My wife and I have enjoyed corvettes over the years .. In fact my first corvette was a high graduation present to myself (a used 67 conv .. of course I graduated in 73)... after years of enjoyment I sold it and moved on through many other muscle cars (and of course other corvettes) .. without going into the details the car and I came full circle and once again crossed paths .. However, to my amazment the car had matured into an all oginal fully documented 427/435 HP car .. I on the other hand only gained a few pounds and have much grey showing ...... My question is simply .. I know full well that the current owner does not have an orginal 435 hp car ... what do I do ?? say nothing and let him enjoy what he thinks he has or start what I am sure will be a string of law suits by breaking the bad news to him ??
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Only if they will be receptive
Unless you feel they will be receptive of the news, I wouldn't "burst their bubble". -
Re: Only if they will be receptive
There would be MANY bubbles bursted on MANY C1's and C2's if a new owners new what their Corvette were before they got it. I wouldn't burst their bubble eather.Comment
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Re: Only if they will be receptive
I disagree. If they spent big bucks on what they believe is a true 427/435 car, I would let them know the truth so they can try (if they wish)to recoup some of their money. Better to find out now, rather than when they try to sell it as a 427/435 car and someone embarrassingly points out the car is a fraud.Comment
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Re: how do you tell them??
Dale, I would adopt the "Sergeant Schultz" approach: "I Know Nuth--Thing"!Comment
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Ditto *NM*
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Re: how do you tell them??
Are you absolutely POSITIVE it your old car? If you are I would question the present owner what he purchased it as from there I would advise him With proof of the cars history as you can show him with facts and documents not memory and let him do with it as he wants.
NOT TO SAY you have a bad memory but if your going to burst a guys bubble Make sure you are 100 percent proof positive
If I was in your shoes I would definatley step up to the plate and give the guy the information.Who knows maybee he the one who built the car this way.
PS how cool is it to run into an old freind/car like thatComment
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Re: how do you tell them??
Dale,
The real problem here is did the person the he bought it from knowingly misrepresent the car? This car has been through many sets of hands I presume and that last several owners may well not know that the car is not a 435hp car.
This could lead to several people being drug into this who are innocent of any wrongdoing. If however, you know the previous owner was responsible for the conversion, I would feel obligated to tell your friend. You might be surprised, and find out that he knows it is a clone, but if not he needs to recover what he can from the party he bought the car from. I would guess that the probability of recovering any damages form a owner prior to that would be almost impossible and would involve a bunch of innocent parties in the action.
A friend of mine was accused of misrepresenting a car by a party who bought the car from the person he sold it to, and the accusations got really nasty and public on several forums. As it turned out the car had been misrepresented twice when it sold before he bought it.
Regards, John McGrawComment
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Re: how do you tell them??
Nobody wants to be the one to bring bad news but you didn't fake the car and hopefully it could prevent some other unsuspecting person from spending a large amount of money on a car that is not what it appears to be. There are always going to be dishonest people in this hobby where big money is involved and if the honest people don't police the hobby themselves when possible it will only get worse. That's not to say the current owner will do what is right concerning the car's history but at least you will know that you did.Comment
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Re: how do you tell them??
Dale Your old 67 probably had a better chance of being a 435 than staying the way it was. I see very few I would buy as original. I would not tell a stranger but would tell a close friend that I owned his Corvette at one time and what I was sure of about it. LyleLyle
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Re: how do you tell them??
If you have documentary evidence, such as repair orders or old registration certificates that PROVE that you owned that VIN and evidence such as photos that show its original configuration when it was only six years old, I would suggest that you provide copies of such documentation to the current owner and let the chips fall wherever.
If you can't PROVE that you owned that car, but only remember the VIN, license number, or other identifying characteristics, then I wouldn't bother as you risk getting shot by being the bearer of bad news than can't be unequivocally proved.
DukeComment
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you are not going to make any friends if you tell
them. only if they would ask about the car would i point out the problemComment
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Re: Only if they will be receptive
Dale,
-----Not that this part matters,a fake is a fake,but Im wondering how much of a fake it is and how good or bad the work was done? Was it at least a big block? I guess what Im saying is if the fake is an excellent one your friend looks a little less like he was to blame by his lack of knowledge during the purchase. This might be an easier pill for him to swallow. Not that you would,but going in saying "how stupid could you be" is a sure fire way to end a friendship. It also would be easier to take if the car was a good,basic car to do a restoration to. At least he has a good car that hasnt had a bent frame,or many replaced body panels etc.
-----On a secondary front,if and when Jim Ms build sheet information comes out and your friend then finds out he has a fake,will he think less of YOU that you didnt inform him sooner(forgetting that it used to be your car for a moment).
-----I dont think Im helping because looking back I think I have made a case for "your damned if you do and damned if you dont. That you are good friends with him already says what kind of character he has. Good friends are hard to come by!Hope I have helped and hope you make the right decision.........Bill SComment
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Re: how do you tell them??
If it was my 427/435 Vette, I would definitely want to know if the car was not an original 427/435. From that point on, and to one and all, that car would now be a clone, not an original. Misrepresentation and recourse aside, I do not see how anyone that truly appreciates this wonderful hobby could feel any other way.
Roger
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