It’s not a good day when your mechanic calls and says, “Uh, I’m not sure how to say this, but I had a little accident with your car.” It’s even worse when your car is a 2006 Ford GT Heritage that had been modified to a “Twin Turbo.” (On the […]
Legal Files
When is a Bentley Speed Six Not a Speed Six?
The High Court in London has recently given judgment in the case of Brewer vs. Stanley Mann, Fortis Lease UK Limited and Stanley Mann Racing Limited. The judgment emphasizes the importance of accuracy when giving sale descriptions of collector cars. The judge’s finding, heavily in favor of the private buyer […]
A McLaren F1’s Rise from the Ashes
In many cases, insurance adjusters say that all they are required to do is fix the damaged parts, which can create a non-matching Frankenstein car Pictures of a McLaren F1 that suffered an engine fire were all over the Internet last year. It was an ugly sight—and saddened every car […]
Stolen Property
The epic legal battles over a stolen 1954 Ferrari 375 Plus Grand Prix Karl Kleve was a Cincinnati real estate investor who amassed an impressive collection of over 400 cars. He also designed and built 24 Kleve Supercars. Among the Cadillacs, Rolls-Royces, Kleves and Bugattis was a 1954 Ferrari 375 […]
The Legal Battle over John O’Quinn’s Million-Dollar Cars
He paid world-record prices for some of the world’s rarest automobiles, and he often bought several high-end cars in a single weekend Here’s a car story that has all the ingredients of a soap opera: A billionaire dies in a car crash, and his longtime girlfriend is left out of […]
The “Jay Leno Special Edition” that Wasn’t
Our sister publication, Corvette Market, reported the sale of a 2007 “Jay Leno Special Edition” Corvette at the Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach auction in April. The well-optioned, 1,873-mile Corvette was in show-car condition. Leno reportedly “handpicked” the car from a Carson, California Chevrolet dealer. The Corvette was autographed on the valve […]
Who Gets the Car – or Boat?
Holding onto the certificate of title until you get paid is no legal protection. Once the buyer pays the broker, that certificate of title is worthless The Oregon Court of Appeals recently decided a case of interest to car collectors. The case involved a 29-foot Sea Ray boat, but the […]
A Car Guy Judge with a Sense of Humor
The judge started his opinion by pointing out that his “analysis will be swifter than Richard Petty’s race-clinching pit stop at the 1981 Daytona 500” Here is an unlikely case of Car Guy v. Car Guy, brought, it just so happens, before a car guy judge. It’s the story of […]
Dual-Identity Cars
Continuous History Car vs. Original Component Car? You decide In a perfect world, every historic car would boast a spotless provenance and a documented list of distinguished owners, none of whom ever “abused” the car by changing a major component, let alone by crashing it. The real world is different. […]
The Nightmare of Litigation
He learned that the broker and seller were going to be in Monterey that August, so he made arrangements to serve them both at The Quail About two years ago, a Los Angeles SCMer contacted “Legal Files” hoping for advice about how to get his money back after a long-distance […]