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Automotive Lifestyle
AUTOS: Cuda Vindicated, Returns To Auction Docket
Stolen-car report that caused Beach Boy Al Jardine's to be pulled by Barrett-Jackson had been resolved.
Bob Golfen  |  Posted January 15, 2010   Scottsdale, AZ
This 1971 Hemi Cuda recreation owned by Beach Boy Al Jardine was reported stolen in 1976. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson
After a flurry of digging into 35-year-old police records, a 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda that was pulled from the Barrett-Jackson auction docket because of a 1975 theft report has been reinstated for the sale.

The Cuda, a Hemi hardtop recreation owned by the Beach Boys’ Al Jardine, will be up on the auction stage during Saturday’s prime-time bidding as originally planned, Barrett-Jackson president Steve Davis said this morning.

Further research into the theft report found that the car had been recovered after the theft and later sold legally.

“What it sounds like happened, the car was stolen at one point and recovered but was never taken out of a particular database,” Davis said. “Pretty much, it was in a stolen-vehicle database and (the car) did have two VIN numbers assigned to it. But at this point, it appears the car will go back in the auction.”

The consignment team at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale collector-car auction had discovered the discrepancy in VIN codes during a final inspection at check in. After the problem could not be resolved on site, the auction officials put the Plymouth on a flatbed and took it to the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division for examination.

The MVD people discovered the old stolen-car report from St. Louis, MO., on the Cuda, which was seemingly unresolved, and the car was impounded by the Scottsdale police department. But this morning, the problem was cleared up when the police discovered that the car had been found shortly after the theft.

But after the car was recovered, it apparently had been assigned a new VIN, which is what caused the red flags to go up Thursday at the Scottsdale auction site.

"It's all a little complicated," Scottsdale police spokesman Mark Clark said. "Because the number plate had been removed, the car was given a new VIN in 1975, which is what caused the confusion."

On the car-theft database, the VIN change made it appear that the car had never been recovered, Clark said. The car was registered in Iowa with the new VIN and later registered in Florida in 2007 under its new number.

When the Cuda was being restored under Jardine's ownership as a full-bore performance Hemi, a new VIN plate with the car's original numbers was attached, Clark said, which led to the problem at MVD.

The situation with the Al Jardine Hemi Cuda came just after a controversy over a 1958 Chevy Impala that was reputedly purchased new by rock ‘n roll star Buddy Holly. After questions about the authenticity of the Holly ownership claim could not be resolved by Barrett-Jackson officials, the Impala was pulled from the auction.

Davis said the two occurrences demonstrate how Barrett-Jackson protects its customers by thoroughly examining the provenance of every vehicle that comes through the auction.

“It goes to show you, we do what we do because we have to,” Davis said. “We have to feel confident that the title can be passed legitimately.”

The 39th annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale runs from Jan. 18 through 24 with 39 hours of live coverage broadcast by SPEED.

See SPEEDtv.com’s original report on the Al Jardine Hemi Cuda at Stolen Cuda.

Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale: Jan 19th-24th
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