Automotive Masterpieces' How To Join

Procedures and requirements for access, services offered and costs.


How to join
  1. First, by confirming that we should proceed and, hence, joining Automotive Masterpieces, you declare your adherence to our “Manifesto”.
  2. You must pay the appropriate basic fee and provide any & all material you have available; our researchers will undertake the necessary confirmatory and investigative historical research.
  3. We will send research reports detailing our findings which may include optional purchase proposals.

Our research begins from the material provided by the client and is aimed reconstructing both the distant and more recent history of the car.
First important note regarding the material: please provide everything that you have available including:
  • Copies of all documents,
  • List of known (or reputed) owners,
  • List of known plates,
  • List of known (or reputed) events,
  • Certifications,
  • Any and all letters and correspondence,
  • Copies of Registers,
  • Copies of Press reviews,
  • Known Bibliography,
  • Photos (chassis number, engine number, all other available numbers present on the car, photos of the condition of the vehicle when acquired/discovered, of the restoration, of any events, etc.),
  • Vintage photos (where copies are provided including images of the reverse of the original photos to identify which archives they come from or other notes/information), declaration of the rights of possession and use of the photos (present, absent),
  • Copies of any invoices (works, etc.)
If the client does not have scanned material, we are available to make copies from the originals (subject to separate quotation).

What we offer – Historical Researches
Historical research is our “core activity”, the fulcrum and the basis on which we have developed, and are continuing to develop, instruments to share and highlight the knowledge acquired through our research including: reports, websites, books, exhibitions, summits
Our consultancy activity includes:
  • Reordering, classification and digitalization of existing material and material which we unearth during our research activities;
  • Determining the sequence of owners and events;
  • Research at photo and video archives;
  • Research at documentation archives (Events, newspapers and magazines, etc.);
  • Research at vehicle registers, experts, ex-owners, drivers, restorers, etc. who may have pertinent information;
  • Research for "automobilia" (medals, trophies, models, regulations, publications, printed material, posters, etc.)

What we offer – Services
In addition to researching vehicle’s histories, our core activity, we also offer a range of other services:
  • Consultancy in managing car collections, helping to give a sense (concept) and raise the visibility of collections, in line with the goals of the collector, to give a historic/collecting sense or to bring out the importance of each individual vehicle and to enhance the asset. With this in mind, assistance is also available in selling vehicles and in finding & acquiring others.
  • Research of a vehicle’s history necessary for restoration from the point of view of understanding its original form and any intervening transformations thereby identifying and agreeing the most appropriate shape of the bodywork, livery, etc.
  • Post restoration support, in terms of participating at events, preparation & publication of books, brochures and other publicity material, promotion in specialized press and media, etc.
  • Private sales and purchase of rare cars, from discovery to final compilation of the documents.
  • Photographic and video services.

Timescales
Every car is unique; there is the car with a well documented history and others whose history is still to be verified or indeed discovered, hence the research timescales vary in relation to the state of knowledge regarding each individual vehicle.

Step by step
From our research one or more reports are produced, these may include proposals for additional material, photos, documents that can be purchased.

Dossier. If the search produces results:

The material is collected.
A “Blue Box” is created and sent to the client together with a Beacon to be placed on the car.
The client is not obliged to buy the material (they can choose to buy all, part or nothing).

Regarding the Blue Box: if the client sends their documents, photos, etc. as copies, we undertake the research and it is up to the client to integrate their originals with our results.
If, conversely, the client sends their original documents, photos, etc. , we organize these items, integrating them directly with our search results.

Website. Everything the client buys is published on a dedicated site together with any additional material they possess, any material which is not bought is published blurred/pixelated).

After the first report, we continue to highlight any further material which our research brings to light; obviously rationalizing our efforts, so that the commitment to continue to propose reports is proportionate to the interest shown by the client in their eventual purchase.

Website
A complete website is created for each car, containing all the information available, including: technical data, a list of the vehicles past owners, a list of all events in which it participated, vintage photographs, pre-restoration photographs, post-restoration photographs, event photographs, Studio photographs, YouTube video links, press cuttings and books can be found.
During the research, the on-line publication of the car’s web site is an essential tool since it helps us to find information/contacts among those enthusiasts who follow our various projects assiduously.
Obviously, we create the site only when the car is accepted as being among the vehicles considered Automotive Masterpieces.
The site is published, by default, as a private (anonymous) collection; the owner can, if they wish, indicate that they prefer to use the site to promote their museum or collection and this, of course, can be arranged.

Costs
  • Fixed fee of € 2,000.00 + VAT (if due) in advance, for initial set-up and research.
  • Variable amount for specific additional material (photos, documents, objects, etc.).
  • Success fee: this fee is applicable when the car has no known history (especially sports). We propose a success fee in advance if the result of our research confers significant value on the car (such as, for example, a participation in a Mille Miglia). Clearly no success fee is applied when the story is already “known” and the facts are only confirmed or validated by our research.
Negative outcome:
  • If no history is found,
  • If the car, unfortunately, is found not to be authentic, the fixed fee of € 2,000.00 + VAT (if due) will not be refunded. In this case, the car is obviously not counted among the Automotive Masterpieces and a report is drawn up to motivate the conclusions.

Renewal of the researches & the website
2 options for further “Research & Updates”:
  • Ongoing. 1 year from the publication of the site: for an annual fee of € 150.00 + VAT (if due), we maintain the site and continue our research, continuing to send reports. To reactivate historical research, the fee is calculated for all the years of non-renewal. The car will be published as "Research & Updates - Ongoing" but please note.: the client, if they have new material such as photos (with rights), reports of events, press reviews, news, etc. that they wish to add to the site, should send them to us in order to keep the history of the car up to date.
  • Standby. If, after 1 year, the client opts not to continue to maintain the site, it is ”frozen” and placed in "Research & Updates - Standby" state. This is necessary since, sadly, we do not have the resources necessary to dedicate to maintaining sites placed in “Standby”.