Tom,
An excellent discussion. A great many parts are made, for other cars
both new and used, from tooling made from an original part (mold made
from original valve covers), original molds used by original, or
subsequent owners, and outright copies. In the case of the Mustang, for
instance, most factory options are available for an 289 HP version
(exhaust, driving lights, body parts, upholstery, you name it) to
sometimes better quality than Ford made. However, an honest
manufacturer and dealer would sell them as "reproduction", or
"manufactured currently from original tooling", or whatever is appropriate.
The difficulty, as always, depends on "representation" of the subsequent
resulting vehicle. A disclosure of "updates", "reproduction", "NOS
added parts", and "as delivered originally from dealer or factory.
Then the market will decide the value. The key to this situation is
honest representation, Any sale made by wrongfully attributing
authenticity, when the facts are known to the seller, is
misrepresentation and unlawful fraud. It could be unintentional
misrepresentation if the seller bought the car in that condition, and
did not know the history. That still is subject to legal judgment, as
it is in the art world, if a valuable painting that a museum has held
for 75 years turns out to be a copy. It then BECOMES what it always
was, but not known. Happens frequently.
Anyway, that is my opinion. I have no demands on a seller other than
honest representation, and let the market decide the value.
Steve
Tom Hall wrote:
> <snip>
> With that said, it was inferred that Rick's LAT valve covers were
> reproductions. We have to be careful here because they are produced
> from the original "factory" tooling used by International Automobile
> when the LAT items were first produced. Furthermore, they are now
> being produced at the Buddy Bar foundry that cast the original's. So
> one has to ask: Are these current production pieces reproductions, or
> a continuation of the original production? Most of the companies that
> made the various parts and components for Rootes or International
> Automobile are no longer in business, or at the very least, they are
> "owned" by different individuals or companies. If I take Rick's
> "Factory" washer bottle mold and have it re-blown to produce bottles,
> are they going to be "reproductions", are they equivalent to NOS, or
> are they "clones". We need to be careful about labeling definitions,
> lest we reduce the value and incentive of producing parts physically
> identical and equal to "original".
>
> Tom
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Steve Laifman
Editor - TigersUnited.com
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