TXSS
09-13-2006, 07:44 AM
Has anyone seen this story or this car.
WEAK SCAM? Brakes hit on $150G muscle-car sale
By ERIK ARVIDSON, Sun Statehouse Bureau
BOSTON -- A Tewksbury developer has filed a lawsuit claiming he was scammed into buying a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle on eBay that he thought was a completely restored vintage model, only to later find out it was not authentic.
Marc Ginsburg, owner of the Tewksbury Country Club, is suing the owner of an automobile restoration business in western New York, saying he paid $150,100 for a Chevelle that turned out to be a fake.
The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 25 in U.S. District Court, naming Matthew Dinicola, owner of Signature Collision in Spencerport, N.Y., as the defendant.
Ginsburg, who said he collects "high-end muscle cars," noted he was in the process of trying to settle the case. "It gets to be very expensive when people are resorting to other means to cash in on an industry," he added.
Dinicola, reached yesterday afternoon, said he planned to give Ginsburg a full refund, and then put the car back on eBay to resell it.
Dinicola said he didn't own the car, but restored it for a customer then resold it. He called the situation "unfortunate" and a "bad deal."
According to the lawsuit, Dinicola first listed the car for eBay auction in June, advertising it as a "complete frame-off restoration" of a vintage 1970 Chevelle Convertible LS6.
The advertisement described the car as a "numbers matching" vehicle and used other terms to suggest that
it was an "authentic, bonafide and original restored vehicle with the original engine and parts matching its (vehicle identification number)," according to the lawsuit.
On July 11, Dinicola notified Ginsburg that his bid of $150,100 was the winning bid on the online auction site. But after he took possession of the vehicle, Ginsburg discovered that it wasn't an original restoration and was "actually a fake or clone version," the lawsuit states. This was confirmed when Ginsburg had the car inspected by a professional appraiser who has experience with vintage cars, according to the suit.
Ginsburg also discovered that the engine and transmission had been restamped with the vehicle identification number -- "a fraudulent attempt to pass off the car as an original and restored 1970 Chevelle LS6," the lawsuit states.
Ginsburg also said he had tried to get his money back from Dinicola, but those attempts were refused.
WEAK SCAM? Brakes hit on $150G muscle-car sale
By ERIK ARVIDSON, Sun Statehouse Bureau
BOSTON -- A Tewksbury developer has filed a lawsuit claiming he was scammed into buying a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle on eBay that he thought was a completely restored vintage model, only to later find out it was not authentic.
Marc Ginsburg, owner of the Tewksbury Country Club, is suing the owner of an automobile restoration business in western New York, saying he paid $150,100 for a Chevelle that turned out to be a fake.
The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 25 in U.S. District Court, naming Matthew Dinicola, owner of Signature Collision in Spencerport, N.Y., as the defendant.
Ginsburg, who said he collects "high-end muscle cars," noted he was in the process of trying to settle the case. "It gets to be very expensive when people are resorting to other means to cash in on an industry," he added.
Dinicola, reached yesterday afternoon, said he planned to give Ginsburg a full refund, and then put the car back on eBay to resell it.
Dinicola said he didn't own the car, but restored it for a customer then resold it. He called the situation "unfortunate" and a "bad deal."
According to the lawsuit, Dinicola first listed the car for eBay auction in June, advertising it as a "complete frame-off restoration" of a vintage 1970 Chevelle Convertible LS6.
The advertisement described the car as a "numbers matching" vehicle and used other terms to suggest that
it was an "authentic, bonafide and original restored vehicle with the original engine and parts matching its (vehicle identification number)," according to the lawsuit.
On July 11, Dinicola notified Ginsburg that his bid of $150,100 was the winning bid on the online auction site. But after he took possession of the vehicle, Ginsburg discovered that it wasn't an original restoration and was "actually a fake or clone version," the lawsuit states. This was confirmed when Ginsburg had the car inspected by a professional appraiser who has experience with vintage cars, according to the suit.
Ginsburg also discovered that the engine and transmission had been restamped with the vehicle identification number -- "a fraudulent attempt to pass off the car as an original and restored 1970 Chevelle LS6," the lawsuit states.
Ginsburg also said he had tried to get his money back from Dinicola, but those attempts were refused.