Russo Steele auction closed due to weather......

[camcojb]

Charley just called, said they had tents blowing away, one ended up on the freeway blocking traffic. Cars damaged, huge mess................ :(

[bgray]

what what what???? how thats intense,

[JamesJ]

That stinks, well it will help BJ since lots of the heavy hitters were over there for some of the real good stuff...

[XcYZ]

I was just talking to Staci at Ring Brothers, Mike had called and said there may have been injuries?

[camcojb]

I was just talking to Staci at Ring Brothers, Mike had called and said there may have been injuries?
I would not doubt it, as some tents came completely loose and damaged many cars.

[70rs]

I sure hope they had "act of god" clause on the insurance policies there!

[Stuart Adams]

What a nightmare for all involved. It rained here all day nonstop.

[chr2002ca]

I've been waiting for something to give way on air during the BJ broadcast. I just hope everything holds together. A very dangerous situation, especially since they're just a bunch of tents. I'm really surprised they decided to go ahead with auctions considering how severe the weather was all day and continues to be.

[phillym5]

I've been waiting for something to give way on air during the BJ broadcast. I just hope everything holds together. A very dangerous situation, especially since they're just a bunch of tents. I'm really surprised they decided to go ahead with auctions considering how severe the weather was all day and continues to be.

There has been 2 tornado warnings for northern Scottsdale in the last hour.......
sketchy...:_paranoid

[chr2002ca]

More info on the damage:

http://www.azfamily.com/weather/Tents-collapse-at-luxury-car-auction-due-to-severe-storm-82320467.html

[XcYZ]

Damn, that really sucks. Hope everyone is ok.

[rwhite692]

Man, that is a rough deal....In light of this, they have to be thinking seriously about closing the BJ auction. My sister and brother-in-law are there with Rusty Wallace, selling a couple of his cars. If I had a car there I'd pack it in...that is if they will even let people move any cars out...not worth the risk.

[XcYZ]

Charley just e-mailed this pic, they're using lifts to hold the tent up!

[rwhite692]

"The nearby Barrett-Jackson Auto Show has been evacuated, according to Scottsdale police."

http://stp.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/Thousands-without-power-around-state-many-roads/FkLJUc5HhUCzKBmEJNMR0w.cspx

[Steve1968LS2]

What a nightmare for all involved. It rained here all day nonstop.

I was set to go tomorrow to cover some Camaros.. glad I cancelled.

Shame about the damaged cars and injuries. I would guess that RS has insurance for that.

[buickfunnycar.com]

Wow just wow...couldn't imagine the owners who babied those cars for all those years only to have them subjected to a storm...would make me sick.

I sure hope things work out for them this wknd.

[89 RS]

I can tell you the wind is unreal out here. The inside of the tent attached to the main tent at Barret-Jackson was swaying and the overhead lights were also swaying back and forth. Hope this weather gets better.

[rwhite692]

I was just talking to my brother-in-law, just before they evacuated he was standing next to Robert Yates and said to Robert "If I hear those poles start creaking any louder, I'm outta here..."

And Yates says (pointing to a vintage race car) "Not me, that's too far to run, I'm gettin' in that car right there, it's got a cage"

[kp.touring]

We're waiting to hear in the morning on the whole deal. 2 of our guys are at Russo with 6 cars for 2 of our customers. 2 of the cars ran through today the other ones where to go through on Friday.

Luckily no one was hurt, from the news reports, but cars are damaged and even though most people will say they're "just" cars. Some of the cars there are true pieces of art and other are pieces of history and hopefully not lost.

Kevin

[rwhite692]

Charley just e-mailed this pic, they're using lifts to hold the tent up!

Scott My brother in law just told me (like you see in the photo) the lifts can't reach to that top crossmember so all they are doing is positioning the lifts so that maybe, if the tent were to come down, the lifts would catch/hold up some of the material...

[Roadster Shop]

We got there about 10 minutes after everyone was evacuated from the auction. There was some serious damage to a lot of cars. We had several cars in the auction. My brother and myself jumped the fence to make sure everything was alright. A main tent pole fell next to our 70 Chevelle. The pole crushed the car next to it and the car directly across the aisle. One of the cars had the roof line flattened even with the door handles. The tents were flapping up and down on over 100 cars just making an aweful crashing sound each time it would come down and hit the cars.

Our 70 Chevelle and the 70 Challenger (that we just finished) both appeared unharmed, but we were "escorted" out by the cops in a rather unfriendly manner before we could see anything else.

We had 3 more cars in the South tent that I am doubting faired so well since the tent was laying on all of the cars.

[Tom.A]

What a bummer. Hope for the best for everybody.

[cmraman]

I was set to go tomorrow to cover some Camaros.. glad I cancelled.

Shame about the damaged cars and injuries. I would guess that RS has insurance for that.

I got your back Steve.

[clill]

Barrett was fine. The lifts in the pics were in the end tents. The main tent is rated for 100 mph winds. They closed the end tents and had everyone stay in the main tent. The big difference between Barrett and Russo is Barret has permanent tents on pavement anchored to concrete footings. Russo's tents are temporary and anchored with stakes into the desert. I feel for everybody at Russo...

[cmraman]

We got there about 10 minutes after everyone was evacuated from the auction. There was some serious damage to a lot of cars. We had several cars in the auction. My brother and myself jumped the fence to make sure everything was alright. A main tent pole fell next to our 70 Chevelle. The pole crushed the car next to it and the car directly across the aisle. One of the cars had the roof line flattened even with the door handles. The tents were flapping up and down on over 100 cars just making an aweful crashing sound each time it would come down and hit the cars.

