A less-than-successful National Meet...

SamJ

This little article appeared in the November, 2007 issue of Hemmings Classic Car. It's almost too crazy to believe. Can you imagine this happening at a Hudson National? I'm thinking of Hedley Bennett's 17-year, high dollar restoration of his '37 Hudson 8 ragtop as just one example. It's white with at light tan top. Hedley'd probably be awaiting trial for murder right now...:eek:



OVERSPRAY

Disastrous ending for the Pontiac national meet



We all know enough not to

paint a car outdoors in the

wind, but when we display

our cars, we don't always

stop to think about what's up-

wind. Well, what was upwind

of the 329 cars on the show

field in downtown Tulsa,

Oklahoma, in July for the

35th annual Pontiac Oakland

Club International Conven-

tion was the Crowne Plaza

hotel, which was having red

paint applied.

As far as anyone can tell,

a spray of dark red epoxy

traveled about two blocks

to land on every single car,

somehow managing not to

dry on the way. If that wasn't

bad enough, POCI judging

requires that at least one

window is left open, so many

interiors were damaged, as

well. Damage ranged from a

few drops, to some cars that

are reported to have a sand-

paper-like coating.

After several weeks of

investigation, the subcontrac-

tor responsible for the incident

has 'fessed up, and is working

through specialists Nationwide

Overspray to help hundreds

of furious car owners get their

cars refinished, although we

can't imagine the owners of

cars with original paint will

ever be happy. Contact:

www.poci.org.

[Deleted User]

That was a huge deal that got many classic car insurers, car owners, the host hotel management, the construction company and their sub-contractor to know each other very, very well. There are still many claims outstanding, but the number of cars damaged by the negligence of the painting sub is estimated at over 400. Some damage is fixed by use of a clay bar and a thourough cleaning and detailing, but many were not so lucky, especially with the interior damage. One car damaged I heard about was a completely original and unrestored 11K mile '64 GTO, that had over $90K worth of damage - after all, it won't be original anymore!

faustmb

I had that happen to my daily driver a few years back. The owners of the buisness park hired a contractor to paint all of the buildings in the park, during work hours of course. They never told anybody ahead of time. I heard they were painting, and walked outside to find that my car was already covered in overspray. They had a company come back to clean all of the cars that got oversrayed, they were on site for two days that I know of. They got the paint off the metal surfaces of my car, but when they started working on the fiberglass bumper the original paint started coming off. They wrote a check on the spot to cover the cost of a bumper paint.



The thing that upset the most was that they knew this would happen. They had scheduled the overspray company before they even started painting. Instead of trying to prevent it, that just accept that it's going to happen.



In really sucks that car owners have to consider stuff like this. There's too many business owners out there looking to save a buck - at any cost to the general public.



Matt

Unknown

Lesson to be learned, use brushes and a rollers. Takes long to paint but costs less in the long run.

Unknown

66patrick66 wrote:

That was a huge deal that got many classic car insurers, car owners, the host hotel management, the construction company and their sub-contractor to know each other very, very well. There are still many claims outstanding, but the number of cars damaged by the negligence of the painting sub is estimated at over 400. Some damage is fixed by use of a clay bar and a thourough cleaning and detailing, but many were not so lucky, especially with the interior damage. One car damaged I heard about was a completely original and unrestored 11K mile '64 GTO, that had over $90K worth of damage - after all, it won't be original anymore!

There is no way anyone could possibly claim 90K damage to a 64 GTO, any insurance company would have to say no go on that one.... :eek:

hudsontech

faustmb wrote:

I had that happen to my daily driver a few years back. The owners of the buisness park hired a contractor to paint all of the buildings in the park, during work hours of course. They never told anybody ahead of time. I heard they were painting, and walked outside to find that my car was already covered in overspray. They had a company come back to clean all of the cars that got oversrayed, they were on site for two days that I know of. They got the paint off the metal surfaces of my car, but when they started working on the fiberglass bumper the original paint started coming off. They wrote a check on the spot to cover the cost of a bumper paint.



The thing that upset the most was that they knew this would happen. They had scheduled the overspray company before they even started painting. Instead of trying to prevent it, that just accept that it's going to happen.



In really sucks that car owners have to consider stuff like this. There's too many business owners out there looking to save a buck - at any cost to the general public.





Matt

The sad truth, in todays society, is that to many businesses are willing to take that "chance" to cut corners and save a buck. As an example look at the astronomical fees a business is willing to spend in order to try and save a few bucks on a claim.

The theory seems to be be "let's see if we can get away with this - and if we get our butts in a vice our lawyers will figure it out." Businesses see to operate on the theory that they can get away with something 9 times out of 10 - those 9 times are what pays for the legal ramifications from case #10.

Sad, but true. And it's only getting worse.



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

[Deleted User]

The $90K claim is the claim that since the car's originality is destroyed, the car now has to be restored. With it being a convertible, all of the original interior was not repairable. Again, a car is original one time. I think the guy will get what he's claiming. He had the car appraised at over $150K before the incident.

Unknown

Right on guys, saw on the boob tube,don't remember who the comentater was,that we have become a society of ANYTHING GOES as long as it benifits ME. Stomp on anybody gets in your way,long as you come out ahead and narrowly escape jail your a winner. NOT IN MY BOOK

[Deleted User]

OK, so what you are saying is that these guys are gaming the system for the big bucks? Woiuld you have the same things to say if this were a Hudson meet and the same things happened to YOUR cars? This is what insurance is for, and this is why contractors have insurance to cover damages like this! A car is original ONE time! If I were the owner of the '64 ragtop, you are damn right I'd be after the cash, too!



A car is insured for "$X" with the agreement of the owner, the insurance company, and an appraiser (generally). The insurance company agrees to assume the risk, and the policyholder pays the appropriate premium. Where exactly is the disconnect here?



Also, since the painting contractor is ultimately to blame, HIS insurance, along with the hotel's insurance, should be reimbursing the claims the car owners made to their insurance companies. In case you guys haven't been watching, car values have been going through the roof the past five years. Some say artificially, but up, nonetheless. Go ahead and replace that original, unrestored '64 GTO ragtop for $25,000 - it ain't gonna happen!



So, when your restored '53 Hornet ragtop, '47 Super Six coupe, or '36 Terraplane get the same treatment at ANY show, and you have to take that car down to its basics to properly restore it (again!), you'll settle for five or six thousand dollars, right? :eek: Didn't think so.