When you give away your classic car collection, or not
05/23/2015
Most fathers who are attached to classic cars would be happy if they had a son who shared their interest. Not so Ernst Hrabalek. He owned four rare and very attractive Lancia Stratos, including the 1970 Bertone prototype and two racing and rally cars (as the pictures show, © Martyn Goddard).
His son, Chris Hrabalek, was the lucky one to whom he gave the four cars in 2000, or not. In any case, the father no longer believes that he gave the cars to his son as a gift, while his son is still convinced that he received the cars as a legitimate gift.
And because the two disputants were unable to reach an agreement, they went to court, not just in one country, but in three. In Austria and Germany, the son apparently won the case, while in England (represented by the law firm Goodman Derrich LLP, which subsequently published a press release) it was the father who won. The dispute has not yet been settled. And the lawyers' fees will probably have to continue to flow. Which is understandable given that the amount in dispute is well over seven times the amount in euros (Zwischengas estimate).
But why did the unresolvable dispute between father and son arise?
In any case, a donor - and this lesson can certainly be drawn from the whole mess - is recommended to express himself clearly and perhaps even formulate a simple contract, because this should be much cheaper than later legal disputes.
Incidentally, Chris Hrabalek is no stranger to the car scene, as he also came up with the idea of reviving the Stratos, which ultimately succeeded thanks to entrepreneur Michael Stoschek, even if Chris Hrabalek's design contribution was not quite as extensive in the end as originally planned.
