Mike Bell from Petersburg Illinois... Street Rodder and all around nice guy lost his entire shop to fire yesterday, word has it they lost eight classic cars and street rods, he also lost a very nice collection of rare items and his 60s ans 70s drag racing pictures from his racing days that were in frames on the walls along with trophies etc. Pretty much everything Mike had that had anything to do with cars is gone.
I feel his pain having been thru this same situation 7 years ago.not a good feeling Sorry for you Mike.
Mike is my best friend having been all over the USA in our old cars. His Model A 4dr he had since 71 and his dads 77 Pontiac from new plus the blue 63 Buick are gone. Mike will rebuild and will have another Hot Rod. Sorry Friend Bill.
Thought we would add a couple of pictures. This first one is Mike's Model A up on the lift. The second picture shows his '46 Chevrolet truck with a chopped top. I've only known Mike a few years but he has been a good friend and I hate to see this happen to him and his brothers. But they are the type of guys that will recover. There will be new hot rods and a new shed.
This is something we all fear, but as long as no one was hurt or died cars no matter how bad can be fixed!
Here's a picture of Mike's '63 Riviera in the background which was well loved locally. His brother Bob's '34 Plymouth Coupe on the lift here was fortunately at Bob's house and not involved in the fire. He has owned it for 50 years. Brother Nick also lost his nice '72 Buick Sun Coupe which was rather unique. The Fire Marshal has found that the building was hit by lightning.
Sorry to hear about the loss of all that iron, but glad to hear him and his family are ok. the metric system? never heard of it.......
I think this sends a message to all of us. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Might look nice, but you'd be better off with your collection spread out over a few buildings. Most of us can only dream of having a collection like this in a building like this. I hope he's insured, but money won't bring back his cars and his tools. Cars can be replaced. A lifetimes tool collection can't. Ed
I guess these people here who talk about insurance or say "cars can be replaced" don't like their collection of junk as much as I like mine. there is very little in my shop that could be replaced other than tools and my lift, but even if I had insurance they would not give me enough to replace them all. Just saw on the news last night that some Hot Rodder locally in the Bay Area just lost his whole shop too. fire sucks
sadly,In the world we live insurance is a necessary evil,can it replace the love of a collection that has been lost or the great memories invested in a shop that you have spent many countless hours building your dreams,,of course it can't. But lack of adequate coverage can be even more devastating with all the loses. I will echo a previous response,no one lost there life and although many things of treasured value were lost,time and money will be of some solace,time and the lack of restitution will be devastating for years to come. HRP
I agree. Yes, life is most important, but no two cars are exactly alike either, more so the older they get.Plus I hate dealing with insurance companies, but that's a whole other story.
Here is a short update on the Bell Brothers shed fire. It's been almost 4 months since the fire and the new building is going up. They have found a few cars to replace some of the ones that were lost. Mike's daughter designed a T shirt and pre-sold over 100 to family and friends to show support (not a fund raiser). Things are looking up and life is moving on. Good luck to the Bell boys.
I understand Very well what he is going through as I lost most of my possessions in the Yarnell Hill Fire June 30, 2013.
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