JD Classics, what have they been up to?

JD Classics, what have they been up to?

Author
Discussion

RichB

51,749 posts

285 months

Monday 27th November 2023
quotequote all
Wacky Racer said:
lowdrag said:
I think I posted this elsewhere. The friend who restored my E-type a few years back had someone come to him with this coupé for "minor refreshment".

Looks good, doesn't it? The client had thought it a sound buy and it certainly looked it. But this is what was found once the specialist got working on it

What seemed a bargain cost nearly another £100,000.
Should have been scrapped or sold for parts.
£100,000? lol!
Are you laughing because of spending £100k on an E-Type?

9xxNick

930 posts

215 months

Tuesday 5th December 2023
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CKY said:
This is it, shamefully it seems the number of firms out there doing substandard work seemingly trading on good-will or reputation earned 20+ years ago for business is huge. I came across the below in a bodyshop, a E9 CSL that was purchased from a 'legendary' specialist of the Munich brand, the poor sod paid £180k for this car as it was 'recently restored to showroom standard' and was a significant car from the period.

On getting the new owner's favoured bodyshop to get the doors to hang correctly, something amiss was spotted with the door hinges and A-pillar. On taking these areas back to bare metal, a multitude of sins were discovered, and it was decided to strip the car back to bare metal. All I can say is the quality (lack of!) of the 'metal work' done on this car is shameful, i've seen better panel beating in the paddock at a bloody banger racing meeting! Just goes to show, you can never trust even the 'marque specialists', i'd heard the business has been going downhill since being sold a number of years ago, but this was eye opening....

Rear wing abomination


A pillar sins hidden - no wonder the doors were sagging! eek


As the 'restored to showroom standard' CSL currently sits...
The courts should be treating this type of work as the fraud which is plainly is. If you took someone for upwards of £100K in a financial transaction I imagine you'd be looking at some jail time.

RichB

51,749 posts

285 months

Tuesday 5th December 2023
quotequote all
Makes me all the more pleased that I chose a specialist to do the back to metal respray and corrosion repairs on my Aston that is just 15 mins away and is happy for me to drop in for coffee every few weeks to see the work at each stage.

CKY

1,442 posts

16 months

Wednesday 6th December 2023
quotequote all
9xxNick said:
CKY said:
This is it, shamefully it seems the number of firms out there doing substandard work seemingly trading on good-will or reputation earned 20+ years ago for business is huge. I came across the below in a bodyshop, a E9 CSL that was purchased from a 'legendary' specialist of the Munich brand, the poor sod paid £180k for this car as it was 'recently restored to showroom standard' and was a significant car from the period.

On getting the new owner's favoured bodyshop to get the doors to hang correctly, something amiss was spotted with the door hinges and A-pillar. On taking these areas back to bare metal, a multitude of sins were discovered, and it was decided to strip the car back to bare metal. All I can say is the quality (lack of!) of the 'metal work' done on this car is shameful, i've seen better panel beating in the paddock at a bloody banger racing meeting! Just goes to show, you can never trust even the 'marque specialists', i'd heard the business has been going downhill since being sold a number of years ago, but this was eye opening....

Rear wing abomination


A pillar sins hidden - no wonder the doors were sagging! eek


As the 'restored to showroom standard' CSL currently sits...
The courts should be treating this type of work as the fraud which is plainly is. If you took someone for upwards of £100K in a financial transaction I imagine you'd be looking at some jail time.
My sentiments exactly... Unfortunately for the dealer in question, the customer they took for a ride is exceedingly wealthy (has a McLaren F1 and Porsche 917K among his 300+ car collection), so they definitely won't win the court case and may be lucky to continue trading depending on their settlement amount and legal fees.

RichB

51,749 posts

285 months

Wednesday 6th December 2023
quotequote all
CKY said:
My sentiments exactly... Unfortunately for the dealer in question, the customer they took for a ride is exceedingly wealthy (has a McLaren F1 and Porsche 917K among his 300+ car collection), so they definitely won't win the court case and may be lucky to continue trading depending on their settlement amount and legal fees.
Is the owner initiating a court case against the dealer who 'restored it to showroom standard'? If so, good for them.

CKY

1,442 posts

16 months

Wednesday 6th December 2023
quotequote all
RichB said:
CKY said:
My sentiments exactly... Unfortunately for the dealer in question, the customer they took for a ride is exceedingly wealthy (has a McLaren F1 and Porsche 917K among his 300+ car collection), so they definitely won't win the court case and may be lucky to continue trading depending on their settlement amount and legal fees.
Is the owner initiating a court case against the dealer who 'restored it to showroom standard'? If so, good for them.
Yes, I believe the process of building a case started a couple of months ago. The current restoration is being done slowly so that they can take detailed photographs of each stage to show what a bodged piece of s**t it really was. It'll be interesting to see if anything gets reported about it in the press once the ball starts rolling, or if it gets swept under the rug to protect the business's image.

Adrian E

3,248 posts

177 months

Wednesday 6th December 2023
quotequote all
It'll end up on the judiciary website once it reaches a judge for directions hearings etc and any attempt to avoid identifying the parties, if unsuccessful, will feature. That assumes it's done through the high court, which I suspect is likely given the scale of claim likely to be involved.

Was this the white one that was claimed to have been nearly completed by a company that went out of business?

CKY

1,442 posts

16 months

Thursday 7th December 2023
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Adrian E said:
It'll end up on the judiciary website once it reaches a judge for directions hearings etc and any attempt to avoid identifying the parties, if unsuccessful, will feature. That assumes it's done through the high court, which I suspect is likely given the scale of claim likely to be involved.

