Woman wins payout over bogus 'Bentley'. A classic car enthusiast has won 394,000 in damages after paying £430,000 for a vintage Bentley, unaware that only one small part of the car was genuine. Judge Anthony Thornton QC ruled that the car had been so heavily worked on that "it was no longer capable of being accurately described as a 1930 Bentley Speed Six". Mercedes Brewer from Rutland, Staffordshire, bought the car through restorer Stanley Mann, who rebuilt it in his own garage. But when she decided to sell the car, it was valued at only £300,000-£350,000 by a Bonhams auction house expert, considerably short of the £550,000 it might have been expected to raise had its parts been genuine and original. Mr Mann has also been told to pay Mrs Brewer's court fees of about £300,000. The Independent. Monday 18 October 2010.
Overturned on appeal http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2112245/Judge-rules-425-000-1930s-Bentley-NOT-fake-despite-original-features-chassis.html
Buyer beware indeed. But reading between the lines, it would suggest that the buyer ran into financial difficulties, and tried to use the excuse that the car was not what it was presented to be, in order to try to get out from under it. I can't imagine that a car collector who could afford 425000 UKP in the first place wasn't aware that many/most of the parts would be new? More tellingly, the seller bought the car back at the same price from Fortis, which he was under no obligation to do. He believed that to be a fair price, and certainly it must have been if he then turned around and sold for 50% more! Judge4re...have sent you a PM as I think we may have crossed paths a long time ago!
