be sure to ask.

I don't know the laws of California insurance, but here in PA, uninsured motorist will not cover your car. It covers you for pain and suffering in case the other driver doesn't have insurance, not the vehicle at all. So if you get hit by an uninsured driver, you either have to use the collision coverage under your policy, or if you don't have it, you're on your own to pursue the driver legally. Some states do have uninsured protection for vehicles (called UMPD), so you'll have to see if it's on your policy.

Your pain and suffering claim would be against the other drivers' insurance company and is totally independant of the damage to your car.

Hope this helps, and if you have any other questions, ask. Remember, I'm just giving a rule of thumb, I'm not 100% on California insurance law or the exact wording of your policy, so it may be a little different for you.

Steve