The recent barrage of storms has brought destruction and inconvenience across the country lately. For one classic car enthusiast, though, they have also brought devastation. Ewen Sergison has been left distraught after his classic car collection worth almost half a million pounds was destroyed.

Sergison’s passion for cars seeps into every aspect of his life. He runs AVIT motorsport works as an F1 engineer and a high-speed driving instructor.

This is a devastating blow for Sergison and his fiancé, who only moved into the building a year ago. The winds of storms Eunice and Franklin reached up to 100mph, battering buildings across the country. Thankfully their home was undamaged by the event, but the barn where the cars were stored was destroyed.

Thankfully, no one was injured in the event. The same can’t be said for the valuable collection of cars, though. Amongst the destruction were an Alfa Romeo GTA, worth £350,000, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, worth £30,000, a Mini Marcos, worth £15,000, a Triumph Stag, worth £10,000, and two TVRs, worth £20,000 each.

The storm took hold suddenly. The couple had been home just 30 minutes when they noticed the winds picking up. Just as they decided it would be best to move the vehicles, the courtyard filled with dust as the roof and walls of the barn came down.

Ewen says;

“Luckily, everyone was safe. None of my staff, customers or animals were in there, it was mostly my own cars damaged and not customers.

“If anything, I’m glad it wasn’t the customers – as one of them was the £350,000 aluminium bodied Alfa Romeo GTA, and the other was the Triumph Stag.

“But the cost in total is still likely to be hundreds of thousands of pounds, so it is pretty devastating, to say the least.

It’s not just a business that has been affected by this devastating destruction. Classic cars hold sentimental value to their owners. The Mini Marcos, in particular, was a gift by Sergison’s mother when he was just 14 years old; the Aston Martin was a retirement gift.

The pair had only just got back to the UK after experiencing a terrifying flight from New York, which landed during the high winds at Heathrow. He explained

“We had a bad landing at Heathrow, I drive F1 cars for a living, but that is the most scared I have ever been.

“We saw our flight featured on YouTube. It was a bit surreal to see it when we recognised it.

“And then this happened within half an hour of getting home. Everyone has been brilliant in terms of supporting us, though.

“People were helping and bringing food. I’m not sure of the exact costs yet, and I’m not looking forward to finding out.”

Thankfully nobody was injured in this event during the storms, which killed four people in the UK. Mr Sergison, although saddened by this blow, seems in good spirits. We wish him the best of luck with his business and hope the cars and barn can all be repaired swiftly.