caveat emptor
 

While the practice of implying something "is" when it "isn't" when it comes to seller's descriptions of the item for sale isn't uniquely found on ebay, a very recent ebay example is just one more reminder that a few in this hobby (and in every other walk of life) are willing strangers to the truth.


The seller in this instance took a Brookville '32 roadster body and put it on an original chassis, added the tattered interior from an original roadster, did all the latest in patination, right down to worn pin striping. and added a number of original accessories, both Ford-released and aftermarket to create, what he or she obviously hoped would pass for a very well-preserved survivor.


What they did not do, however, was to spend a little time comparing a Brookville body to an original with the result that all of the Brookville telltales have been retained, right down to the misfit of the left side hood top panel at the left side belt molding and directly above and that is one of the least obvious differences.


Allegedly this car was awarded a Rouge Award at a western national meet of the Early Ford V8 Club. If factual, shame, shame on the judges who knew so little as to not have quickly seen that it is a fake.


The car was withdrawn from ebay with the notation that it was no longer available. To me that suggests that it was sold privately. If so, I most sincerely hope that the buyer was aware that he was spending serious money for a fraud and wanted it notwithstanding. But if unaware, they have my sympathies as eventually they will encounter someone who will know what the car "isn't".

Re: caveat emptor
 

Is this the car, David? > https://www.ebay.com/itm/17497272742...p2047675.l2557

and at > https://barnfinds.com/depression-era...ster-survivor/


https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/upl...or-630x390.jpg

https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/upl...9-630x390.jpeg

https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/upl...6-630x390.jpeg


1932 Ford V-8 DeLuxe Roadster -- All Steel
Early Ford V-8 Club "Preservation Award" Western Meet, 2013
1948 Flathead V-8 L-Block Engine with 1939 Ford Transmission
• Original Upholstery, Glass, Mechanical Brakes, Unrestored. • Script Glass dated 8-32, all around • Mint Original Running Boards • Rumble Step Pad and Bracket • Accessory Luggage Rack • Correct Original 18" Cloth Tire Cover • Lockingg Sidemount Hub Cap • Correct Sport Lights / Brackets • Original Windshield Frame/Wiper • Original Unplated Bumpers • Side Curtains and Top Boot • "Roosevelt Approved" • Correct Tools and Jack Included • Rare 1932 Olympics Rear License Plate Topper
https://barnfinds.com/depression-era...ster-survivor/

Re: caveat emptor
 

Pete,


The very same.

Re: caveat emptor
 

They did a good job making the body faux wear. It's almost too smooth to be weathered. Like the front drivers fender.

Must have taking some time putting the interior in.


Less it's an original body repainted to match the rest. It is certainly a fake paint job in my option.


It could be a car made of parts over yrs. Not a original survivor car. But I could be wrong...



.

Re: caveat emptor
 

I'd like to see the real survivor they took the seats and door panels from! How do you fake the tar flaking off inside the doors of old fords? and all correct hardware? Too bad someone probably got took

Re: caveat emptor
 

You take another rusted car with some interior chrome and put it on another car. (cas I'm probably missing your sarcasm intent) It's hard to say. But it's been repainted in my thought from the pictures or they wet sanded everything but the front driverside fender. Seeing it in person is a different thing.


Interesting the side after the driver is worn and the running boards are mint and the step out of the cab (rocker) is painted.


Like I said! I could be wrong!!! I don't think it is a survivor untouched as the ad says. Would need more information.

Re: caveat emptor
 

Thank you David for this thread.There was a blue "restored" '32 roadster advertised on the V8 Club Website awhile back out of Santa Barbara that looked great and priced right .I feel that it was also a Brookville body also .Seller stated it was a steel body is all.

Re: caveat emptor
 

I'm not by any stretch of the imagination knowledgeable on metal work however in looking at the pics that petehoovie (Thanks Pete!) posted even an imbecile like me could ascertain there is something very wrong with the description. I've never ever seen a car of any make that straight of that age or even much newer that isn't quite well worn. Warts and all.

Re: caveat emptor
 

What the faux.......all that work for a fake. I can see close to 60 grand in it as it sits
Charlie ny

Re: caveat emptor
 

Human nature is for some people to believe what they see with added influence from other people who may gain from that. What folks don't take in to account is that a car that was restored in the 60s, 70s, or even later depending on storage elements could "Look" like something that could be "survivor" material due to their impression of the condition that they see.

Folks that tend to question something they see when they have the experience and the knowledge to find authenticity can usually knock off an untruthful claim pretty quick but the average person out there really can't and won't do that.

Folks make fake pieces of art and other popular things all the time for monetary gain from the unsuspecting buyer. It's been going on since the dawn of the human species. The latin term for "Let the Buyer Beware" is a pretty old one.

Re: caveat emptor
 

I don't know anything about 32 Fords but, is it normal for the rear wheel not to be "centered" in the fender opening? That would make me wonder about authenticity.

Re: caveat emptor
 

Yes on a stock '32,Its a bit forward of center.

Re: caveat emptor
 

I saw that car on ebay and noticed that it didn't have the hole on top of the doors for side curtains. I could be wrong but I thought all the original roadsters had those.

Re: caveat emptor
 

OK. Thanks.

Re: caveat emptor
 

Here's the link to the ebay listing, which has more photos and they are revealing. https://www.ebay.com/itm/174972727428

Below are some photos of a real '32 roadster survivor. In the first one, note the four holes in the upper back panel for the rubber rear window rests, the placement of the stainless steel top prop rest, the vertical position of the outside door handle escutcheon, the socket on top of the door for the side curtain rod, and the position of the forward bottom tip of the top side panel. Compare those characteristics with the photos from the ebay listing that follow.

Of the last of these, the attachment location of the tip of the top panel is a major defining difference between the "is" and the "isn't". The top of the quarter panel was formed to create a pocket for the tip of the wood rear belt rail as shown in the illustration which is part of the original engineering drawing for the quarter panel. These do not exist in a Brookville body, nor does a tilted V-shaped depression below that pocket where the tip of the top is attached with a special finishing nail that goes through a hole in the sheet metal into the tip of the wood inside the pocket. The result is that the tip of the top ends up below the top edge of the quarter panel. Note on the ebay photo that the tip of the top is at the top of the quarter panel which signals that there is no pocket and no tilted V-shaped depression on that body.

Further below is another photo of that real survivor and in this photo the one other and likely the easiest to spot at a distance telltale is the original outward flare of the quarter panels above the moldings at the rear wheelhouses. In the adjacent photo from the ebay listing, that flare is absent.

Re: caveat emptor
 

I am a novice when it comes to '32 Fords, but i saw that car a few years ago at the Grand National Roadster Show and it was very convincing (to a novice).
Tom

Re: caveat emptor
 

I need assistance posting the first photo that I refer to above in #15, please. Sending it to myself via email did not work.

Re: caveat emptor
 

Hope this works

Re: caveat emptor
 

Sheldon,


Thanks, but it is neither of those and not one that I posted. I'll send it to you and maybe you will have better luck posting it.

Re: caveat emptor
 

Done