Nearly 100-year-old car involved in deadly crash, South Carolina coroner says

A South Carolina man was killed Wednesday when the nearly 100-year-old antique car he was driving on a Midlands road crashed, according to the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office.

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James Marion Kimball, an 84-year-old Blythewood resident, died in what Coroner Chris Hill called an accident.

The single-vehicle collision happened at about noon in the Ridgeway area of Fairfield County, said Master Trooper Hannah Davidson of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Kimball was driving a 1934 Ford coupe west on Smallwood Road, said Davidson. At the intersection with U.S. 21, the antique vehicle crashed into an embankment, according to Davidson.

The 1934 Ford overturned, Kimball was ejected and died at the scene from the injuries he suffered in the wreck, according to the coroner’s office.

Davidson said Kimball was the only person in the 92-year-old car, and no other injuries were reported.

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There was no word if the 1934 Ford was equipped with seatbelts, or if Kimball was wearing any kind of safety restraints.

Information about what caused the vehicle to crash into the embankment was not available, but the wreck continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office. An autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause and manner of death, the coroner’s office said.

Through Sunday, 464 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2026, according to the state Department of Public Safety. A minimum of 914 people were killed in collisions in South Carolina in 2025, DPS data shows.

At least four people have died in Fairfield County crashes this year, and seven people died in wrecks there in 2025, according to DPS data.