A fire started by a spontaneously erupting Ford F-150 burned down a nearby warehouse full of millions of dollars of vintage Porsche parts and cars in California last week. The warehouse belonged to Benton Performance, a tuning shop specializing in vintage Porsches in Anaheim, California. According to Road Track, owner John Benton says he watched the fire grow on security footage, spreading from the 2016 Ford pickup to a diesel pickup which also exploded, sending flaming fuel onto a lumberyard next door and eventually igniting the warehouse.Inside, racks of Porsche racing seats went up in flames, along with stacks of highly flammable magnesium wheels, and boxes and crates of purposefully back-stocked parts including engine blocks, heads and more from 911s, 912s and 356s. The fire also took a museum-ready 912E and one of Benton’s personal cars — damages are estimated at over US$3 million in total. But in an interview with Road Track, Benton sounded almost as motivated by the fire as he did devastated. “The shop is open, but we’re a wounded beast,” Benton told the magazine. “You watch a Godzilla movie and he’s kicking everybody’s ass, but then he just gets totally fried — well that’s where we’re at right now.” “We’re trying to get back to the point where Godzilla emerges from the ocean again and just lays down the law.”The crew might be a bit cramped in the recently constricted working space, but Benton says they’ll continue to build and tune. Hopefully his insurers cut him a big fat cheque and Benton Performance gets resurrected better and stronger than ever.
Origin: California tuner loses US$3M in classic Porsche cars and parts in fire
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Couple loses $14,000 after buying stolen SUV covered by Manitoba Public Insurance
2015 Ford Explorer LimitedGraeme Fletcher When a Manitoba couple bought a used 2015 Ford Explorer for $14,500 from an independent seller last August, everything about the deal appeared legit. They had no idea the vehicle was one of thirteen taken from a Winnipeg used car dealership in an alleged inside job involving a former sales manager. The SUV looked and was running fine, and the paperwork was all there. Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) was happy to cover the vehicle for its new owners, which as you’d expect made them feel completely safe in their new purchase. But all was not as it seemed, and soon the police came for the vehicle, seizing it and telling the owners it had been stolen from a Winnipeg dealership. According to the CBC, the vehicle hadn’t been reported stolen by the dealership, Auto List of Canada, when its new owners went to have it insured at MPI, which is why it didn’t set off any alarms. Normally the company’s system prevents registration of stolen vehicles, but police weren’t notified of the Explorer’s theft until two days after it had already been sold. It all unraveled for the thieves when a call from Winnipeg police informing Auto List of a stolen vehicle prompted the dealer to do a count—turns out 13 vehicles had disappeared from the lots. From there it was simply a matter of following the paper trail. Two men, including a former Auto List sales manager, have been charged with multiple counts of possessing stolen vehicles, forging bills of sale and transfer of ownership documents, and defrauding the purchasers. The hot Explorer was returned to Auto List, leaving the couple that purchased it out the full $14,500. MPI says they can attempt to bring legal action against the person who sold the hot SUV.
Origin: Couple loses $14,000 after buying stolen SUV covered by Manitoba Public Insurance
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