Train wreck destroys 3 Speedsters in Ventura

I just got this off the 356 registry list. A link to some photos taken earlier this evening after the Ventura Porsche event. The link is to Pelican Parts. forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=182285

WOW>

Amazing.....what a bummer. I imagine the driver has got some 'splaining' to do.

I can't believe it even seeing the pics. It looks like there were at least three speedsters and a 911.

Terrible accident.

Geez, what a terrible event.

One of the posts said the cars were from European Collectibles... Chris @ European Collectibles is a really nice guy. I just got a 911 from him. He has to be tearing his hair out!
Yikes!

Unbelievable.

Renew your insurance before the insureres recompute their loss ratio.

Truly a sad state of affairs.

I took this photo on Saturday at The Ventura German AutoFest. The cars in the photo were being shown at AutoFest by one restorer. I wonder if that restorer transported all his cars on the same car carrier, and I wonder if the cars that were destroyed are these cars?

Yes, Bill, those are the three Speedsters totaled in the train-versus-car carrier wreck on Sunday. That middle black Speedster had just been completely restored and was not For Sale. It was "the hit" of the show and easily one of the most photographed cars on display. I don't think I've ever seen a better restoration job. That car was perfect!
All three were on the same car carrier (along with a couple of other Porsches) and they were all wrecked. I'd imagine the insurance nightmare will be considerable. What a shame.

Thanks for confirming that John.

For those who want to read the gory details I'm posting a link to the local Ventura County newspaper.

www.venturacountystar.com/

When the page opens click on "Ventura" to see a summary of the article. For the full article you have to register.

John: The newspaper said they called the railroad to tell them the truck was stuck, so the railroad could stop any trains heading for the truck.

I'm wondering if they would they might have had enough time to unload one or two cars to allow the truck to rise off (and clear) the raised roadbed and tracks?

It looks like the truck's underdeck storage bin hangs very low and may have been the the souce of the problem.

I just read a blurb on the registry site about warning the train companys but a north bound hit the car about a minute later. Not enough time to unload. Truck driver injured his shoulder in his hurry to vacate the truck.

Its bad enough these cars are getting so few, but to loose three in one accident is truly tragic.

Very thankful that no one was seriously injured. What a sad thing to see happen to such beautiful works of art. Insurance or not, it just doesn't seem right, unless you can get something better out of it!

I can't look at any more pictures :(

I think I will sleep in the car tonight....M

Mel; I just went out to the garage and sat in mine. Stroked the dash.

Guess that makes all the remaining ones ratchet up in value! I've heard of fires destroying a bunch of collector cars but this one sure hurts. Lot of what if's about it. Sad

Hmmm... Anyone have the number for the insurance pool?

As a trucker I can tell you that there is clearance for a car carrier to cross most problem areas like a speed bumps driveway short steep inclines etc. Even though carrier trailers are low it would take a large raised area in a roadway to hang one up ....but who knows what actually happened....brakes can lock up due to air pressure loss and a list that can go on and on . I've seen some really odd happenings in the 31 years on the roads, and wonder how the hell some people get into those situations.
Speedsters are surely insured and most importantly no one was hurt or worse.......Truely a sad loss for the owners.... can you imagine the phone call to the car's owners?

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The humanity of it all. Fine works destroyed.

Sad day for German engineering......

It's a definite drag but after watching some of the car and chopper programs on TV such as American Hot Rod, Trucks, Overhaulin', etc. I've got a more positive outlook. I know that somewhere there's people capable of restoring those cars back to their former glory. It ain't gonna be cheap but it can be done...

I have to agree with the above poster. My feeling is that these will be restored to working condition once more. They are worth too much not to rebuild them. I am also interested in restored WW2 aircraft. It's amazing what is considered a rebuildable aircraft to them. Twenty five to thirty years ago wrecked WW2 aircraft would have been scrapped but now since they are so rare and valuable they are rebuilt. So too with these Speedsters.

If the insurance company pays these cars out, they will be writen off. If the owner, or someone else decides to rebuild them, won't these cars be labeled "salvage" on the title? If so, that would affect their value significantly, perhaps making it not worth rebuilding/restoring.

If their insurance company totals the speedster the current owner(s) have first rights to buy them back at $20% of the settlement value i.e if they pay out $80k for a single car it can be purchased back for $16k and yes it would then have a salvage title.

Gene,

I noticed you live in Parkville, not far from me. Do you own a Speedster? There are a few in the area and we're always looking for other owners to join us.

True, they would have salvage titles, but these are not ordinary autos. The average family crisers value would be cut in half by the designation. Thing you have to remember here is that a lot of speedsters are worse than any insurance salvage auto before restoration.

If I had the cash to buy one of these I would in a heartbeat, as long as I could see a quality resto was done.