Japan is no stranger to typhoons – tropical storms of the sort are commonplace in the Pacific region, and regularly strike and cause damage – but Typhoon Jebi, which recently passed over the country, was the most powerful to hit the mainland in quarter of a century. A category five typhoon, Jebi may have only made a brief visit to the main island of Honshu, but in doing so it left 11 people dead, and caused widespread damage as it passed through.
The coastal city of Kobe, in the Hyogo Prefecture, took the brunt of the storm, and on the artificial island of Rokko – which lies off the shore from Kobe – a Ferrari dealership stood no chance in the path of such a terrible and powerful storm. Despite the desperate attempts of employees to protect the dealership – which sells both new and used Ferraris – three feet of water eventually broke through, with disastrous results.
Saltwater Damage
If an image of 51 destroyed Ferraris is enough to upset you, don’t read on! Three feet of water may not sound like a lot, but when it remains for a few days and gets into every area of an expensive exotic automobile, the result is terminal. Just two cars were left undamaged by the passage of Typhoon Jebi, and a large collection of very beautiful automobiles left with no future.
Saltwater is extremely corrosive so the chassis and bodywork are unlikely to survive, while cleaning the water out of the engine, gearbox and electrical systems – not to mention the interior – would be a lost cause. The dealership estimates the damage caused amounts to some $9million worth of new and used Ferraris.
With tropical storms a regular occurrence in some parts of the USA, dealers on that side of the world will have taken note of the damage done on Rokko Island, but even then there is little that can be done to prevent the force of such a storm from causing such destruction. US insurance companies write off a car when water reaches about a foot from the ground, so a Ferrari in three feet of water has no chance.
It’s a sad loss, but of course our thoughts go out to those who lost their lives in this tragic and terrible storm.
