Japan now has 51 fewer Ferraris on its soil after last week’s historic Typhoon Jebi sent three feet of seawater surging into one of the Italian automaker’s showrooms on an artificial island in the city of Kobe, destroying around $9 million in high-end supercars, according to Yahoo Japan. Are we looking at the next great salvage auction find, or does the combination of saltwater and Italian electronics have your project-car-hell senses going equally haywire?
The country is still cleaning up this week after Typhoon Jebi slammed the island nation with 130 mph winds and rushing floodwaters that claimed the lives of at least 11 people, making it the strongest such storm to hit Japan in decades. Tens of thousands of people evacuated from low-lying coastal areas like Rokko Island, a manmade neighborhood that sits just a few feet above Osaka Bay in the city of Kobe. Unfortunately, the owner of a Ferrari dealership on the island wasn’t able to get his inventory to higher ground before the typhoon struck.
Yahoo Japan reports that employees tried to safeguard the building with sandbags and tarps, but in the end its waterfront location sealed its fate. About three feet of corrosive saltwater flooded the showroom and submerged 51 of 53 new and used Ferraris, including several that had already been purchased by their new owners. All 51 cars were declared total losses and trucked away from the sodden scene.
The dealership opened in 2016 to much fanfare as the first official Ferrari center in the region, but it will be a while before the business recovers from the damage. The owner estimates the losses at around a billion yen, or $8.9 million, and is currently trying to get the insurance claim processed. And look on the bright side – at least he doesn’t have to go find the cars first.