The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (BMIHT) has warned that fake Heritage Certificates affecting the “high value” Mini Cooper 'S' and Austin-Healey 100M have been uncovered.
Produced by the Heritage Motor Centre, Heritage Certificates list all the information recorded by the factory when the car was built and the date of build itself.
The existence of forged certificates came to light after a potential buyer checked the authenticity of an Austin-Healey that was located in Indonesia.
Richard Bacchus, from the BMIHT, said: “Luckily the potential purchaser [of the factory-built 100M] then contacted us to check that the Heritage Certificate and the details it contained were legitimate, and we soon discovered it was not.
“The appearance of the document was very convincing right down to the signature and BMIHT seal, but we could quickly tell it was a forgery because the information it listed was entirely bogus."
A Heritage Certificate’s authenticity can be checked against a vehicle’s chassis number and records held by the BMIHT, by contacting Bacchus on +44 (0) 1926 645076 or by e-mailing rbacchus@heritage-motor-centre.co.uk.
