2024-08-21 10:24:44
Collector car enthusiasts often fall prey to fakes. This also applies to spare parts and can even be life threatening. Some measures are not cheap, but they can still be useful. And there are also safe alternatives for spare parts.
Findings in workshops and apartments, consolidations, headlines in the professional media and finally the price – the scandal surrounding the Mercedes restorer Kienle in Heimerdingen near Stuttgart at the beginning of the summer of 2023 would also have been as good as a script for a crime drama a television. Kienle is said to have counterfeited gullwings and sold different cars with the same chassis number, according to the allegations.
The public prosecutor’s office is investigating, Kienle denied the charges. Regardless of the case, the following applies: Since the prices for some classics have gone through the roof, fakes and attempted fraud have also increased, says Frank Wilke from the Observer Classic Market Analysis in Bochum.
“There are classic cars like the Ferrari 250 GTO, the Porsche 911 RS 2.7 with ducktail or the Mercedes 300 SL, which are more on the roads today than were ever built back then,” says Sebastian Hoffmann. you know what you are talking about.
Hoffmann is not only a vehicle inspector in the classic city of Frankfurt, but also works as an automotive inspection specialist for TÜV subsidiary FSP. He looks under the metal of classic cars using scientific methods like those used in police patrols to determine their authenticity.
Such reports, which also come from the classic car departments of manufacturers such as Porsche, Mercedes or Ferrari, are not a bargain and can quickly have a five-figure value. But on the one hand, it is money well invested in millions, says Hoffmann. And on the other hand, it is not always to be the X-ray of the frame, the magneto-optical examination of the metals or the spectral analysis is filled.
“Probability analysis and document analysis for hundreds or thousands of euros always confirm the truth,” said the investigative expert. “And this is also useful for collector cars and collectors from the middle price ranges.” Also because the thumbs have discovered common cars such as variants of the Porsche 911 or even the Golf GTI.
Counterfeit products from Eastern Europe and Asia
And it doesn’t always affect the whole car: there are still many here when it comes to spare parts, says Tobias Stieber. He works in the Brand Protection Group at Mercedes Heritage GmbH and reports on more than 600 international raids in 2024, in which more than 1.6 million counterfeit products cost more than 129 129 million euros.
This can sometimes be difficult and legal enforcement is often impossible, Stieber said. The Swabians say there are many online retailers in Eastern Europe or Asia, where the law does not always come.
Therefore, Mercedes protects its manufacturing, copyright and trademark rights. “But we’re also concerned with consumer safety,” Stieber said. Because many parts do not have the same quality, break earlier or, in the worst case, provide more safety. This is especially dangerous with brake discs, wheels or steering parts, which counterfeiters and pirates like to offer.
Mercedes, for example, has a warehouse with 160,000 equipment positions for 57 model series from the patent cars to the Benz family – and 20,000 to 25,000 new components are added every year, spokesman Peter Becker reports. But while owners of classic cars worth millions are willing to pay high prices for original parts, the willingness to pay for smaller cars is decreasing.
“That’s why, in addition to new units, many companies also offer refurbished old units. There are discounts if you hand over defective parts to the manufacturer for recycling, and many old car recyclers now have online stores that are well-stocked with original spare parts,” classic car expert Wilke tell.
So there are alternatives where you can make sure you are still getting the original part. Finding love or annoyance for the right parts in storage, depending on its appearance, is truly a thing of the past, Wilke said.
No doubt: the state of classical music has been shaken by the Kienle scandal. But experts like Wilke and Hoffmann hope that it is more of a cleansing storm and, above all, that the event has increased the sensibilities of collectors and they will not buy vintage cars and equipment that is innocent anymore.
By the way, the Kienle scandal has at least one happy ending. In order to increase its staff, fill the spare parts warehouse and bring back additional workshop areas to the company, the Mercedes Classic Center has acquired parts of Kienle’s work resources and machines.
dpa/jk
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