Kely X. Midili - Lost His ZR-1 In The Fire

[guinnessdood]

Kely asked me to post this for him...

I am sure many of you have seen and read about the utterly unreal [till you have been in it] fire storm we just suffered through in San Diego the past 3 days. After a middle of the night announcement [via police car loudspeaker] to evacuate our homes immediately, I did so as quickly as possible. My girl friend was also ordered to vacate her home in Ranch Bernardo, about 3 miles from where I live. Neither of us gave a thought to my '91 ZR that has been living in her garage for the past six or seven years, as of course, we both expected to be back in our homes within a few hours or perhaps a day at the most. Well, yep, her perfectly safe appearing California tract home got burned down to a crispy pile of ashes, along with my ZR. Under 30,000 miles, new F1 tires, new battery and kept as pristine as possible, yet driven when the mood struck me.

At the very least I thought I would have a salvageable LT5 and transmission, but all I expect to see when the police allow us back in will be a small pile of melted plastic and several lumps of melted metal.

So we scratch another original GM made '91 from the list of the living. Me? My house was not touched and other than several days of really bad air, we all came thru without a mark!

So I guess in the very near future I will bid the ZR community good bye as at my age I really should not be buying something as quick & fast as a ZR. It was insured for a stated value, and the insurance company has already informed me they are sending a check via next day delivery for well over $20k plus they will prepare another check once I send them photos. Pretty damn fast response for an insurance company!

Good luck to all and take care, it has been a fun filled 15 years of being the proud owner of a ZR.

I still have a never been on bronze top and all the original materials, including the brief case and most of all of the original
ZR-1 printed newsletters from the LarryMerrow days.



Kely

'91 #338 Red/Black
Best qtr time: 12.66 @ 114.9mph.

[Kevin]

oh man that's horrible

[GrayZ]

Damn, that sucks major weenage, sorry to hear of your "kings" demise,
yet the good thing, no one was hurt. I just recieved a pile of pictures
via a friend in California, it is hard to imagine a fire storm until you see one..

[drmcar95]

Kely:

I wish you only the best. I can not really conceive of being in that type of mess and I am glad you and your girl friend are safe. We will miss your posts. Garth

[tf95ZR1]

I met Kely a few years ago at a GTG in San Diego. Very cool guy,
cool ZR1 with a Desert Development (?) exhaust. It was Loud!
He was very proud of his car.
So this really sucks, but I am glad he and his girlfriend are safe.
And what is this (what happened to the BS smilie?) BS about being
too old for a ZR1? I can name a LOT of old farts here with ZR1's.
And some don't even drive like old farts@!.
Can you use that word here?

[HIZNHRZ]

Very sorry to hear about your loss. Very glad to hear no one was hurt.

God Bless to you and your family.

[flyin ryan]

Originally Posted by HIZNHRZ

Very sorry to hear about your loss. Very glad to hear no one was hurt.

God Bless to you and your family.

ditto

[Z Factor]

Thanks for posting his story and let him know we send or sympathy for his loss. While a ZR-1 in not as important as ones health, it is wonderful to own, and tough to lose.

When he is up to it, suggest he drop in.

[kely x]

A quick update: once I dig the ZR out from all the rumble and debris, I will be able to determine what is salvageable, if anything. My guess would be possibly the insides of the LT5, the transmission, rear end and maybe the exhaust.
If anyone wants the exhaust [Desert Development w/Walker SS mufflers] with X-pipe, no resonators it will
be available really cheap. I also have the original GM exhaust that has like 8,000 miles on it. Best if you live not too far away for these as they would be difficult to ship.
I also have a bronze top [new] and all the promo items, owners kit and more, including many of the original ZR Registry newsletters/magazines. I will give away free a set of drag slicks along with the inner tubes.
Best guess is I can dig the car out within the next 10 days. We heard something about the State or Federal government contracting to remove all debris piles at no charge, but again, that is government speak! Who knows if that will happen in a timely manner.

Thanks for all your concerns and support.....I will be test driving a 2008 ZO6, but at $77k, ouch man, that is stiff....!!

Respectfully,

Kely
my phone # is: 760-443-2200

Originally Posted by kely x

A quick update: once I dig the ZR out from all the rumble and debris, I will be able to determine what is salvageable, if anything. My guess would be possibly the insides of the LT5, the transmission, rear end and maybe the exhaust.
If anyone wants the exhaust [Desert Development w/Walker SS mufflers] with X-pipe, no resonators it will
be available really cheap. I also have the original GM exhaust that has like 8,000 miles on it. Best if you live not too far away for these as they would be difficult to ship.
I also have a bronze top [new] and all the promo items, owners kit and more, including many of the original ZR Registry newsletters/magazines. I will give away free a set of drag slicks along with the inner tubes.
Best guess is I can dig the car out within the next 10 days. We heard something about the State or Federal government contracting to remove all debris piles at no charge, but again, that is government speak! Who knows if that will happen in a timely manner.

Thanks for all your concerns and support.....I will be test driving a 2008 ZO6, but at $77k, ouch man, that is stiff....!!

Respectfully,

Kely
my phone # is: 760-443-2200

Kely, contact Dave Salvatore at Kerbeck Chevrolet www.kerbeck.com They are currently offering roughly 5k off of new Z06's. The car will be built at the plant, put on a truck and delivered to the dealership of your choice for a courtesy delivery. Tell him I sent you.

Sorry about your loss. I could not imagine something like this hapening. I live less than 100 miles from a major volcano.

I would be interested in the registry mags as well.