Car lovers, this Bellingham fire will hurt your soul, but it could have been much worse
Classic car lovers, look away — this one is going to hurt. But the good news is it could have been a whole lot worse.
A 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster caught fire while it was being driven along Broadway in Bellingham on Wednesday, Oct. 6, according to a post on the Bellingham Fire Department Facebook page.
The fire occurred near the intersection with Elizabeth Street was reported at approximately 12:18 p.m., according to the PulsePoint app.
The fire started in the engine compartment of the car, according to the post.
“The antique vehicle suffered damage, but the damage could have been more extensive if not for a couple of nearby business owners,” Bellingham Fire wrote in the post. “The helpful citizens jumped into action and deployed their fire extinguishers and put out the fire prior to our crews arriving.”
Pictures with the post show that though smoke and residue from the fire extinguishers coated much of the front end of the car, no serious damage beyond the engine compartment was visible.
The first Auburn Speedster was introduced in 1928, according to tiriaccollection.com, as an open-air, two-seat version of the Auburn 8 model. It featured an 8-cylinder, 4.2-liter engine and a narrow body ending in a boat tail. It was designed by Gordon Buerhig, whom silodrome.com called one of the “20th century’s most important car designers.”
It is not known how many of the 1935 and 1936 Auburn Speedsters were produced, according to tiriaccollection.com, but estimates range from 150 to 500 cars.
The 851 Speedster, which was the one produced in 1935, and later 852 versions were the most sought after, according to classic.com, which reported that in the past five years, 17 851 Speedsters have been listed for sale. Of those, 13 have sold for an average of more than $730,000, with the highest recorded sale value at $1.1 million.
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 7:51 AM.
