Back To Pro Team

[Jerry Clark]

Terry was at my home, looked at my 69, would have liked to buy it...cheap. I WAS impressed with his politeness, he is a gentleman, didn't like the"Bad Cop" he brought along, (Bob somebody), complained the console plate was incorrect, I pulled the JG from under the tool box. He said, " the NCRS doesn't know everything". I said, " Until The Bobs Corvette Restoration Society became the recognized standard, I'd stick with them". He did find a small crack in my front crossmember that had escaped me, it's fixed, thanks Bobo.

Terry was unfazed through the whole thing and he came a long way to NOT buy my car, a consummate businessman who knows how to buy low and sell high. I watched him bid, ( wisely ), at the Mark Martin auction four ( ? ) years ago, bought a Guitar. I think his Corvette descriptions are honest and he has the stock to effect the market and probably does.

I don't want to make him too mad, he choose my car for "Pro Teams Choice" award at the Orlando Sunday show, thanks Terry.

jer

[George Daina]

Hey! What happened to MY Pro Team post?...

Here I am, gone all day, come back, my post is gone. What's this world comming to?

Jerry, our buddy Terry M. has a minimum $10,000.00 profit margin on every car he buys. If he feels he can't make the 10K profit, he ain't gonna buy it. Lemme guess, he offered ya 29K.

[John S.]

Re: Back To Pro Team

Pro Team is in business to sell cars. They selectively choose the words to describe the features and accomplishements. If you don't ask the right question, then you will never know. For example, the ad will state NCRS Top Flight, but they will not tell you that it was in 1985! I almost bought a 1962 from Pro Team, but had the sense to hire Howard Baker, an NCRS Judge, who gave me an honest evaluation as part of the pre-purchase agreement. It would have cost me $25K to make this car hold its own on the NCRS field! If you are looking for an expensive driver, then Pro Team may be a place to look.

John Sieczkos #29744

[Jerry Clark]

Re: Hey! What happened to MY Pro Team post?...

Hi George:

Your crystal ball is runnin on nitrous and right on the dime, it has been three years since he was here, I hope he would offer me more now...but I doubt it.

jer

[grr]

Re: Hey! What happened to MY Pro Team post?...

George, I also lost a post today. but in regards to the Pro-team posts I think I may have been the spark plug that ignited some high octane feelings about Pro-team. I made as I have in the past a reference to Howard in his post about Toney Delorenzo's 68-L-88 to contact them. He wanted a price and for a rare car like that so I suggested he contact Terry at Pro-team. I didn't know so many people were unhappy with Pro-team. But if I were going to invest in a rare car I would call him as he would have a better idea than most since he is in the business of selling cars. When I see a post from a fellow member reading "HELP" especailly and may be ready to plunge into a large investment such as the L-88 i just try to suggest who to contact and hope they haven't already bought something they would regret, sorta slow them down. You know how it is when you get the fever to buy a certain car, you go blind.I was just trying to help out Howard as the dealers down here where I live don't even know what an L-88 is and possibly someone else such as yourself or another member can get him to contact another source. I was just trying to help the guy out.grr#33570

[G B.]

Puzzling standards

Is it possible that, as a group, we have variable standards for acceptable behavior?

Let me see if I have this right... The engine is just another car part, so you can stamp it and you're a good "restorer". If you're a really good restorer, you can create a fake that can fool an NCRS judge. After all, you're under no obligation to disclose to the judge that you've restamped your block. So if ProTeam shows a car to an NCRS judge with a restamped block and doesn't disclose it, then they're just, well.... unethical?

[George Daina]

Jerry. my feelings rearding Pro Team go waaay...

back, back before Pro Team was Pro Team, First hand knowledge of shady business practices, busted by the law, reorganization after reorganization from one name to another, and the list goes on and on. The stigma of a sheister lingers forever.

Maybe Terry has mellowed over the years, but I would not buy a car from him if he had the last vette on earth and my life depended upon me owning that last car.

