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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Deadly tornado wrecks lives, classic cars


Tornado leaves wake of crushed cars in Alabama. Thousands of cars, trucks and RVs, rolled, flipped and were smashed by trees, debris and houses as they succumbed to the 200 MPH winds of an EF4 tornado. “The world has been turned upside down, shook to pieces, then slung out,” said Tommy Simmons of Pleasant Grove, Alabama. Simmons was surrounded by the sobering aftermath of the April 27 twisters that demolished his parents’ home and tossed his mother’s van over their house. The violent tornadoes killed more than 230 people and destroyed or heavily damaged 14,000 homes in Alabama. Simmons, a car enthusiast featured in junkyardlife’s “What’s in My Garage,” captured these photos of Alabama’s automotive apocalypse. 


How fast do you have to accelerate a tennis racket to get it to stab a tire? Check out the handle jutting into the van's tire. The Simmons' Chrysler Town and Country was blown to the east over the house. It landed on top of a downed tree 30 yards away. The wayward tennis racket belonged to a woman who lived two houses to the west.


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Email junkyardbull@gmail.com



Massive EF4 tornadoes churned everything in their path into rubble.


A wheelbarrow slammed into this SUV and remains embedded in the hood.

A 1950 Chevy, parked in front of snapped trees that were stripped of their bark, remains upright but mangled by tornado debris.

  
Tornado survivors used overturned vehicles as billboards of inspiration.
 
This 1971 'Cuda convertible, damaged during the tornado, will remain covered until the owner is ready to look at his battered, classic muscle car.

The partially collapsed roof, caused by a tornado, fell onto a 1949 Plymouth in Pleasant Grove, Alabama.

Thousands of tornado damaged vehicles will be scrapped, which will result in used vehicle prices continuing to climb.


Junk car buyers will deliver these tornado damaged vehicles to the scrap yard. 

My condolences go out for those who lost their lives in the recent tragedies and also my sincerest sympathies to the tornado survivors who have lost so much. 

– Jody Potter, junkyardlife

Send junkyardlife your photos and story:
Email junkyardbull@gmail.com


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think at least some of those look like they probably got some bodywork done to them and repaired. It depends on the damage to the engine block and the frame.

Anonymous said...

Terrible about the 'cuda, very hard to find. I own a 71 barracuda in sublime green that I am planning to restore

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