Classic Corvettes damaged: Driver crashes into Pensacola automotive store

PENSACOLA, FLA. (WEAR-TV) — It wasn't the Thanksgiving the folks at Leo's Automotive were hoping for.

Late Wednesday night, the driver of a white Nissan 350Z lost control of the car, crashed into a fire hydrant and a power pole, and slammed into several vehicles parked outside the business.

"I'm supposed to be sitting down, waiting for the football games," said shop foreman, Dave Amaral.

But instead, Amaral is here, cleaning up the mess.

"I guess he was at a high rate of speed, to take out a fire hydrant, take out a telephone pole and break it in three places, and push 4,000 pound cars around like they're dominos," said Amaral.

The impact, causing the fire hydrant to fly into the side of this Chevy Avalanche. The red paint, is etched into the badly dented door.

A Volkswagen Jetta also took a beating, its windows completely blown out, a '51 Dodge Coronet was dented by debris, but the big-ticket items: three classic Corvettes.

"Corvettes... They don't give those things away!" said Amaral. "There are a couple of really old ones here, a collector car - which I consider, looking at it, totaled. There's a pace car, they're hard to find. This was a barn find, and it was a collector car, so it hit a few good ones."

Those cars have since been loaded onto the back of a tow truck, to assess the damage.

"They're old school," said Amaral. "You know, you get a car over 40 years old, it's a survivor; it's worth money - more to some than others. You can't put a price tag on a car that old."

You can, however, put a price tag on the total damage, which Amaral estimates to be about $100,000.

"Now, I guess we find out who got charged and what happened and who's got insurance and who doesn't, and go from there," said Amaral.

Florida Highway Patrol responded to the crash Wednesday night. A request for additional information has not yet been returned.

Another employee at the dealership said the driver of the 350Z appeared uninjured after the crash and told us FHP troopers administered a field sobriety test.