Crime scene on four wheels
03/08/2024
The "Welt am Sonntag" of February 25, 2024 reported on two pages from the Rétromobilein Paris. It's actually great when our hobby finds so much space in the mass media.
Unfortunately, the reason for this report was less positive. It was about counterfeiting and fraud - Kienleand the inconsistencies surrounding the 300-SL-Mercedes have shaken up our entire industry.
WaS" wrote the following about the Paris motor show: "Are the dressed-up cars on the stands genuine - or are they copies made from spare parts? Worse still, are these once stolen vehicles that have now been doctored with an apparently seamless history and a new chassis number?"
3258 Mercedes Benz 300 SLs were sold, or rather built, as Gullwings or Roadsters between 1954 and 1963. Today, there are around twice as many of them. After all, the cars are now worth between 1.2 and 1.8 million, and the last few with the aluminum engines even exceed 2 million.
In addition to the known facts about the Kienle story, Welt am Sonntag also mentioned the "total loss": According to a table from the insolvency administrator dated February 1, 2024, 111 creditors had filed claims against the company in the amount of 25,103,628.91 euros.
There were also reports about a Gullwing buyer from Antwerp. He obviously regretted that he had not taken a closer look in 2007 when he bought three cars from Kienle. He was also confronted with the fact that a second car with the same chassis number existed in the USA.
According to WaS, even renowned dealers at the Rétromobile began to doubt the authenticity of their exhibits. After discovering discrepancies, one dealer had the cover pulled over an SL and withdrew the car from sale.
If you are now thinking that the whole thing is purely a Stern issue, you are of course very much mistaken. Similar inconsistencies can also be found around sports and racing cars from Alfa Romeo, Bizzarrini, BMW, Bugatti, Ferrari or Porsche, and the list could be extended to include many more brands. Wherever big money is involved, some people see an opportunity to make big money with little effort. And if the buyers don't look so closely ...
If you want to avoid such risks, you should perhaps turn to more popular cars. Chassis numbers are hardly ever falsified on a Ford 17M or a Renault 4 ...
