Wow John O'Quinn Died this morning

No way! thats crazy he came up to the cars and coffee one day, well he didn't get out(I think he was scared by Allen LOL) A friend of mine used to do checks on his safety sprinklers and detectors in his warehouses. Thats sad

 

That is tragic. I've seen him purchase some of the great charitable vehicles at Pebble Beach the last few years and he always displayed great cars at Keels & Wheels. I'm sorry to hear that. Condolences to his family.

 

R.I.P

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/10/29/houston-lawyer-john-oquinn-killed-in-wreck/

 

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou091029_tnt_allen-parkway-double-fatal.264088119.html

Here is a video of the burban, I heard he was a crazy driver. Maybe that had a little to do with it. Either way like I said, its sad

 

My dad just called me and told me too. Very sad. RIP

Jason, that's the reason my dad called me. I told him about it that day and he remembered.

 

good friend of the family. sad sad day.

 

R.I.P.

 

The collision was pretty severe. The engine was missing out of the engine bay and the tree came through the passenger side all the way through to mid-way in the drivers seat.

 

Holy crap! I remember meeting him at one of our first exotics & coffee events. He was driving his Bentley Continental GT. He was a pretty cool dude. Rest in peace.

C-

 

RIP

 

This happened about 1/2 mile from my house. I drove by today, the tree is gone!

Wonder what will happen to his massively huge and valuable auto collection? Probably go to auction?

I once dated a girl who worked in his firm, she said he was the most brilliant legal mind she ever knew..

Very sad for his family, and firm.

Greg

 

RIP

 

He gave so much to the community. This is a huge loss.

My last memory of him is at Pebble Beach. He was delighted after buying Ettore Bugatti's personal Type 57 at the Gooding sale.

 

I don't think he was 'scared' of me, Mobile Jay........!!!!

I'm very sad to have gotten a call, early this morning informing me of our loss....

He was obviously a very successfull litigator, but more than that, as mentioned above, a very nice guy and as noted an avid car collector.

We actually overlapped in several social circles (not the Courtroom, thankfully! LOL!)..as you noted he met us at one of the very early Cars and Coffee, in the famous exchange of conversation Mobile Jay remembers..

We'd see each other again, at the yearly Keels And Wheels Auctions as he tailored his collection, selling beautiful examples of Brass Era cars and moving as his interests led him..

And finally he was a supporter of the Art Car Parade and the Orange Show Foundation/Beer Can House......last year he entered a FANTASTIC concept car into the Art Car Parade, an outragous bubble roofed version of (per Larry Miggin's recollection) a Cadillac, metallic purple and the engine had more $$ invested in chrome than I have in one of my Ferraris...

It had a little trouble on "Heartbreak Hill" in the final stages of the Parade, and I was glad I was there to 'give them a hand"....I have pics of the car with my Ferrari guarding it..

Ironically, that scene was not far from where the GM Suburban lost control..Houston Fire Department Station 6 responded..( same as Dahr's Enzo crash...) but even working with the 'Jaws of Life' to extricate him, he did not make it.. ..photos show a pretty horrific scene...

Rest In Peace, John O'Quinn.......philanthropist...attorney..Houston Texas Car Guy....

 

Whew!

Reading the Blogs here in Houston and the WSJ, there were a lot of people that did NOT like him! LOL!

Ya'll don't let them talk way about me, when I'm gone.....I did the best I could!

Greg328, they'll liquidate the Collection, like in all Estate Sales....it'll be a Media Event I am sure, over 400 vehicles at last count.

 

AutoWeek's article claims neither occupant was wearing a seatbelt. Not sure it would have prevented their deaths given the amount of damage, but it probably wouldn't have hurt.

>8^)
ER

 

I think it would be fairly impossible to get to where he did in life with his profession without creating a lot of enemies along the way. In his world there's always someone who loses and with the judgements he won there are bound to be some angry people on the other side.

>8^)
ER

 

Was his collection bigger than Jerry J. Moore's? That guy had a huge collection.

 

Her some info on his collection

The collection had a total value of over $100 million and included at least 618 cars, including: seven Duesenbergs; the 1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost featured in the film Titanic; John F Kennedy's 1962 Lincoln Continental Bubble Top limo, and a 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante.[4]

In September 2006, he bought: a 2005 Lamborghini Gallardo covered with 33 celebrity autographs ($500,000); the Batmobile used in the filming of Batman Forever ($335,000), a 1941 Packard limousine used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt ($290,000), a 1938 Talbot-Lago ($3,350,000); and a 1938 Town Car used by Pope Pius XII ($250,000).[4]

The centre piece of the collection is a plain grey 1975 Ford Escort GL, once owned by Polish priest Karol Wojtyla – before he became became Pope John Paul II. Bought at the Kruse auction at SEMA, the car was sold by the Pope at auction for charity to Chicago restuaranter Jim Rich in 1995, who paid $102,000 for the car.[8] O'Quinn paid €690,000 for the car October 2005.

In late 2006 O'Quinn discovered that several cars were missing from his collection, including a Ferrari 575M and a 1965 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350. O'Quinn tried to get in touch with Zev Isgur, a 32-year-old ex-con whom he'd befriended and entrusted with the management of his collection of classic cars. Isgur was later convicted of embezzlement.

 

I was listening to the Dan Patrick show yesterday. Dan and Gerald Treece were speaking about John. It was really nice and gave you insight into John O'Quinn the man, not the public figure.

Gerald Treece was John's best friend and is the Executor of his estate. Didn't realize how many demons the guy had, and it makes you reaffirm no matter how rich and powerful they face the same problems as the rest of us if not more.

As Cody mentioned when he drove by in his B-GT he seemed like a really down to earth, nice guy. Not the persona that was in the media.

 

My point exactly..

That was a nice morning...firm handshake, I was suprised he'd be that way, but he was truly interested in what we were "up to"...

I got the impression he wanted to 'stop and play', had he had the time...

We should all remember, to take the time..

Looking at the photos I doubt seat belts would have helped much....maybe...you can see the blood running down the driver's airbag, but to tear the truck up that badly, I'd say speed estimates are "off" a little bit.

Allen Parkway is a twisty road and the rain had just started, floating all the oil out...

 

Not sure what section of the parkway this happened but that road has always concerned me. The road has shifted from all the years of heavy rain & it's so close to a jogging / bike trail, it's a good thing no pedestrians were involved. Next time you're traveling on Allen Parkway, take a look on how many black tire marks from vehicles clipping curbs over the years.

 

Those were left by the Rolling Cupcakes of the Art Car Parade....

They called out the address, IIRC it's west of Waugh....headed westbound...

 

John O'Quinn must have been an interesting guy. Here's a good read up I found online, with pictures showing a small taste of his magnificent collection. RIP

http://www.woodlandslifestylesandhomes.com/jul9W-O%27Quinn-Cars1.htm