tortoise - this old post from
gerd was made before your time and might go a long way to explaining some of the questions you have about how the government agencies ultimately resolved the issues with the Ameritech F1s. It also might raise more questions too, but it would be to your benefit to read it I believe:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...&postcount=127
For certain the cars were re-VIN'd as 1995s to avoid the hassles of OBD-II but also the VINs were altered because, as the story goes, to get them into the USA in the method that was used at the time Ameritech Corp was shown as the Manufacturer. Check out this photo from
mini magic of the alternate vehicle ID tag fixed to the door of Ralph Lauren's F1 (#055) which was imported the same way as #062 and was also not built in 1995.
= = =
I think the auction scenario definitely helped move chassis #014. When presented with a room full of people who had the capability and perhaps the desire to purchase that car the selling dealership finally realized its true value was not equal to the amount they had been trying to obtain for the car. After a bit of stalling they lifted the reserve in an effort to spur more bidding and a few moment later it was sold. This after sitting in their showroom for nearly a year and having offers made that may have even been slightly better than what they ended up with. At least the car found a great new home and I don't think the buyer's overpaid.
>8^)
ER