While it would be a relief to be able to tune out all the coronavirus news and keep pounding out car content paragraph after paragraph, the stark truth is that the outside world is dealing with an unprecedented event. Looking at news feeds from manufacturers means reading one press release after another where the company announces production has been halted or an event has been rescheduled or canceled altogether, and it takes the strength of the global car enthusiast community to act sensibly and responsibly in the face of the crisis.
One such effort is what supercar and racing car outfit Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus tweeted out last night. SCG is based in Sleepy Hollow, NY, and it also acquired property at a small airport in Danbury, CT, in 2018. Since then, the round airport building has undergone conversion work to function as an automotive assembly location, with the floors getting redone as recently as this month. The company said in January that the first phase of the factory was on track for completion in May, which would enable it to build 100 SCG 004s annually.
The Danbury facility is not only meant for the assembly of SCG’s road-going supercars, but it’s also a ten-minute drive from Danbury Hospital which was said to be operating already at full capacity as coronavirus infections rise.
In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, and as reported by the New York Post, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said that the NY-CT interstate hospital system currently has 200 nurses on furlough due to potential exposure to coronavirus, and that they can only return to work after testing. While this is a severe problem, the Danbury hospital being at full capacity is another, making treating COVID-19 patients in Connecticut yet more difficult.
In a tweet, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus offered its Danbury location to be used as a temporary hospital for as long as it took. The offer came with the words “We’re sure it won’t be necessary”, but if the worst came to worst, there would be other things on everybody’s mind than building supercars.