Stray fireworks destroy Bensenville man's restored Corvette





Richard Szatkowski's 1989 Corvette was the hottest car around on the Fourth of July.

Literally.

The Bensenville car guru spent that day making thousands of dollars worth of improvements to his beloved car's interior, including new seats, carpeting and a steering wheel. He even videotaped footage of the project's progress for his weekly cable access TV show, "Wild World of Classics."

When Szatkowski finished, he washed the car and left its removable top off to let the carpet's corners dry.

Then around 10 p.m., a neighbor told Szatkowski his black Corvette was on fire.

Apparently, someone's errant fireworks landed inside the car, which Szatkowski spent the last 18 years tinkering with and restoring.

By the time firefighters extinguished the flames, shattered glass was everywhere. All that remained of the carefully restored interior was the frames of the seats and the steering wheel.

The car's Fiberglas body had been turned into something tan and fuzzy, and the aluminum side mirrors had melted and splattered on the ground.

Days after the incident, the smell of the burning car still lingers over Szatkowski's driveway.

"It's gonna probably stink forever," he said Tuesday.

The only usable parts of the vehicle are the suspension and engine.

"The interior's completely destroyed," Szatkowski said. "(The car's) garbage, and it'll go to a junk yard."

Szatkowski said he's devastated about losing the car he's been decking out for nearly two decades.

"Guys like to dress up their cars like ladies like to decorate their homes," he said. "That was my baby, my toy."

He even made his basic Corvette look like a speedy 1994 ZR1 by putting in special bumpers, wheels and a nameplate.

"Since this happened, I'm walking around like I lost my best friend," Szatkowski said. "I can't cry, but my heart's so heavy right now."

Szatkowski says the car had about 47,000 miles on it and was worth more than $25,000 when it went up in flames. He spent $27,000 to buy the car from a private seller in 1990.

He had been upgrading its features ever since.

Despite his loss, Szatkowski said he's thankful the situation wasn't worse.

"What if this (the fireworks) hit somebody's home?," he questioned. "Somebody could lose their life."

And though he doesn't think the incident was intentional, he's frustrated with people who shoot off fireworks willy-nilly around the holiday.

"People don't understand what they're doing," he said. "They think they're just having fun. I'm hoping by seeing this and reading this story, they will think twice about using things like fireworks."

As for the show, which Comcast broadcasts weekly in about 80 suburbs, Szatkowski says he's not sure when his special episode will air.

"I gotta clear my heart a little bit," he said. "I don't wanna be crying on camera."

In the meantime, Szatkowski says he's doing the best he can to deal with the situation.

"My heart probably will never recover," he said, "but getting a new Corvette would help me."




http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=216425

That's one way to move to a Z06.

dang, that stinks!

BUT:

1) He paid too much for that car
2) How does it look like a '94 ZR1?
3) Nobody who shoots off fireworks is gonna learn crap from this.
4) I, however will probably never park my Vette outside during the 4th. My back yard is littered with fireworks the morning of July 5th. None of them are ours.

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LOL

Man, you are cold. Whose gonna be the first to ask him if it had a Dana 44?

I think the "Blose" Stereo and the "Breadbox" are salvageable!

Worth more than $25K? Come on, its a C4!

This is a change. No one has stated how badly they would like to kick the culprits asses.

Wrong rims for an 89 too...

That body kit is HOT!

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Well........ It was hot....

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Well, I was trying to upload a wave file of a rimshot but it won't take. So never mind..

I'm going to report him to the Bensenville Sheriff's Department for those stolen street signs.

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Haha...Bensenville actually has a Public Safety Department...This was on the news the past couple days. I saw it and felt bad for the guy, but he has a skewed sense of his car's worth.

Matthew

Most of it's value is probably in the rare ZR1 wheels, which happen to resemble backwards installed, dull, '84 Corvette wheels.

Well... in all honesty, he bought the car in 1990, so it was barely used then.

Calling it worth $25k is the sum of the parts. If he had an "agreed value" type of policy for it, he is ok.

As long as they don't ding him for not having it in a locked, secured garage.

The car was uninsured.

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More likely is that he bolted the seats down on top of some wiring when he was doing the interior.

Poor guy! I'm still thankful that mine didn't look like that after my little gas leak episode.

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Even if, home owners would then cover it.

A car can be insured even when open... it's a freak act. If nothing else, if he can catch the buggers that did the fireworks, they are ultimately responsible.

Totally feel sorry for the guy...but maybe the guy was happy it happened considering his ZR1 Testarossa didn't turn out like his vision.

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I was actually thinking the same...

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Me too! Oops! I dropped a firecracker in my car...

Gee the enthusiasm and simpathy.

I guess he needs to go to real Corvette site

And that's a horse bleep shirt he's wearing too...

At least his removeable roof is still in good shape.

Any ins experts in the house? Id bet the homeowners ins says its vandalism/actof God/act of a moron and tell him to pound sand.

I know from renting here if this place burned down my belongings and car are not covered unless I buy a policy strictly for that.


[IMG]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a335/Andrews_pics/retorts/ohsnapbear.jpg[/IMG]

Will HO's cover uninsured cars?

Hell, I think I'll just go cancel all my comprehensive auto policies right now.

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I can tell you that after having an engine fire in an '82 Firebird (coincidence?) in the garage, that answer is NO, if you have Allstate insurance.

wow............. just wow

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Haven't you ever heard of self depreciating humor? If you own a C4 it comes with the turf.

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Yeah, how quickly the tune would change if he showed up and posted here.

OK then, just remember he might already be here.

How many have been lurkers before joining...

True that.....but I can almost guarantee that the stuff that was said(while yes tasteless considering none of us would not want it to happen to our vettes)would be said at just about any site unless the guy was there posting. Par for the course being human trying to be funny, but I totally agree with you Brian, he may have already been here and left....

Well, being a product of the Catholic educational system and thus primarily motivated by guilt, obligation and the fear of disappointing anybody, I now feel sufficiently lousy about my contribution to this thread...

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Say three Hail Marys', the Lords Prayer and send me $20.00

*Healed!*

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Nothing would've been said if his description wasn't so over the top and embellished. It sounds like more realistically he spent $300 on a new carpet set the week before.

Look at all the other junk piled in his driveway. Why would the vette look any different?

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[sarastic]That's funny, my catholic upbringing never once entered into my thoughts on this subject.[/sarcastic]

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Oh great, please don't tell me you were insulted by my comment. Now I'll feel guilty about that too...

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DEEP Breath.....................


Exhale.

Now I feel guilty cause all of you do.
Its great to be codependant!

I'm eating whipped cream out of the compressed can.

All I feel is instant gratification and a bit of dizziness...

Try the other hole, youll actually taste it.

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That's f'd up, man!
I feel sorry for the guy. I wouldn't wish that on any Vette owner, even some of the real asshole ones I've met!
Side note: Don't you just hate idiot reporters who start out a story with a douche-bag comment like this?
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Hehe, I thought the title was the best part of the article. It all went downhill from there.

Tough crowd!
Sucks the guy lost hie vette.