[AC Ventura]

Truly terrible experience and that's from somebody who has been through it, well almost as bad. I'd just completed a no expense spared 3 year restoration/build of a fabulous Austin Healey 3000 ultimate spec rally car. While setting the spot lamps one night, the day before the Costa Brava Historique Rally in Spain, the Triple 45DCOE Weber carbutettors decided to spit back neat fuel onto the foam air filters, followed by another similar episode with partially ignited fuel. Within seconds the whole engine bay went up. By the time I got the extinguisher out (which worked)p the entire engine bay, front end paint, aluminium panels, bonnet and some of the all new $30k competition engine was trashed.
Upset wasn't the word. Complete bemusement was the only way to describe it and the way a perfect machine can turn into a pile of burnt debris is nothing short of personally destroying. People saying 'At least you're okay' was almost an insult. As if that meant all was okay. It seemed to make a mockery of all the agonising work, over ever the smallest details, I had been through.
All I can say is, you will recover and if possible, one day get that car, or a similar one back up and running. You owe it to yourself, not to let this thing beat you and in time you'll look back and see that it didn't.