Yeap as I strolled through the Cars for sale at the Kissimee Mecums Auto Auctions a few weeks ago I noticed a 1969 442 from a distance. When I got up on it it had a 70 442 Hood, spoiler on the Rear and a 455 Buick Motor in it. I watched it sell for $28,000. They never said a word about the Motor being a Buick. There were tons of nice cars there but you can always count on some of this junk getting through. I have no idea if this was on television yet. They repeat the auctions pretty heavy on My Hd channel though. That poor guy is going to have some problems putting Olds 455 parts on a Buick 455.

 

Depends on whether it was advertised as a numbers matching 442 or not.
If it's not, it's up to the buyer to investigate the powerplant.
If it was a nicely done car with a beautiful engine bay, I wouldn't care personally.

Buick 455's are pretty desirable and torquey as well.
Many say they're better 455's then the Olds......and faster

 

Caveat emptor

 

http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_de...=FL0111-102257
I like Buicks almost as much as Oldsmobiles, but a Buick (or Chevy) engine in a 442 is sacrilege. IMO Buicks should have Buick engines, Olds should have Olds, Chevy...etc. (unless GM built it that way - i.e. Trans Ams with SB Chevy or 403 Olds). Of course I'll get 'flamed' for my "Factory correct or nothing" view like I always do.

 

Nah, everyone has their own tastes.
It's cool if you dig the original look and powerplant.

 

Thanks man. Mine is strictly a preference. I appreciate ALL forms of motoring. It's so funny because 25 years ago I was all about engine swaps and bolt on performance 'go-fast' stuff and I just changed and started restoring cars back to original factory stock (I did a '68 GTO and then a '70 Judge). Who knows, maybe in another 25 years I'll have a blower sticking out of the hood.

 

The car was advertised and then sold as an all original 69 442. I sat there stunned as it sold with no word said about the Buick Power Plant, wrong Hood, and or Wing as well. It was a nice looking Car but what a crock.

 

They don't care. The bidder agreement has them covered.
With that said, if you don't know enough to tell if the engine is even the correct make for an "original" car, you probably don't have any business buying a collector car at auction in the first place.

Caveat Emptor, indeed.

 

Exactly.

Mecum and Barret Jackson don't give a rats *** about Authenticity.
They leave that up to you to figure out. Just like Auto Auctions leave it up
to you to figure out if the car is actually going to run when you buy it.

That's why I think those auctions are ruining the hobby personally. They're
taking cars that we can all afford to buy and build and now prices for OEM
and OER parts have skyrocketed so high in the past 6 years it's unreal. It's
created an avenue for scammers galore to do VIN swaps and get busted by
the Fed's too. Alot of people have been taken advantage of by this kind of thing.

2 big time shops now I've heard in the news were busted for making VIN
swapped Shelby GT500's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_6wkNoo-E

http://uniqueperformancescam.com/

 

Do you just not like Olds engines?

 

We are not the same type of car enthusiasts.

I do like the torquey power curve of Olds engines.
But I don't like the lack of aftermarket support of them.
I'm more into Olds because of the way the car looks, not their engines.
(bboooo....hisssss)

I'm just not overly biased to be loyal to a single brand.
I'm loyal to "Best bang for the Buck"
I think people who are loyal to a brand 100% is cool if that's what they want.