Be Very Careful Out There

[Registrar]

Dave, It is a shame that the actions of Gordon Brown brought about a situation where it was lucrative to make your car appear older than it actually was. You are right in that it would not be a problem now and finding a truly original car on E-bay is very, very difficult as many have had extensive renovations, some of them sympathetic and some not so sympathetic. One of my tasks at the moment is to make people aware of the detail differences between different years of Stag so that they can decide whether they should fit a Mk1 or a Mk2 soft top or look for a true mk1 interior when they want a change of colour or a better condition set of seats. I don't care what people do but I do care that they have the information to make the correct choice for them. That is what is behind my series of 'Know Your Stag' articles in the magazine (currently suspended because Carl has been receiving an increased article mailbag due to the cuirrent Covid restrictons - but the articles will return next year)

[Registrar]

Dear Mimosa,

Following you pointing out the early Stag on Matthewsons auction site, I contacted them and asked them to consider their position as this was a ringer - which it undoubtedly is. I understand that they have now taken the car off their 'for sale' list.

I have spoken to the owner and she is rather at a loss as to what to do. They have owned the car since 2004 when they bought it as a newly painted body shell and 1the parts to build it up - I think that was the story. Whether this car (EOE 307K) is actually a swap to save the road tax or a ringed stolen car I don't know but the lady is too old to want to mess about with DVLA / police to try to clean the car up with a little investigation as to whether it can be identified as a previously stolen car or whether it was just a reg swap to save £200 a month. The upshot is that the car is for sale as it is and for someone else to sort out the registration issue.

Are there any takers out there at around £8k ?

Peter

[Neil in Deal]

Afternoon all,

I suppose that because the Stag was available initially in Mk1, then later in Mk2 form, some people may well have seen that as an opening to be devious, i.e. rebuilding a car into something it was not originally.
(The Range Rover mentioned above being a case in point...)
Possibly some people thought the Mk1 was/is more valuable than a Mk2 ?? And/or evading Road Tax, or simply having one bad/rusty body and another "saveable" one.......

I took the greatest care I could when buying my Stag, and I got both a Heritage Certificate and the Technical Build Sheet from BMH just as quickly as I could, confirming that the engine & body numbers matched.
Luckily my car came with several previous MoT certificates too, confirming the car was "kosher".

You might notice that the majority of auction houses use the terms "the owner advises" etc when describing the car, firmly planting responsibility for accuracy with the selling owner.

Mathewsons certainly do have a good reputation, and fair play to them for de- listing that particular car. (I have absolutely no connection with them.)
Quite frankly, I cannot understand why people buy vehicles from eBay - there appears to be too many cases of ringed/mis-described/non-existent cars! (And not just Stags, Fast Fords etc.)
Stick to the specialist classic car dealers - at least if there's a problem you MIGHT have some sort of right of redress.
Stay safe,

Neil.

[mike@thenook]

Stick to the specialist classic car dealers - at least if there's a problem you MIGHT have some sort of right of redress.

Good advice Neil - I for one wouldn't look at any car on Ebay now unless I knew from trusted third parties (like the SOC for a Stag) the car was genuine

Mike

[Phil S]

I have first hand knowledge of a ringer in daily use, well it was 50 odd years ago!
one of my work mates had 2 Vincent black shadow motor cycle and sidecar combinations, both on the same number plates, each morning when he came to work the tax disc would be put on whichever of the 2 that would start

[73 Mimosa]

Dear Mimosa,

Following you pointing out the early Stag on Matthewsons auction site, I contacted them and asked them to consider their position as this was a ringer - which it undoubtedly is. I understand that they have now taken the car off their 'for sale' list.

I have spoken to the owner and she is rather at a loss as to what to do. They have owned the car since 2004 when they bought it as a newly painted body shell and 1the parts to build it up - I think that was the story. Whether this car (EOE 307K) is actually a swap to save the road tax or a ringed stolen car I don't know but the lady is too old to want to mess about with DVLA / police to try to clean the car up with a little investigation as to whether it can be identified as a previously stolen car or whether it was just a reg swap to save £200 a month. The upshot is that the car is for sale as it is and for someone else to sort out the registration issue.

Are there any takers out there at around £8k ?

Peter

I just happened to look at the website after watching a re-run of the TV show and it was obvious to me that the engine layout and the dashboard
were much later than Mk 1. It's unfortunate for the owner but it goes to show if you are after one and you don't know much about them you need to take some one with you who does.

[Gaz1024]

......this is exactly the kind of thread that potential Stag purchasers like me need to read and is why I am on the SOC forum.
Thank you so much for highlighting this issue and reinforcing that I will need the help from you shortly.

Gaz.