If you are faint at heart, please do not look at these horrible images of a Ferrari 458, a Porsche 356, a BMW M5, and two high-end Mercedes totaled in a mysterious trailer fire.
Jalopnik reader Arturo sent these pictures in, explaining how he came to see these cars and how little we know about the trailer fire in Sierra Blanca, Texas that torched them.
I work for an auto salvage. I'm used to seeing wrecked vehicles on a daily basis. This still got to me.
Yesterday morning an older gentleman named Bill called our establishment saying he had a car he needed to sell, he told me he had a "pristine 2006 Mercedes CLK 500 that was being transported from CA to FL along with a Porsche, a GT-R, a Ferrari and a BMW. The truck was involved in some sort of fire but I don't know how badly the car was damaged. It might be just some smoke damage. The insurance company totaled it but there wasn't enough coverage for all the damages since they were all high end cars."
Thinking it might have just suffered smoke damage or slight melting, the boss and myself headed on over to the towing company that had Bill's car.
The guys at the towing company said that the trailer probably had either bad brakes or bad bearings that overheated and caused the fire. According to them, the truck driver unhitched the trailer and left the scene.
The GT-R had the least damage of the lot, it was picked up on Saturday.
Bill's car and the other Mercedes were completely charbroiled.
The paint on Porsche 356 looks like it boiled and every plastic component melted.
The Ferrari 458 Italia also had all of its plastic components melted, the rear glass broke, the headliner was hanging loose, the dash was melted at the firewall, the interior was covered in ash.
The the front end of the BMW M5 was melted, the interior was clean and the cluster still lighted up.
I called Bill after I left the towing company, he asked if there was anything salvageable of his car, he went silent after I told him there wasn't anything left.
I emailed him the pictures and haven't heard from him since.
The fate of the other cars is unknown to me.
That poor Porsche! That poor BMW! Trailer fires are disturbing for everyone involved; just look at this lady screaming at some firemen rescuing her burning Camaro and you'll understand. Excuse us while we go cry in a corner.
Photo Credits: Arturlow