Ontario Museum buys fake German vehicles

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

This must be embarrassing for the museum, but it raises interesting questions.

Almost no historic MV's are completely original and, if so, are probably unusable with considerable 'patina'. The rest contain some degree of restoration ranging from replacement, but original, parts to complete fabrications based on the barest of original bones. Fabrication is sometimes the only way to go and it's the research, skill and detail of the fabricator that makes all the difference.

The other direction is willful adapting away from original for practical reasons: original parts are unavailable, original parts are unreliable or it's just the restorer's choice to do it up to the level they want.

It is up to the purchaser to decide what level of authenticity they want to invest in. Is a 12V conversion acceptable? Mild steel replacement armour? A modern diesel instead of the old flathead? Cosmetic rather than original? And my bugaboo, gloss paint instead of matt? There's all of these out there, and it's all good unless something is misrepresented. Not sure how much responsibility there is on the part of the buyer when that happens. It seems dropping big money should come with a fair bit of caution and research.