If you’re an owner of an old air-cooled Volkswagen or a (liquid-cooled, I guess I may as well note) Corvette, chances are very good that you’re familiar with Mid-America Motorworks. I’ve been buying parts for my Beetle from Mid-America an looking through their catalogs for years and years. And while I’ve never owned a Corvette, I know they’ve been a huge part of that community for decades as well. That’s why I was excited to pass through Effingham, Illinois last year during our cross-country journey in that 375,000-mile ex-NYC taxi, where we stopped at Mid-America’s headquarters to check out the VW Funfest.
I mention all of these things because Mid-America’s headquarters has been absolutely obliterated by a tornado that wreaked havoc on Effingham yesterday evening. Based on news reports from the area, the headquarters, warehouse, and on-site museum, full of unique Corvettes and Volkswagens, is all gone.
Social media posts from eyewitnesses show the extent of the destruction:
That’s just the outside. Before we get to the inside, I’d like to just show a quick snapshot of what the museum looked like before back when I visited:
This video shows the inside of what was left of the museum; all of the Corvettes within appear to have been crushed by the collapsing building:
One of the museum pieces that was noted to have been destroyed is one I wrote about specifically last year, an incredibly rare and fascinating 1949 Volkswagen chassis cutaway, something made by the factory for training purposes and one of very few left in the world.
Mid-America founder Mike Yeager posted a video from the site of the destruction, where he also noted that the VW Funfest, which had been scheduled for this weekend, is, of course, cancelled:
Yeager also sent an email out to a number of Mid-America supporters, where he broke down some of what happened:
Last night a tornado scored a direct hit on the Mid America Motorworks campus in Effingham. Every building is a total loss. The museum, the cars, our 1910 gas station, inventory, and many of the outdoor signs from the collection are gone. From the photos I’ve seen, the last C4, the historic C5 Alpha and Beta prototypes, the CERV4b, and the rest of the collection are destroyed or badly damaged.
Here is the part that matters above all else: it happened in the middle of the night, no one was on site, and not a single team member was hurt. Everything else is just things. For that, Laurie and I are more grateful than I know how to say.
I won’t pretend I know what comes next or how long it will take. After 52-plus years, as of today we are out of business while we account for what’s left. My focus right now is two things — making sure our people keep getting their paychecks, and personally reaching the suppliers, partners, and friends who have stood beside us all these years.
It’s worth repeating that, thankfully, the tornado hit in the middle of the night, when the facility was empty, so no one was hurt. The company seems determined to rebuild, so I wish them luck on pulling that off.
Here’s a video of me geeking out at last year’s VW Funfest; it was all shot on the site where the tornado hit, and I remember how vast Mid-America’s property was. The destructive force of that tornado is truly terrifying.
This is a devastating event, no question, though as founder Mike Yeager noted, the Corvette and air-cooled VW communities are incredibly strong, and I suspect the company will have a lot of support as they seek to dig out of the rubble and rebuild.
We’ll be thinking as many positive and hopeful thoughts directed to not just Mid-America Motorworks, but to all the places in Effingham affected by this brutal weather. It looks like a 12 to 15 mile stretch of northern Effingham County was affected; incredibly, there were no reported fatalities. There’s lots of people without power, and a number of homes damaged, though the damage to Mid-America may be the most extensive.
Tornadoes are no joke, friends. Be careful out there.
(Top image: Derrek Johnson/Facebook)
Midwesterners built different. East Coast people are sometimes spooked by the possibility of an earthquake but honestly, tornadoes are arguably, on balance, way worse in the aggregate.
This shit sucks what I always worry about any time there is bad weather around here in the Midwest of all things for a tornado to destroy, besides my pets or family, my vehicles getting destroyed would be devastating.
Fuuuuuuuuu… 😮
ck!!!!!!!
I guess they really are air cooled. Sad.
This reminds me an electronics shop near me. The type of place you could find new old stock of things long long gone and if you couldn’t find it there, you could not find it anywhere. The place burned down and they never rebuilt because most of the inventory was impossible to replace. Sad days.
How they come back stronger than before. Good to hear everyone if okay. Things are replaceable.
What I see from Mike Yeager’s quote is that he is not so much a CEO, Founder, or business owner, he’s first and foremost a leader. I wish he and his team and their families all the best as they recover from this.
Effingham. Terribly appropriate name for that county now.
On the positive side, there are reports a wicked witch was found crushed beneath a VW Beetle in Oz.