Classic car lovers were knocked for six when a vintage VW Beetle shop was wrecked by floodwaters.
Hard-to-watch footage shows how the showroom was slowly inundated.
The classic cars could be seen floating around, half-submerged in the murky, debris-strewn water.
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There were nine Beetles from the 1960s and 1970s on the business’s ground floor when the flooding began.
The deluge was so intense that an orange model from 1973 was carried away through a window.
It ended up 600m down the road from the Living Museum in São Paulo, Brazil.
The Alten Wagen dealership had only been open for two months when the disaster struck on Friday (24 Jan).
Owner, Antônio Gomes Ferreira, told local media: “I was about to leave when I noticed the water had risen above the steps.
“I thought it would pass quickly, but then a surge over a metre high came rushing in. Within 10 minutes, the water level had risen dramatically.”
Ferreira, 71, and his daughter, Natália Zaba, estimated their losses at more than 100,000 BRL (£13,719).
They briefly thought about closing down, but their love of Beetles made them change their minds.
In a remarkable turnaround, they have since sold the seven salvageable motors, albeit for 7,000 BRL (£961) instead of 25,000 BRL (£3,431) apiece.
Car restorer Ricardo Antunes, who snapped up a pair, told local media: “Even after the flood, it’s still a great deal for the price.
“Especially since I know how to do the work.”
Luckily, several of the family’s motors were spared damage, as reported by Need To Know.
Ten were at their restoration workshop and six were on the dealership’s upper floor when the flood struck.
Zaba said: “We’re thinking of hanging up the two wrecked Beetles we can’t restore here in the shop as a symbol of persistence and resilience.”
São Paulo recorded the third heaviest rainfall in its history on Friday, with 125.4 mm (4.9 in) falling in the late afternoon.
One video showed how about 20 commuters took shelter on handrails as murky water thundered past them at a flooded tube station.
Most could be seen standing or sitting on the barrier in the middle of the passageway.
The remainder could be seen perched on the thin rail at the side of the corridor as they clung onto the grille beside them.
A few yards upstream, brown water thundered down a staircase into the underground station from the street above.
People’s legs were soaked by the gushing torrent as they remained trapped on the handrails, unable to move.
The frightening scenes were filmed at the Jardim São Paulo-Ayrton Senna metro station.
Local media say a wall at the station entrance collapsed under the force of the water, leading to the chaotic scenes.
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