Well boys, it wasn't a Chevy, but I can tell you from
PERSONAL experience that Golden Classics is the biggest scam going.
I was asked to check the numbers and authenticity on a 1970 440-6, 4-spd Road Runner. Plum Crazy, black interior, Dana 60 rear, blah, blah, blah. The unfortunate part was that the guy brought the car over to my shop
AFTER he had given them a SIGNIFIGANT downpayment, and the remainder was in a certified check in the mail. As soon as I opened the hood, I could smell a rat. The car was sold as a complete *Numbers Matching* 440-6bbl RR. The center carb was a 1969 coded carb, and the two outboard carbs were '71's - - nice start .... The engine had two different casted cylinder heads - - one 906, and one 346. Most Mopar BB heads are not externally identifiable EXCEPT the 346 heads. They have two *humps* in them that are very visible without pulling a valve cover. One head with, one head without...
The inner fenders had been cut for headers at some point. The car comes with front discs, and the only way to get those on a B-body Mopar is to have power brakes. This car mysteriously had a manual master cylinder with some hoaky plate that it was bolted to. Wrong radiator - - some Murray's one-size-fits-all replacement. The engine pad on the pass side by the pan rail was going to be the tell-tale. As soon as I put a flashlight to it, I could tell this was a fake - - and not even a good one !! The pad where the VIN is supposed to be had obviously been *ground* down with a grinder and sandpaper rolls. You know when you get caught in an area with those, they kinda put little divits in the surface that your grinding ??? This *machined* pad looked like the ocean. The stamps that were used were no where near what a factory Chrysler stamp was. I showed the owner no less than (5) engines ranging from a 68 383 to a 74 400 that ALL used the same type and font stamp. This wasn't even close. Trans - wrong - - numbers no where near what they were supposed to be. At this point, the owner was pissed !! I asked if he wanted me to stop ..... We kept going.... Dana 60 - ??. Numbers completely ground off - - unreadable.
We tore the seats out looking for a broadcast sheet - nothing. AND THEN, to add insult to injury, we decided to decode the body tag. Come to find out, this *Numbers Matching* Plum Crazy 6bbl RR was actually BLACK !!! At that point, we just stopped ...... The guy immediately called, and somehow got the Certified Check cancelled. Called Golden Classics (via his lawyer) to have them refund the deposit, and come pick up the car. After about 3 weeks of screwing around, he got everything squared away, but not without some major grief.
Now.........SHAME on the guy for not doing the research BEFORE he had the time and money invested. But ....... that type of fraud (yes FRAUD) is absolutely inexcusable !!! It would have been one thing if he paid $10-12k for the car, but he paid the going rate for an original 6bbl RR (not cheap !!)
Sorry for the long-winded story, but that whole debacle got (and still gets) me wound up !!
OH YEA - - to make matters worse, that was one of the cars that had a pic taken of it for the article in MCR about buying musclecars from dealers, etc........