11/03/2026
So you want a classic car, but you don't want to get screwed. So you buy from a reputable dealer or auction house.
Yeah. Right.
My 67 Club Wagon was sold twice by the same big name auction house (I won't say the name, but it begins with an M). Once in 2021 and once in 2024.
Both times, the wagon was described as a "California vehicle" and "one repaint".
In 2021, the van was described as having a new gas tank.
The seller sent me a thick envelope full of receipts and documenting the history of the wagon.
While the owner lived, at least part of the year, in California, the van was sold in Wisconsin. The van had WI plates. All the receipts for service work were from WI auto shops. There is even a letter from the owner saying that the wagon was to be titled and plated in WI, but to send her all the paperwork in CA.
I doubt that the wagon was ever even in California, much less spend its life there.
"New gas tank" - Yep, there is a receipt for that. From 1999.
"One repaint" - Yep, one COMPLETE repaint, but there is a receipt for bodywork and repair to the front right of the wagon, including a payout letter from the insurance company.
This information is all well documented in the paperwork that came with the wagon, if anyone had bothered to read it.
I am not complaining about the wagon. I love it and am very happy with it.
But it does make you doubt the statements made by "reputable" dealers and auction houses. And are you really safer buying from them rather than a private individual? If not, why are they worth the premium $$$ that you pay?
