One unlucky classic car shop is still open for business after a series of unfortunate events.
Did you ever hear the phrase: You can’t keep a good man down?
We’re sure you did and it applies, really, to all people that are built tough from the get-go and it doesn’t only apply to people as many of the cars, trucks and any of the other trusted objects in and around our lives, can also be described as being “tough as nails,” or “built to last.”
And recently, a classic car dealership’s toughness and ability to last would be tested, not for the first time, but for the second time, and in a big way. Country Classic Cars, in the great state of Illinois, was hit by a tornado just a short while after suffering a terrible fire.
But the clincher, the biggest piece of news: they’re still open and yes, even after all that!
Russ Noel and Anita Noel opened the place way back in 1999—soon to be twenty years ago, and they had collected quite a remarkable number of classic cars on their lot. And although it was a small town business, the town being Staunton, Illinois (you may have some trouble finding it on a map, but it is there), it did fairly well for itself.
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According to Driving, that was until a little bit over a year ago when a fire struck the location, leaving in its aftermath a whopping 100 damaged classic cars. Now, if that wasn’t a heck of a lot of bad luck to begin with, just this past weekend, the local business was struck by disaster yet another time, only this time the disaster was in the form of a tornado of all things.
And just what was the damage toll on this one, you ask?
Well, if you can believe it or not, a whopping 100 more vehicles!
No one was hurt, but probably one of the saddest things to come from this second disaster is that they had only recently rebuilt from the previous disaster.
But just like the opening line to this article says: “You can’t keep a good man and woman down,” Russ Noel, who is 73 doesn’t plan on letting the disaster stop him from setting the location back to rights and all the while operating fully as they go along. And with his wife and business partner, Anita by his side, we’re sure these people will be A-Okay in the long run. You see, the past can often tell the world what is to come in the future. Case in point: the day after the fire a little over a year ago, they were open for business and even sold three cars that day, and when Russ was asked what next after this most recent disaster, he said simply: “We’re going to rebuild.” And we're sure he will ... all the while selling a few cars along the way."