Was this the white one that was claimed to have been nearly completed by a company that went out of business?
That's good to know, thanks for posting. I believe the car was Taiga Green when delivered to the bodyshop, I was told it was advertised as a car which had been completely restored to 'better than new' condition!

T70RPM

476 posts

237 months

Thursday 7th December 2023
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CKY said:
so they definitely won't win the court case
....brave assumption....!!!
I have been an expert witness at court and have been truly stunned by who wins !

soxboy

6,345 posts

220 months

Thursday 7th December 2023
quotequote all
T70RPM said:
CKY said:
so they definitely won't win the court case
....brave assumption....!!!
I have been an expert witness at court and have been truly stunned by who wins !
The one with the most money?

CKY

1,442 posts

16 months

Thursday 7th December 2023
quotequote all
soxboy said:
T70RPM said:
CKY said:
so they definitely won't win the court case
....brave assumption....!!!
I have been an expert witness at court and have been truly stunned by who wins !
The one with the most money?
I presumed as much, however as T70 pointed out there's always the unaccounted for 'human element'!

CanAm

9,302 posts

273 months

Thursday 7th December 2023
quotequote all
soxboy said:
T70RPM said:
CKY said:
so they definitely won't win the court case
....brave assumption....!!!
I have been an expert witness at court and have been truly stunned by who wins !
The one with the most money?
Let's hope that the customer is wealthy enough not to be tempted by an out of court settlement with a NDA.

AW10

4,442 posts

250 months

Thursday 7th December 2023
quotequote all
This is the proverbial genuine quesion...

if a dealer's Ts and Cs include:

"Any statements made by us, whether verbally or in writing, concerning the originality, (race) history, provenance, condition or other attributes of a used vehicle, in particular, of classic, collector's or sports cars, are statements of judgment opinion or belief. We undertake no obligation or duty, whether in contract or in tort, in respect of the accuracy or completeness of any such statement of judgment opinion or belief. While we will make such statements genuinely and they reflect our honestly held judgment opinion or believe, we will not be held responsible for such statements and we do not make or give any contractual promise, undertaking, obligation, guarantee, warranty, or representation of fact, or undertake any duty of care in relation to the accuracy or completeness of such statements unless expressly warranted in writing by us. We always recommends that Customers carry out appropriate investigations and inspections personally or through an independent expert before purchasing"

how much protection does that offer in the situation above?

Adrian E

3,248 posts

177 months

Thursday 7th December 2023
quotequote all
That will be part of the Court's process - to assess the relative merits of the cases of both parties. Whether that T&C is enforceable/backed up in contract law would I'm sure be a feature. Just because it's on a website, doesn't mean they can rely on it if it flies in the face of legal principal/precedent

MuscleSedan

1,557 posts

176 months

Thursday 7th December 2023
quotequote all
E9's have always been notorious for A pillar and sill issues, crucial areas to the models integrity. Paying £180k for one with sagging doors, then afterwards taking it elsewhere to be looked at may not be wise.

CKY

1,442 posts

16 months

Friday 8th December 2023
quotequote all
MuscleSedan said:
E9's have always been notorious for A pillar and sill issues, crucial areas to the models integrity. Paying £180k for one with sagging doors, then afterwards taking it elsewhere to be looked at may not be wise.
To be honest I think the chap is just exceedingly wealthy with a low boredom threshold, apparently so far in 2023 alone he's bought 84 cars of which this CSL was one of them. He's no classic car expert by all means so probably wouldn't have known, but i'm glad someone bought it that's wealthy enough to seek recompense from the supplying specialist. Had I bought the car and found all this out, there's a chance i'd have been stuck with some bodged E9 that i'd have to live with; I definitely wouldn't be able to buy a £180k car, then be able to pay for a bare metal restoration and a court case on top.

silentbrown

8,886 posts

117 months

Friday 8th December 2023
quotequote all
MuscleSedan said:
E9's have always been notorious for A pillar and sill issues, crucial areas to the models integrity. Paying £180k for one with sagging doors, then afterwards taking it elsewhere to be looked at may not be wise.
He didn't end up with this one by mistake?
https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1972-bmw-e9-3-...


AW10

4,442 posts

250 months

Friday 8th December 2023
quotequote all
CKY said:
To be honest I think the chap is just exceedingly wealthy with a low boredom threshold
That doesn't sound like the sort of buyer to mess about with; he may pursue the selling dealer simply because he can.

MarkwG

4,876 posts

190 months

Friday 8th December 2023
quotequote all
It feels like there are only a dozen or so of the original 4 taiga green cars left...scratchchinbiggrinwink

MuscleSedan

1,557 posts

176 months

Friday 8th December 2023
quotequote all
CKY said:
MuscleSedan said:
E9's have always been notorious for A pillar and sill issues, crucial areas to the models integrity. Paying £180k for one with sagging doors, then afterwards taking it elsewhere to be looked at may not be wise.
To be honest I think the chap is just exceedingly wealthy with a low boredom threshold, apparently so far in 2023 alone he's bought 84 cars of which this CSL was one of them. He's no classic car expert by all means so probably wouldn't have known, but i'm glad someone bought it that's wealthy enough to seek recompense from the supplying specialist. Had I bought the car and found all this out, there's a chance i'd have been stuck with some bodged E9 that i'd have to live with; I definitely wouldn't be able to buy a £180k car, then be able to pay for a bare metal restoration and a court case on top.
My path has crossed with a few characters like that through cars over the years, and total fair play to them. Everyone is different, and as you say nice that it has landed with someone who will not go hungry or loose sleep over putting it right. Chasing the vendor for recompense will give him something to do if nothing else, regardless of the outcome.