Orlando man says classic car was left mangled in hit-and-run crash

ORLANDO, Fla. - An Orlando man says another driver caused a crash, totaling his classic car, and then took off before police arrived. 

"It just came out of nowhere. It was incredible," Bruce Bessire said about the accident. 

He says he was driving south on Bumby Avenue Wednesday evening when a car driving the opposite direction cut in front of him, trying to turn left on Central. 

Bessire had a couple of coworkers in the car. 

"Bruce tried to swerve out of the way, but there was not enough time to go ahead and react," said passenger Viktoriya Guentcheva.

Luckily, everyone was OK. 

But, the 1972 LeMans sport convertible was left all smashed up. For Bessire, it’s much more than just a car. 

"I’ve been driving in that car since 1980. My college roommate owned it. My dad bought it from him. They both passed away at about the same time. It’s like a family heirloom, so it’s heartbreaking," he told FOX 35. 

"Everybody knows that it’s a sentimental thing. He did tell us that he doesn’t think it’s going to be able to rebuilt, which is really sad for all of us," Guentcheva said. 

She also said Bessire had talked that night at dinner about passing the car down to his son. 

Bessire says he wants to get the word out about what happened because the other driver hasn’t been identified. 

He says the man stopped for a few minutes at the scene and then drove away. 

"Got to make sure this guy doesn’t do this with someone else because we’re lucky we're not really injured or dead," Bessire said. 

Bessire says he contacted police about the accident. 

He says he’s still holding out hope that the classic car can be saved.