Legal Files

Who Owns This Ferrari Testa Rossa?

“Jim” thought he had a smoking deal — $3,650,000 for a 1956 Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa. He thought he could easily flip the TR for a quick profit. All he needed was $3,650,000.

So, Jim called his stepbrother-in-law, “Bob,” for financial help. Bob thought the TR deal sounded like a good idea, so he contacted his bank, which agreed to loan the $3,650,000 against the Ferrari.

According to Bob, Jim advised him to run the transaction through a shell company. The shell company borrowed the $3,650,000 from the bank, and the bank secured the loan with a security interest in the TR, which it perfected by filing with the Oklahoma UCC filing office.

Is It Time to Give Your Cars to Your Kids?

    In the realm of estate planning, 2012 is either a once-in-a-lifetime tax-saving opportunity or the new normal. We won’t know which until after the November 2012 election — and maybe not until next year, after the new Congress has had time to act. Savvy investors aren’t waiting to […]

Durham Found Guilty of Financial Fraud

Tim Durham (right) arrives at court in Indianapolis in June to hear the verdict in his trial Tim Durham started out as an attorney, then left practice for far greener pastures. Highly ambitious, he reportedly made millions through leveraged buyouts. He was a well-known fixture at collector car auctions. Arriving […]

So You Want to Sell Your Car at Auction

Finding an auction company that meets your needs is one of the first crucial steps “Legal Files” recently wrote about the 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster that German authorities seized on a claim that it had been stolen from Hans Friedrich Prym in 1945 (June 2012, p. 30). The current owners, who […]

Other States Sniping at Montana’s Magic Bullet

“Legal Files” has written several times about various techniques that collectors employ to avoid paying sales/use taxes on their collector cars. It’s a big deal, as the sales/use tax rates are typically 6% to 10% of the purchase price of the car. One of the common techniques, which our office […]

Was this Mercedes War Booty?

In late March, Frans van Haren and Tony Paalman, Dutch car collectors and business partners, put their 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster on display at the Techno Classica car show in Essen, Germany. The two men had bought the car, Lot 147, for $3,767,500, including buyer’s premium, at RM Auctions’ 2011 […]

The FBI Crashes an F50—The Sequel

Legal Files previously reported about an incident where FBI agents crashed a Ferrari F50 that they had seized (SCM February 2010, p. 26). As amazing as that scene was, the same F50 has been in the news again, and now we know the rest of story. The F50 was introduced […]

Tim Durham: From Rags to Riches to Ripoff?

He is accused of using over $200m of investor funds to support a lavish lifestyle, including a 70-plus car collection For the past few years, Tim Durham was a well-known fixture at collector car auctions. Arriving on his private jet—and spending freely—he rapidly amassed a significant collection that included Duesenbergs, […]

Special Tax-Planning Window for Car Collectors

2010 was a difficult year for tax planning. The federal estate and generation-skipping taxes were repealed, but the gift tax exemption was stuck at $1m to keep people from taking too much advantage. Plus, there was talk all year long about a retroactive reimposition of both taxes. We saw an […]

Plan Ahead Before Bidding

You may avoid paying sales tax if you ship the car by common carrier to a non-sales-tax state “Legal Files” had a great time at the Scottsdale, AZ, kick-start to the 2011 auction season. Auctions are a popular place to buy your collector car. But to ensure that you are […]