New Haven Independent

Ismael Bellot (at left in photo) came to Columbus Avenue Monday to bid on abandoned cars. Three were being auctioned at Columbus Towing.

Bellot lost out on the first two, a 1995 Mercedes and a 2005 Hyundai. His last chance was a vandalized 2003 Toyota Corolla with 100,202 miles. Although the car looked the least attractive, with paint scrapes all over the body, the seven knowledgeable bidders considered it the prize, the most likely to be in full running condition after a few tweaks.

They couldn’t be sure. At an auction, it’s a gamble. You guess, then take it back to your home or body shop — like D&D Motors on Davenport Avenue, where Bellot works — and see what’s under the hood.

Geoff Webster (pictured) was interested in the Toyota too. He came down all the way from the junkyard he runs in Terryville to participate in the auction.

“This car’ll be on the road by Friday,” he predicted before the auction began.

The other cars he’d be interested in only for parts, he said. With the recession, “Nobody’s buying new cars.”

The bidding started off at $500. Six hundred, $700, $800 … Webster dropped out of the bidding. Several continued the competition until it hit $1,500.

Then it was down to Bellot and one last competitor from a shop on Ella Grasso Boulevard, Reinaldo Santiago. Bellot wanted that car. He bid $2,200, and it was his. He hugged a coworker in triumph (pictured at top of story).

The auction was conducted by Vincent J. DiLauro. He and his brother run the towing and body shop business started 80 years ago by their grandfather. Vincent’s daughter Jennifer, the office manager for the towing end, helped put together the auction. Click on the play arrow to watch the action. (The open auction, without sealed bids, was in contrast to the last one visited by the Independent, which appeared to violate state rules for disposing of abandoned towed cars. Click here and here to read about that.)

“I’m going to fix it,” Bellot said, in a celebratory mood after the auction. “I’ll give it to my wife.

After the auction, Webster explained why he dropped out of the bidding on the Toyota.

“One hundred thousand miles and you can’t hear it run, you’re taking a shot. You go home and start it up and it knocks … Somebody just ate your lunch,” he said. “Kind of like a mail-order bride: ‘Whoops, there you are!’”

Indeed, Bellot’s tone turned forlorn on Tuesday.

“No good,” he reported about the car. “The motor’s bad. Now I don’t know what to do.”

His wife’s present will have to wait for another opportunity.

“I’m going to call a couple of places to see where the motor goes. You interested?”