Regarding your comment about restamped blocks, I'm in favor of a restamp. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do to keep these lovely beuties rolling. After all a number is a number, nothing more, and if the car has the correct block and date, that's all that matters to me.

[Jeff]

A distinction but possibly without difference.

Personally, I don't give a rat's ass about Pro-Team, Terry or his personal or business ethics but I do think there is a distinction to be made here:

A restorer, under NCRS rules is perfectly allowed to stand idly and silently by as his car is "appearance" judged and *not* disclose (by omission) that his car's engine is a restamp. The two keys are that the car is 1) not being offered for sale and 2) is being judged for appearance only.

On the other hand, in a commercial transaction like Pro-Team selling cars, they can commit fraud by omission since the car is offered for sale, the restamp itself (although non-verbal) positively represents the engine to be the original and their silence or failure to dislcose a restamp (if they are aware) is intended to allow the consumer to continue to labor under the misapprehension that the car has its original motor and to factor that into his/her decision to, hopefully, purchase the car.

As a practical matter, proving that they had knowledge of a restamp would be a fool's errand, to say the least...

JP

[Joe L.]

Re: Hey! What happened to MY Pro Team post?...

George-----

A lot of posts were lost to some "computer gremlin". They appeared on the Board, but when one tried to access them you got a "error message". John appropriately deleted them since they were meaningless if you couldn't access them. There are still a few of these on the board. However, I don't know for sure if this is what happened to your original post. It seems likely, though.

[Tony DiGiorgio]

Re: Back To Pro Team

Put yourself in Terry's position. First of all, I doubt that He makes any kind of statement as to the originality of the pad stamp.(I don't know that I would unless I knew the history beyond a doubt). Can you imagine what a legal nightmare he would have by making a statement about all the pad stamps in his inventory). Secondly, how many people have tried to sell him cars with representations that were, well, not entirely factual. I believe that Terry is a very good businessman. I suspect that he has learned some hard lessons a long the way. Can you imagine the risk someone would have by carrying 250 classic corvettes? What if the market dips, sentiments change? Would you carry that much inventory using your own money? 3-5 million. Somone posted that Terry makes a min 10k on his cars. I know that is not true. For 5 years before I bought my vette, I logged what Terry paid for cars at auctions, then I saw what the same cars were posted for in his paper and on the web. I am sure he has made 10k on some cars and 1 k or takes a loss on others. Often Terry is the high bidder on cars at auctions. If he steals them so much, whay aren't other people stepping up and bidding what he does? He is in business like the rest of us and last time I checked, profit was not a dirty word. I have heard others theorize that without Pro-team, corvette values might diminish. A large dealer like Terry keeps the hobby healthy. When was the last time any of you logged on to any other corvette sites to check values? Not taking anything away from any of the other dealers but some of them have the same paltry inventory on their web sites for months. My personal experience: I have always been treated with respect when dealing with Pro-team. Before I bought my first mid year corvette, I asked Terry a million questions and he answered them any time I called or spoke to him at auctions. I saw a car I did not have any interest in. I told one of Terry's buyers about it in a casual conversation. 2 months later, a check comes to me from Pro-team. I had no knowledge they had any interest in the car or had purchased it but they sent me a check because Terry said it was the right thing to do..... How many people in business do that kind of thing today? I have been to Pro-team 8-10 times, they have an incredible inventory and a really nice facility. There are cars in his inventory for every type of corvette buyer out there. In all the times I have been there was never rushed or made to feel that my questions were stupid. They knew that I was not there to buy a car that day but yet I was treated with respect. I have never seen the frames on his cars covered with textured coating like I have seen consistently with one of his competitors. Anyone seeking to purchase a corvette and spend the kind of money these cars are commanding these days, should arm themsleves with as much knowledge as possible whether they choose to buy from a dealer or individual. I personally have no reason not to recommend Pro-team, as I have always had a good experience when I have encountered Terry or any of his other salespeople. Tony DiGiorgio