Red_Ice
01-03-2008, 08:21 PM
Brock fans outraged by crash photo auction
Richard Blackburn, drive.com.au, 28/02/08
Fans of Peter Brock are up in arms over a man's decision to sell photos of Peter Brock's fatal accident.
http://img.drive.com.au/drive_images/Editorial/2008/02/28/Brock_m_m.jpg Peter Brock.
The man is auctioning three photos of Brock's crash on E-Bay, including one that captures the moment Brock's Australian-designed and built Daytona Coupe hit a tree.
The seller, who goes by the username of chunkprue, is based in Western Australia, where Brock was killed.
His post says he is auctioning "three rare and unique photos of Peter Brock's last corner just before the tragic crash."
The first has Brock's car approaching the corner, the second has the car drifting out of control and the third has "Brock's wrecked car at the moment of impact".
The post says the successful bidder will receive the photos via email in "very high resolution".
Obviously aware of the possible backlash against the auction, the poster has finished his submission by claiming "I am not an ambulance chaser, just giving fans an opportunity to keep some memorabilia."
But Brock fan and Brock Commodore owner Phil Walmsley disagrees.
"My first reaction was disgust that people would want to profiteer from Brock's death. It just brings back all the profiteering that happened immediately after his death."
The seller originally advertised the photos for $500 and then revised his price to $10 after angry feedback from enthusiasts.
"I think he has realised that people don't think this sort of thing is acceptable," he says.
"It's just very poor taste. I can't see any passionate Brock fan wanting to pay that sort of money to that sort of person. We'd rather remember all the great things Brock did rather than that one moment," he says.
A later entry from the seller on the auction site says he has decided to offer the photos "at cost" after having "a few nasty emails from people saying I'm trying to profit from these."
When contacted by Drive the seller, who refused to be named, said he was surprised by the negative reaction. "I can't see anything wrong with it. I just thought that they were something a Brock fan might like to put on their wall as a piece of memorabilia. It's not as if they are photos of him after the crash."
Richard Blackburn, drive.com.au, 28/02/08
Fans of Peter Brock are up in arms over a man's decision to sell photos of Peter Brock's fatal accident.
http://img.drive.com.au/drive_images/Editorial/2008/02/28/Brock_m_m.jpg Peter Brock.
The man is auctioning three photos of Brock's crash on E-Bay, including one that captures the moment Brock's Australian-designed and built Daytona Coupe hit a tree.
The seller, who goes by the username of chunkprue, is based in Western Australia, where Brock was killed.
His post says he is auctioning "three rare and unique photos of Peter Brock's last corner just before the tragic crash."
The first has Brock's car approaching the corner, the second has the car drifting out of control and the third has "Brock's wrecked car at the moment of impact".
The post says the successful bidder will receive the photos via email in "very high resolution".
Obviously aware of the possible backlash against the auction, the poster has finished his submission by claiming "I am not an ambulance chaser, just giving fans an opportunity to keep some memorabilia."
But Brock fan and Brock Commodore owner Phil Walmsley disagrees.
"My first reaction was disgust that people would want to profiteer from Brock's death. It just brings back all the profiteering that happened immediately after his death."
The seller originally advertised the photos for $500 and then revised his price to $10 after angry feedback from enthusiasts.
"I think he has realised that people don't think this sort of thing is acceptable," he says.
"It's just very poor taste. I can't see any passionate Brock fan wanting to pay that sort of money to that sort of person. We'd rather remember all the great things Brock did rather than that one moment," he says.
A later entry from the seller on the auction site says he has decided to offer the photos "at cost" after having "a few nasty emails from people saying I'm trying to profit from these."
When contacted by Drive the seller, who refused to be named, said he was surprised by the negative reaction. "I can't see anything wrong with it. I just thought that they were something a Brock fan might like to put on their wall as a piece of memorabilia. It's not as if they are photos of him after the crash."