KMAX: News of the West

Rare cars and trucks destroyed in Orange County storage yard fire

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) A fire at a storage yard destroyed five rare cars, including a 1916 electric vehicle that may have been one of only a handful left in the world, its owner said.

The 1916 Rauch and Lang Electric, a boxy car that resembled a horse-drawn buggy, was lost when a blaze broke out about 2 a.m. Friday at the L&N Uniform Supply Co. storage yard.

It destroyed 19 of 42 storage units and caused more than $1 million in damage, fire Capt. Tony Espinosa said. The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

Leonard Nowakowski, 83, believes the Electric, which he spent eight years restoring, was one of only three or four remaining.

``It ran on seven batteries, and it had a tiller instead of a steering wheel; it was nearly unique,'' Nowakowski said.

The value of the car couldn't be determined. But a 1918 Electric, selling for $79,900, was listed for sale in Hemmings Motor News, which bills itself as ```the Bible' of the collector car hobby.''

Nowakowski, 83, of Santa Ana, founded the uniform company and owns a fleet of 30 antique cars. Besides the Electric, the fire destroyed a 1906 International Harvester Hi-Wheel; a 1923 Ford panel truck decorated with the L&N logo that was often used in local parades; a 1952 Studebaker and a 1972 Volvo Sportwagon.

``The cream of the crop was destroyed,'' Nowakowski said.

Electric and steam-driven vehicles dominated the car market at the turn of the century but gasoline-powered motors had taken over by 1915, said Roberta Watkins, a researcher for the La Mesa-based Horseless Carriage Foundation. Rauch and Lang turned out just 700 autos on its Cleveland assembly line in 1916.

Watkins was unable to confirm how many of the 1916 models remained but said only nine Electrics of any kind were registered with the Horseless Carriage Club of America, which is separate from the foundation.

Nowakowski's car was not registered with the club or the foundation.

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