RIP John O Quinn
- Thread starter Mullet
- Start date
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6692411.html
Very sad. I was actually plannong on meeting him soon and seeing his famous collection.
Very sad. I was actually plannong on meeting him soon and seeing his famous collection.
gtinmyblood
GT Owner
From the sound of the article it wasnt just a car crash. His vehicle crossed the center median and oncoming traffic before hitting a tree. Sounds like a heart attack or something prior to ompact. Very sad news.
article said probably a high rate of speed and it was wet. That would be a good reason to cross the median. Heart attack? I guess that is a possiblity.
I believe they said another car MIGHT have been involved or right there when it happened.
just reported by local news:
both people in car were not wearing their seatbelts
no other car invloved as witnesses said
O Quinn had diabetes and had in the past passed out from it.
both people in car were not wearing their seatbelts
no other car invloved as witnesses said
O Quinn had diabetes and had in the past passed out from it.
THamonGT
GT
I too visited John at the Kruse Auto Auction in Houston in September. What a very tragic accident this morning. His collection totaled over 800 very rare and expensive automobiles was valued at over one billion. He was working on a museum in downtown Houston. He usually had many of his collection at the Keels and Wheels show every year in Seabrook, Texas and was a very big supporter of that show. What a Giant loss to the world of collector owners as well as to Houston. A Giant of a man in many ways. May he rest in peace. Shelby, We really never know when we are called to above! Tomy
STORMCAT
GT
Hennessey Performance
GT Owner
- Mar 15, 2006
- 767
He was a customer of mine and was very good to me. This is a huge loss for the car collector hobby and to Houston. Hopefully, there will end up being a great car museum with his name on it that all can enjoy in the future.
silver1331
GT Owner
I read somewhere that he only started collecting 5-10 years ago and had amassed this collection in a short period of time, is that correct? If so, it seems remarkable given the number of cars in the collection.
John O'Quinn was the prime lawyer for the Tobacco settlement... a little over 10 years ago I think.
RIP to a fine collector. I once heard a story from a friend of Jerry Moore comparing the two collections. "He did it his way, and we did it our way." That is always the nature of large car collections. RIP... wear those seat belts...
Kayvan
GT Owner
- Jul 13, 2006
- 4,782
Very sad. RIP.
Forbes:
"O'Quinn's childhood passion for cars was reignited two and a half years ago (2004) when he saw a 1932 Duesenberg Durham Tourister for sale at aHouston auction of antique autos. He bought 14 cars that day, including the Duesenberg for $405,000. The outing took him back to the 1950s when his dad, who had a car repair shop, took him to a show at the Sam Houston Coliseum. When they stepped away from the new models to eyeball the classic cars, O'Quinn recalls, it was "like walking into a church." His dad called the Duesenberg--that Depression-era carriage of kings and kingpins--"the greatest car ever built."
O'Quinn has since spent upward of $100 million to buy 618 cars, including six other Duesenbergs, the 1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost featured in Titanic, JFK's 1962 Lincoln Continental Bubble Top limo, a curvaceous 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante and a 1938 Talbot Lago for which he paid $3.4 million at auction in September."
Forbes:
"O'Quinn's childhood passion for cars was reignited two and a half years ago (2004) when he saw a 1932 Duesenberg Durham Tourister for sale at aHouston auction of antique autos. He bought 14 cars that day, including the Duesenberg for $405,000. The outing took him back to the 1950s when his dad, who had a car repair shop, took him to a show at the Sam Houston Coliseum. When they stepped away from the new models to eyeball the classic cars, O'Quinn recalls, it was "like walking into a church." His dad called the Duesenberg--that Depression-era carriage of kings and kingpins--"the greatest car ever built."
O'Quinn has since spent upward of $100 million to buy 618 cars, including six other Duesenbergs, the 1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost featured in Titanic, JFK's 1962 Lincoln Continental Bubble Top limo, a curvaceous 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante and a 1938 Talbot Lago for which he paid $3.4 million at auction in September."