The owner of a Houston, Texas area vehicle restoration shop is saying that as many as 15 vintage Corvettes may have been lost when the Watson Grinding and Manufacturing facility exploded on Friday.
Gordon Andrus, the owner of Houston Corvette Service, told CNN that his business occupies four buildings across the street from Watson Grinding and Manufacturing at 4537 Steffani Lane in Houston
The shop is a self-described “full-service restoration and preservation workshop”. The company’s website shows a variety of projects that the company has worked on from a 1957 Corvette Fuel Roadster to a 1972 LS5 454 Red Chevelle.
Andrus says that two of the four buildings that house Houston Corvette Service have been destroyed. “The rest of street had very minor damage, but my two buildings are flattened,” he told CNN.
He estimates the loss could be as much as $1 million worth of vehicles that were in progress at the time of the explosion.
In addition to the vehicles he was servicing for clients, a few of his own vehicles are trapped in the rubble. “Every car is insured, and we’re in the business of repairing and restoring cars,” he said. “We will make it right one way or another.”
He has already notified all the owners whose vehicles were involved in the event.
An investigation into what caused the explosion is ongoing and could take months according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo.
