Auction Tragedy in Scottsdale

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DartSportDude

Old school A-body owner
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Just got out of the Russo and Steele auction here in Scottsdale. Tornado-like conditions forced the evacuation of the entire auction site. The two main tents for auction cars were blown down by 60 mph plus winds. Many priceless muscle cars, including some very rare Mopars, were damaged or destroyed. My wife and I saw the south tent collapse, heard huge tent poles and high power electrical lines falling on classic cars, exhibitors screaming and running. We were in the main auction area when the storm hit the site, and all 5,000 attendess were told to rush to the exits. It was an unbelieveable scene. I'm just glad we made it out uninjured...
 
Poppabear said:
did you get any pictures? Man that SUCKS[/quote

My wife took a photo or two of the south tent (holding approx. 300 cars) collapse, but with with all of the live electrical lines landing on the cars, we decided to run for it. Man, it was scary. There were firefighters everywhere.
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Just got back from the site, now sitting here at the hotel. The north tent collapsed around 6:30. We were in watching the bidding when a guy came running onto the floor, said something to the owner and he then rushed back outside. The owner announced to evac the tent. People were very ordely. When we got outside we made our way along the fence only to see some of the north tent down on top of the cars. The south tent where my car is parked was getting whipped by the wind. I would have to say they were 60MPH winds gusting to 100MPH. Everyone watched as the south tent collapsed. No telling the damage. Talked to one guy and he said he saw a Chev Nova crushed by one of the steel poles. The poles are 12" around at the base. We watched from my truck as the remainder of the tent fell. Only the SW corner remained standing however several of the large poles were swinging. Saw one bashing up against a VW Thing that had just sold earlier in the evening. When we got back to the hotel and turned on the TV they had just issued a tornado warning for that area. They did say that the fire department checked and it appears nobody was hurt. Part of the north tent also blew upward and onto the 101 Loop. Hopefull nobody was hurt there. Sad to see all of of the frustrated car owners standing helplessly by to include myself. I had to leave. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.


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I don't see how they can continue with the remainder of the auction. Too much damage. I'm a registered bidder, and will go back up there tomorrow to see if there's anything I can do to help out.
 
I was watching Barret Jackson,and they had mentioned the weather outside. They told everybody to stay put,and that it was safer inside than out.
Truely a sad day.
 
Wow that sucks. Glad you guys made it out ok. Screw the cars, no one was seriously injured. That's the important thing!!
 
Glad to hear you and yours made it out safely obviously thats the most important thing. Can you imagine watching that!!! That truly would be a horror show!!
 
Good to hear you made it out safely. As far as B.Jackson, ha. It's about dang time he pays back to us non millionaires...Mother nature was on our side for once IMO.
Gees, I mean come on, every freaking car that goes through there is over priced, it's stupid money that people pay for cars nowadays.
B.J. ruins it for us guys that don't make 6 figures a year to buy a mopar muscle car like we did 10 to 15 years ago. The guy at the poedium keeps yelling for the price to go up, give me a break dude.
MY 2 cents, thanks a lot B.J. sellers, jackasses.
 
Johnny Dart said:
I was watching Barret Jackson,and they had mentioned the weather outside. They told everybody to stay put,and that it was safer inside than out.
Truely a sad day.
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I saw that too, it was the guy who always wears sunglasses announcing. I wonder if he sleeps with his sunglasses on? I hope no one was hurt on account of those storms.
 
Was just watching the Barrett-Jackson stuff (only watch for the ooooohh shiny factor) and they were in the middle of selling a Davey Allison car when they stopped to announce "concern for your safety". The outside shots didn't look too windy really but with a storm warning in the area,.... I have lived all over the place and have seen weather change in an instant!! Good luck with the Russo and Steele stuff guys! Pretty cool of you guys to go back and help out as well. 8)
 
We were watching the B-J auction last night. I wondered out loud if there might be trouble with the weather. Too bad about what happened at R-S auction. Good news that people made it out OK.... I hope the cars weren't hammered too bad.
 
Alaskan_Dart said:
Good to hear you made it out safely. As far as B.Jackson, ha. It's about dang time he pays back to us non millionaires...Mother nature was on our side for once IMO.
Gees, I mean come on, every freaking car that goes through there is over priced, it's stupid money that people pay for cars nowadays.
B.J. ruins it for us guys that don't make 6 figures a year to buy a mopar muscle car like we did 10 to 15 years ago. The guy at the poedium keeps yelling for the price to go up, give me a break dude.
MY 2 cents, thanks a lot B.J. sellers, jackasses.
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I think it was the Russo & Steel auction, not Barritt Jackson.
 
Had a hard time sleeping last night, all jazzed up!!!! Anyway I guess the police were out there all night watching over everything. From the news it sounds like they'll be out with crews early this morning to try and raise the tent and clean things up. Owners won't be allowed in until the tent is removed. I'll head over about 9.
 
Thanks for all the kind thoughts. I ran into several owners last night that were extreamly upset and i'm sure they like me had a hard time sleeping. As far as the tent, well I would say that given the winds we had it didn't stand a chance. The winds were coming out of the south/southwest and hit the tents broadside. The auction tent faired well in that it as angled away from the main wind direction. My guess is that the winds were around 65 - 75 MPH and there were several gusts that felt to be around 100. I heard on the news early this AM that a tornado did touch down in the area.
 
That is sooo sad for the owners.
Somewhat ironic that yesterdays big topic here was a tiny scratch.
 
First off I'm glad you are ok!
It is very obvious that these auctions really care very little about the cars they are selling. It is all about the MONEY. Some of these cars have never seen a drop of rain let alone a deluge. The guy from Speed TV the other day said that it is the buyers responsibilty to take care of the car the second he is the new owner. Well you tell me what is the guy supposed to do if he buys a roadster or convertible wih no roof and then after it crosses the block it now goes into a TOTAL DOWNPOUR on the other side of the tent? They must either postpone the auctions when the weather is like this or devise a system of tunnels whereby the cars are never subjected to the elements. If I was an owner of one of these cars and the car had not seen a drop of rain in fifteen years and all of a sudden it is getting drenched, I would be really pissed. And if I was a new buyer and just shelled out big $$$$$ for one of these cars and then had to see it go outside and get totally drenched I would be even more pissed. But I guess if you have enough money to pay the prices at Barrett Jackson or Russo and Steele then you don't worry about these kind of things.
 
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