I just heard that a tent at the Russo & Steele Auction just collapsed. Everyone ok?
I was at the auction from about 4:00PM till 6:00PM. They had shut down the tents covering the cars waiting to be sold to public viewing around 4:45PM because of the rain and high winds. I watched cars being sold in the main tent until 6:00, then I left. I came home to watch the "live feed" and it was "stuck" on the car being auctioned at 6:30PM. I thought my computer was screwing up, but then I found a video of the last hour of the auction. In the middle of bidding on the 6:30PM car, Drew got on the microphone and said for everyone to evacuate the premises. The north tent had blown away, and that the 101 loop was shut down in both directions because of debris. I would imagine that some cars were damaged by that tent blowing down, with all the cables, light fixtures, etc.! Will be curious to see if the whole auction gets shut down or what! I wish Drew the best! Weather like this hits Phoenix only about once every 15 years or so! What a mess!
Nice, tornado warning in Scottsdale right now. It's like I brought the garbage weather with me from Minnesota.
http://www.azfamily.com/weather/Tents-collapse-at-luxury-car-auction-due-to-severe-storm-82320467.html Heard the tent blew onto the 101, hope no one was hurt.
My heartfelt wishes for everyone's safety. Drew and Josephine are the class act of the AZ auction scene. I hope that they can recover from this quickly. I know that they will do everything possible to make sure everyone who had a car with them will come out okay. Alex
It's very sad. I have several clients freaking out, they can't get to their cars until tomorrow, not allowed and I understand why. Many of the convertibles had the tops down when this thing hit. One tent went flying into the 101 Freeway just north of the auction site. Tent poles went flying. Debris was blowing around as in a normal strong storm. I feel so bad for Drew and Josephine, the rest of the staff and the participants and hope everyone realizes this is not human error, it is Mother Nature. Russo and Steele is a class act Who knows, we might even see an auction this weekend, Drew and Josephine are two of the most amazing individuals I know. Gooding is tented. Barrett-Jackson is tented. RM is indoors, the cars are in a multi-level parking structure rather than outdoors, but there are tented areas for the cars to drive under as they work their way into the main building and on to the auction block. I imagine eveyrone is standing buy watching all tents and poles and ropes "very carefully" right now. The cars over at RM were just amazing...I'd hate to think what a storm can do to a Duesenberg.
Jason, Let me know how the Forbes Diablo weathered the storm! Also, Barry's million dollar custom "sport speciale" was in there!
The people at Russo & Steele run a class act. Hope everyone is well and all works out the best it can. You just can't help it when the forces of mother nature kick in. Wish them all well!!!
It is a true testament to Drew and Josephine's character to see how they have handled themselves during last nights storm. You will not find two finer people to represent the collector car market. The way Drew handled himself last night not only earned my respect but all my future cars will be bought and sold exclusively through Russo and Steele.