VIDEO: Tornado damages Country Classic Cars near Staunton

A tornado severely damaged several buildings and cars Saturday at Country Classic Cars along old Route 66 near Staunton, Illinois.

Here is incredible footage from Kyle Swip of the twister hitting the business:

It was the second disaster to befall the classic-car lot in less than 18 months. In August 2017, a fire destroyed one of the complex’s main buildings and dozens of vehicles. An electrical problem in one of the old cars started the blaze after the business had closed for the day.

No one was injured in by the tornado near Staunton on Saturday but another twister near Taylorville injured 15, reported the Belleville News-Democrat. An estimated 15 tornadoes struck Illinois on Saturday.

Riverbender.com, a media outlet in the region, was allowed on the Country Classic Cars scene after the storm and reported:

Country Classic Cars owners Russ and Anita Noel were upset about what had happened, but also remain eternally optimistic about the business and plan to immediately rebuild areas that were damaged. Russ said the business will open again Monday morning as normal and cleanup had already started Saturday night and will continue Sunday. On Aug. 8, 2017, Country Classic Cars encountered another terrible incident with a fire that damaged five buildings and destroyed 100 classic cars. Russ said the business had just finished the building construction and was completely back to normal the week before Thanksgiving and then this incident happened today. […]

Russ Noel said one car was turned on its side, other cars were damaged and the two buildings were hit hard. Country Classic Cars have 670 vehicles in its dealership. “I don’t know how many cars were damaged,” Noel said. “We had 210 in the two buildings that were damaged.

“We close at 3 on Saturday and it was a blessing with the storm coming in at 4 or 5. What I say is nobody got hurt. We can repair the cars and replace them and repair the building. Nobody got hurt was the main thing.” […]

“We are going to work right through it and do it again. I will call my building contractor and hopefully have him back here Monday, get trusses ordered and of course call the insurance company. We will do what we have to do, assess the damage and be building back.
It will be a couple weeks before we start rebuilding the building, but we will open Monday morning.”

Russ Noel closed by saying: “We would open tomorrow if it wasn’t Sunday.”

Riverbender.com also posted several photos of old cars on their sides and building roofs and walls ripped away by the winds.

The Madison County Scanner Page on Facebook posted this image by Emil Zimmerman of the tornado that struck Country Classic Cars:

Country Classic Cars posted this message on Facebook on Sunday morning:

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch posted this video shortly after one of the Country Classic Cars buildings was rebuilt after the fire:

I have little doubt Noel and his family will rebuild if he says they will. Noel was a former farmer, and I grew up around guys like him in central Illinois — soft-spoken but incredibly resilient.

Noel started fixing and reselling old cars and trucks as a hobby but soon discovered the hobby was growing and becoming more rewarding than his full-time job. He started Country Classic Cars on a frontage road, aka Route 66, near Interstate 55. He has 500 to 600 cars — almost all in drive-home condition — strewn across the massive complex.

(Image of tornado-damaged Country Classic Cars by Chelsea Braman via WICS on Twitter; image of tornado near Staunton by Emil Zimmerman via Facebook)

5 thoughts on “VIDEO: Tornado damages Country Classic Cars near Staunton

  1. Man that’s tough, so soon after the fire. Love this business, and am glad to hear they plan to tough it out and rebuild…again. And of course, glad no one was hurt.

  2. Good to hear. Thanks Ron.

    Strangely, the day we stopped to see Rich a few years back, a tornado-like weather was flattening crops and ruining the awning on our trailer back near Springfield. It’s a good part of the country for them.

  3. You contacted me through Yelp asking about my experience with Country Classic Cars.

    My experience was not as bad as yours, but not good nevertheless.

    The car I bought, a 1975 AMC Matador, was advertised to be very nice and a good driver. I was able to see many many pictures of the car, many close ups, so was pretty sure about body issues, especially rust. I spoke with the salesperson repeatedly. I specifically asked about rust and was told that the only problem was the exhaust which might need replacement. I was told that the car was otherwise ready to drive. (Oddly enough, I have not had to replace the exhaust or muffler…..yet anyway. Read on…..)

    I have had to do thousands of dollars of repairs. Some were things I just wanted done, but the majority were things that had to be done.

    Upon arrival the car had a run down battery. The reason for this was that the brake lights would not turn off. The required solution was a new power brake booster…..not cheap.

    I suppose I was lucky that the car did not in fact have bad body rust issues……for the most part. The rear bumpers of these cars are notoriously poorly designed and even well maintained ones have problems with the rear bumper, hence replacements are very had to find. My car had a thoroughly rusted rear bumper such that I had to find a replacement (luckily I did find a decent example 100 miles from home). There was also body rust along the lower rear edge of the body adjacent to the rear bumper and there was a dent in the rear of the car. These body items were not mentioned. All have been repaired at considerable expense.

    The hood had been touched up with paint that did not match the original color. So I had the entire hood repainted.

    The radiator leaked and had to be restored. The gas tank was full of gunk and had to be removed and resealed, successfully thank goodness.

    The entire front end was rusty and the car drove terribly and made all sorts of strange noises. Everything had to be replaced…..bushings, shocks, tie rods, etc. It now drives very nicely.

    The front seat upholstery looked pretty good but was nearly worn through. The seat has been reupholstered with correct fabric.

    There were mistakes I made……namely not having someone go over the car or going to visit it myself before I bought it. But still Country Classics did gloss over these shortcomings. I suspect they might not of even known about many of them. I get the feeling this car sat in their warehouse for a long time and their goal was to simply unload it on the first sucker they could find.

    Unlike you, my outcome, after a lot of money, was good. I have had the car for almost two years and now it seems to be just as I had hoped it would be. After my considerable investment I am very pleased with the car. However I would love to see you succeed with nailing these guys. I’d love to hear how things go for you with the attorney general.

    For the price I paid the car should have been pristine. I was a sucker who got duped.

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