There’s more to this story than you might have heard.
Last week, a story of how a man named Austin A Owens who claimed to have saved a Mazda RX-7 FD from floodwaters came out. Owens said he did it because the Mazdawas a “dream car” of his. Naturally, people assumed he was just a great guy lending a helping hand to other car people, but apparently all isn’t as it seems with this story.
Owens posted his story on the Forza Horizon (Xbox One) Official Community. Not only did people praise his selfless actions, automotive websites lauded him for being an admirable good Samaritan and saving the rotary engine, some even going so far as to compare him to Superman. You just can’t make this stuff up.
Then, controversy erupted and Owens’ post disappeared. Thankfully, it’s been screenshotted. The post is brief, with him stating he didn’t know who the Mazda belonged to but that he “couldn’t let it get flooded.”
This is where the story gets interesting. According to two Facebook users, Sonny Trinh and Mimi Lsx LingLing, the FD RX-7’s owner braved floodwaters in Biloxi, Mississippi to rescue the car and a Ferrari parked in the Golden Nugget garage after seeing on a social media post the cars were both at risk. They loaded the Ferrari on a trailer and jacked the RX-7 up, putting it on bricks and orange wheel mats, stating it was 6 inches off the ground and safe from the rising water.
LingLing said as the group was leaving with the Ferrari in tow, Owens called asking for the location of the Mazda. He had seen the same social media post and was determined to save the car. They gave him the location but claim they told him the RX-7 was already safe, but that Owens said he didn’t want to have braved the floodwaters without doing something for the car.
They claim Owens replaced the bricks they had used with cinderblocks he brought, despite the owner of the Mazda RX-7 asking him to not touch the car. With high winds there as a concern about the Mazda being up too high and possibly getting blown over and into the water.
In enthusiast circles there’s an unspoken rule you don’t touch someone else’s ride without permission. If this is indeed what Owens did, it’s understandable why the RX-7 owner wasn’t too happy after seeing stories of how this other man claimed to have singlehandedly saved the car.
Trinh and LingLing admit it was nice that Owens was so concerned about the Mazda RX-7 that he took a risk to reach it. However, they say the whole truth should be known.
Hopefully, this doesn’t turn into some ongoing feud and all the parties simmer down. However, this goes to show that everyone needs to be careful about making claims on social media, taking credit for what others have done, and touching another person’s beloved car without permission.
So, what do you think? Is anyone in the wrong or is everyone in the wrong here? Leave a comment and let us know.
