Realmuto v. Straub Motors, Inc.

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

Hall, J.

This product liability case derives from the sale in 1970 of a used 1965 automobile to plaintiff Salvatore Real-muto (the buyer) by the defendant dealer. The suit was for personal injuries to the buyer, with a per quod claim by his wife, due to an accident claimed to have resulted from malfunction of the car’s accelerator-carburetor mechanism. The dealer had installed a rebuilt carburetor prior to the sale, which installation required disconnection and reconnection of the mechanism. Plaintiffs’ factual thesis was that this work had in some way…