Fire totals Speedster, RS, RSR

[car-reras]

I attended a concours at Rocklin Niello Porsche a decade ago or so. I remember being tickled when I saw John trailer in his RSR (he rarely took it out to stuff like this).
He parked right next to my car. At the time, the new GT1 cars were out and available on ebay for $300,000 or what ever used. People were hovering all over the GT1 all day.
I remember thinking, 90% of this crowd has no clue....they will some day. Me, and maybe a few others were all that even got the enjoyment of seeing John off load this RSR. Every bit of that cars movement was special to me. From firing it up, to letting it idle and warm up, to staging it. You really can't put into words or pictures how original that car was. only a time machine could get you closer to 1973 than that cars preserved condition, sound and smell. What it was, was very special, yes it can be restored, but it's very soul is gone forever. RIP.
I prayed the car was at John's private residence when I woke to the local news about 'a tire shop fire'.

[Frank Beck]

Any news on how John is doing and the origin of the fire?

[Flat Six, inc.]

I was attended a concours at Rocklin Niello Porsche a decade ago or so. I remember being tickled when I saw John trailer in his RSR (he rarely took it out to stuff like this).
He parked right next to my car. At the time, the new GT1 cars were out and available on ebay for $300,000 or what ever used. People were hovering all over the GT1 all day.
I remember thinking, 90% of this crowd has no clue....they will some day. Me, and maybe a few others were all that even got the enjoyment of seeing John off load this RSR. Every bit of that cars movement was special to me. From firing it up, to letting it idle and warm up, to staging it. You really can't put into words or pictures how original that car was. only a time machine could get you closer to 1973 than that cars preserved condition, sound and smell. What it was, was very special, yes it can be restored, but it's very soul is gone forever. RIP.
I prayed the car was at John's private residence when I woke to the local news about 'a tire shop fire'.

Great story...

I've had real RSRs in the shop and people just walk right by and look at the Boxster with shiny wheels.

[Richardnew]

You can insure anything. All of the jet liners that have gone down in the past few months are insured for replacement value. It's usually a consortium of companies in the car of airlines.

In NASCAR most teams carry a $5 million dollar policy on the hauler and it's contents.

If you have an enclosed trailer do you have a fire suppression system in the trailer? Think about this - they only run a few hundred dollars.

Richard Newton

[Frank Beck]

If you have an enclosed trailer do you have a fire suppression system in the trailer? Think about this - they only run a few hundred dollars.

Richard Newton

Yes we do.

I have seen WAY too many wheel bearing/tire fires take out entire rigs.
Silly not to make this investment.

Another great sleep enhancer is "STP". Storage, Transport, Paddock insurance. Covers race cars for everything except actual track time.

[klondike]

John is an old friend of mine and I probably talk to him more than my wife - face it he's my mechanic. I've chided him for years about the condition of his building which had more issues with rain leaks which had caused some structural damage to his roof. A couple of times I had carpenters come in and reinforce the roof structure above the area where the RSR and RS were stored.

I got a call last Friday morning from a friend and mutual customer of John's who had a race car and 72 S in the shop telling me John's shop was on fire. I hopped in my car and got there before John did. His son works at a shop a block away and he was in total shock. John showed up and said 40 years of his life went down the drain. We spoke with the fire department captain that led the firefighting efforts and he said that with the older fire sprinkler systems they aren't effective in this type of fire. He said they tried to make three charges against the flames and each time the fire got above and behind them and they had to get out. The fire fighting was complicated by power lines that run along the back of John's shop and a large substation across the alley. The building was over 100 years old. I don't know when the fire sprinkler system was installed, but he told us the older systems aren't effective, especially since the pipes were made out of cast iron. I spent all day Friday and Saturday working with John to get the cars and whatever we could salvage out, and you could see all of the joints of the fire sprinkler pipe were shattered, which means they broke as the structure collapsed. The building is a total loss, we have no idea what to do with the cars yet. If you have any ideas I will forward them to John.

You can see some of the damage the heat of the fire did - the engine shown is to my '72 T. I t was waiting fir a rebuild - the magnesium transmission case vaporized, along with every fan housing in the building. The car on the rack was a pristine '69 S, you can see how the wheels melted. Plus the pics of the RSR as we found it, with the roof structure collapsed on it.

The fire department said the fire was deliberately set, most likely due to some homeless people that were is the area the night before. The building was very secure - which the fire department noted slowed down their entry to fight the fire, but there was a corner of the building that had damage to the stucco the the fire inspector thought someone could have thrown a cigarette or some other lit object in there. It was confirmed that's where the fire started. I had recently look at the area with the RSR with John and agreed everything look safe, we both never thought to think about an outside source starting a fire.

I don't think there is any way to describe John's mental state, he is still in shock. Every time we talked about the Speedster I though he was going to tear up. We talk often about the value of the cars, and made it clear he would never let the RSR go. Will keep you all posted

Dave Higgins

[Chuck Miller]

Whoa.......

Chillingly sickening Dave.........

Best to you and John........

[Frank Beck]

Dave,

Gulp...

Thanks for sharing this info. We're NOT just a bunch of rubber-neckers; on the contrary, we're a community who shares a kindred spirit and the deep pain that John and his family have to be experiencing right now. Granted, this is just stuff and no one was hurt but there's still a grieving process involved.

Please let us know how we can do anything as a community or individually to help. Thanks again for updating us.

[Flat Six, inc.]

Dave, I sent you a PM....

Aaron

[50/50]

Sweet Hayzu. Looking at those photographs, I can't but help feel like a voyeur rubber necking by a multi car pile up.