[Nedsel]

The idea of having a car inspected by an expert before its purchase is clearly a sensible one, and I have gladly been doing inspections for many years. But these days, being in the position of an "expert inspector" has its own set of risks, which have been spelled out graphically in the latest issue of Keith Martin's "Sports Car Market" magazine. In his article, Ferrari expert Michael Sheehan details the pitfalls of inspecting a car which then proceeded to pass through several owners and many miles with no problems or complaints, prior to it being sold back to the purchaser for whom he had performed the inspection many years before. When this individual was advised that the engine block showed a small weld on the side of the block, possibly indicating a thrown rod many years prior to his initial purchase, he decided that everyone connected in any way to its ownership, from Sheehan to the shop that rebuilt the engine to interim owners, owed him some big bucks, and in an amount way in excess of the supposed damages (if any) to the owner. Sheehan has already been made to fork over thousands of dollars, since he was careless enough to miss a one-inch patch of metal on the lower side of a greasy engine block. It's this kind of nonsense that makes anyone trying to help people buy a good car rather than a P.O.S. think twice about the service they are attempting to provide. And that is truly a shame for the collector car hobby in general.