Our 70 Chevelle and the 70 Challenger (that we just finished) both appeared unharmed, but we were "escorted" out by the cops in a rather unfriendly manner before we could see anything else.

We had 3 more cars in the South tent that I am doubting faired so well since the tent was laying on all of the cars.

I'm glad you guys are ok. I hope the cars fair well as well. I was at Barrett Jackson when I heard the news. The main tent was full and they evacuated the two end tents. They used big fork lifts to catch the tents if they fail.

[Steve1968LS2]

I got your back Steve.

Thanks! :thumbsup:

[chr2002ca]

Barrett was fine. The lifts in the pics were in the end tents. The main tent is rated for 100 mph winds. They closed the end tents and had everyone stay in the main tent. The big difference between Barrett and Russo is Barret has permanent tents on pavement anchored to concrete footings. Russo's tents are temporary and anchored with stakes into the desert. I feel for everybody at Russo...

You have to kind of wonder about Russo's decision to go ahead with the auction knowing how severe the weather was going to be(and was) versus the capabilities of their tents. That's a fairly dangerous situation to put people in.

[chr2002ca]

A video report from early this morning:

http://www.azfamily.com/weather/Tents-collapse-at-luxury-car-auction-due-to-severe-storm-82320467.html

Actual video of one of the tents collapsing:

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/01/22/russo-and-steele-tents-collapse/

[Steve1968LS2]

A video report from early this morning:

http://www.azfamily.com/weather/Tents-collapse-at-luxury-car-auction-due-to-severe-storm-82320467.html

Actual video of one of the tents collapsing:

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/01/22/russo-and-steele-tents-collapse/

That sucks so bad.. so who's insurance pays? RS's or the car's owner?

what a mess...

[buickfunnycar.com]

what a mess...

X2...Oh man.

[James OLC]

That sucks so bad.. so who's insurance pays? RS's or the car's owner?

what a mess...

...and would this be considered an act of God? That would be devastating.

I don't wish that kind of misfortune on anyone, hope it all works out.

[WILWAXU]

Damn.. that nearly brings a tear to my eye.

Hopefully not too many are damage badly.

[rwhite692]

Interview w/Drew Alcazar of Russo & Steele here:


http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100122/CARNEWS/100129972

[chr2002ca]

Interview w/Drew Alcazar of Russo & Steele here:


http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100122/CARNEWS/100129972

"Safety is our main concern here...." "Let me reiterate that safety is our main concern"

Didn't seem like too much of a concern when extremely severe weather was headed your way and you continued to run the auction anyway. That weather was predicted, it was not a sudden surprise. I think the main concern is the other point he mentioned several times, "We just want to get things back online and get the auction back up and running." "And I'd also like to let everyone know that on Sunday we're having our first annual Scratch and Dent sale".

Seems like the police are not going to let owners back to their cars until tomorrow morning, so another night of exposure to weather(those poor convertibles and spyders). It's just really sad to think about what has happened over there, but at the same time, true perspective can be gained by taking a look at Haiti right now. I just hope everything gets worked out okay and nobody gets screwed on insurance.

[Garage Dog 65]

"Safety is our main concern here...." "Let me reiterate that safety is our main concern"

Didn't seem like too much of a concern when extremely severe weather was headed your way and you continued to run the auction anyway. That weather was predicted, it was not a sudden surprise.



I AGREE - this has happened before at other shows and everyone is in the 'The Show Must Go On' mode. If I were an insurance company - I'd have a hard time paying the tab for this. (ps, we have a car there - maroon 63 split window/LS2/TKO - still waiting to see if it's trashed)

http://www.russoandsteele.com/collector_car/1963_chevrolet_corvette__/42-6574.html

Jim

[NOT A TA]

Everyone with collector car policys may eventually be affected by this. There aren't that many companies that insure these types of cars. As with any insurance claim the companies will try to pay out as little as possible. The big difference might be that many of the owners of the cars that were damaged may have deeper pockets than the average guy and they may also have good lawyers to battle it out and get what they think they deserve.

If there are a lot of high value cars damaged and the companies have to make very big payouts, we may all share in the cost through higher collector car policy premiums eventually. If the damages at the auction cause the total of claims paid this year to be far above average you can be sure the insurance companys will get that money back. We will all pay.

[WSSix]

That's a good point John. Also something to think about is the sharp rise int he number of people that attend auctions today. Does anyone know how much Russo-Steel and BJ have grown over say the last 10 years? You may start finding clauses in collector car insurance that states the car will not be covered while on auction grounds since it's not a car show or whatever reason they want to give.

[FoxRod]

On speed they interviewed the guy who owns hagerty insurance. He said even if you have a policy with them and your car was sold at auction and it was damaged before delivery to the next customer. That hagerty would cover it. He said there was a car they were wanting to get to, because a water tower fell on a bunch of cars.

[xplantdad]

McKeel Hagerty was onsite for a symposium that we attended that morning!

[kp.touring]

Got word today on the cars we have at Russo. The COPO Camaro and the Hemi Roadrunner where untouched! The GTO 2 scratches on the driver's door, the Woodie damaged left rear fender, taillight and some small wood damage at the left rear corner. The Boss 302 and the 67 427 Vette recieved the most damage, both cars will need to be repainted the tent canvass rubbed hard on both cars, also the Vette rear window broke. All in all we where very lucky some cars are serverely damaged.
Looks like the Roadrunner and the Camaro will go over the block tomorrow when Russo fires back up.

Kevin

[Brigzee]

Here some pics. Who do you think is responsible for the damage, the owner or them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kingsfp/RussosteelAuction110?authkey=Gv1sRgCNGlh-XG2vSxrQE&feat=email#