Legal Files
-
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 Plus, s/n 0384AM, one of…
-
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 his will. He owned hundreds…
-
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 cover by Leno, carried Jay…
-
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 legal principles apply equally to…
-
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 a race car owner and…
-
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. Witness competition cars, which in…
-
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 Ferrari deal went bad, very…
-
Who Pays at Russo and Steele?
If the winds were unforeseeable, they would be considered an act of God, and neither the auction nor tent company would be liable for damages Who would have thought that the wind could blow so hard? That turns out to be the multi-million-dollar question in Scottsdale. The big story from this year’s Arizona auctions was…
-
Can California’s Amnesty Help You With Your Replica?
Maybe, if you have a valid out-of-state title for a modern kit car and can get an SB 100 “free pass”-but don’t try it with a “Born-Again” post-1967 Mini Legal Files” was recently contacted by an SCM subscriber who thought the current economic climate made this the right time to buy a replica 1965 Ford…
-
When the Government Takes Your Car
It’s pretty easy to conclude that the FBI should have hired a towing company. That the car was wrecked proves the agent was incapable of driving it We all know that federal, state and local governments have broad powers to seize assets from drug dealers and other persons suspected of crimes. Lately, there have been…