Many brave cars are asleep in the deep, so beware

By now, the situation may be resolved - or at least on its way to resolution - but I'm writing this on Saturday (2/19), and at the mo' the Felicity Ace is still adrift in the middle of the Atlantic. Abandoned by her crew after a fire broke out, the Felicity Ace was bound for Rhode Island, with a boatload of cars on board. Most of the nearly 4,000 cars are luxury vehicles - Porsches, Audis, and 189 Bentleys - and while their fate is still unknown, I'm one of those picky consumers who would be demanding an all new $300K Bentley, rather than one that had been exposed to heat, smoke, and toxic fumes for days on end. A new paint job wouldn't quite do it for me.

Between covid shipping disruptions, the chip shortage, and covid.period, it's been a rough couple of years for those who want new cars. And since the Felicity Ace was heading for New England, it's no surprise that some of those impacted by the fire are locals. 

Joshua Vavra and his wife, Lyndsey, have been waiting since November to climb behind the wheel of their $65,000 Porsche Macan SUV. Vavra, who lives in Chester, N.H, says he found out about the fire while visiting Rennlist, a website frequented by Porsche enthusiasts.

“Wouldn’t it be terrible if my wife’s car is on there?” he wondered.

Sure enough, a phone call to his Porsche dealer in Stratham, N.H., confirmed the suspicion. He doesn’t know whether the Macan is unscathed or reduced to a burnt out hulk.

“For now, they’re recommending that we re-place the order,” Vavra said. (Source: Boston Globe)

I'd be going with that re-place request, rather than take a chance on something that looked fine but was damaged goods.

Vavra isn't, of course, alone. Many of those luxe 'mobiles were already spoken for. 

One of those spoken for was a fellow with a custom Boxster on order. 

Matt Farah, a car enthusiast and editor of the Smoking Tire, is one of the customers who believes his vehicle is stuck at sea. Farah tweeted that he had been waiting since August for a 2022 Boxster Spyder that was modified to his specifications. The vehicle, which he declared as “the best sports car of all time, hands down,” has a retail price of about $123,000.

But when he got the call from his dealer, he was left disappointed and stunned.

“My car is now adrift, possibly on fire, in the middle of the ocean,” he wrote.

While he’s not sure if his car survived the fire, Farah said it’s likely the vehicle will need to be rebuilt.

“Odds are a new build and hopefully not another 8 months wait for it,” he tweeted. (Source: WaPo)

I'd say the odds on are about 1,000/1. Maybe even 10,000/1.

Unless that Boxter had been swaddled in fire- and heat-proof protection - and even then - it just seems impossible that a car on that ship hasn't suffered a boatload of damage.

I'm reminded of three things.

One is all those cars that were severely damaged by the waters of Hurricane Katrina, but which were dried out, made to run enough to get through a test drive, and shipped north for resale. When the VIN numbers were checked, it was discovered that many of them had been totaled, and shouldn't have been sold. Vroom, vroom.

The second sitch was closer to home.

Many years ago, a small, local grocery/liquor store had a fire, and had to total all the food and booze that had been on site. A lot of the inventory had smoke/soot - i.e., obvious - damage. All of the inventory had been exposed to heat levels that rendered it unfit for consumption. So, the owner got an insurance payout to cover the losses. Which didn't stop him from looking things over, picking out items that looked okay, and proceeded to sell them at his second store. (Water and wine were two of the items I remember.) The owner was caught and charged with insurance fraud. Oops, oops.  

Of course, it may just be me, but it's hard to dredge up all that much sympathy for someone who's buying a $65K or $122K Porsche, and who's now going to have to undergo some delayed gratification here. And yet it's been such a tough couple of years, and someone wanting to lift their spirits with a fun new car... Not my cup of tea, but I bought plenty of things I didn't need during covid just because I could. 

And, of course, I feel bad for the dealers that are being hit by this.

The car buyers, even if they've made a downpayment, won't be out anything. They'll just have to wait. 

The manufacturers will no doubt be covered by the shipping line insurance.

But what happens to the dealers? 

I have no idea what percentage of a car's price goes to the dealer, but it's not zero. 

So this could be a major loss.

Anyway, I'll be keeping an eye on this one. Hope they don't have to scuttle the ship - that could be an environmental disaster. Hope they can put the fire out and tug the Felicity Ace back to a safe harbor to be dismantled and salvaged.

And the third thing I'm reminded of?

As a kid, I was wild about Shirley Temple. Now I find her movies creepy and pervy in the extreme, but as a kid, I loved her, and even had a Shirley Temple doll. In one of her movies, darling little Shirley, in all her pouty cuteness, sings "Many Brave Hearts Are Asleep in the Deep."

Which in my weird beebee brain was translaed into "Many Brave Cars Are Asleep in the Deep." So, caveat car buyer, even if your car isn't sleeping with the fishes, it may not be salvageable. 

Amazing how the mind works, no?