There was a legal battle over a Bentley a few years ago. It had a good racing history and as a result it had been rebuilt, parts changed etc as a consequence of the normal racing repair and maintenance.The woman who bought it subsequently tried claiming a mis-selling as she thought the “originality” described was untrue due to many replacements , including engine. She lost her case in the High Court as the changes were documented and were the norm for a racing car.
Also, on a Chasing Classic Cars episode at a Pebble Beach auction the US authorities stepped in to inspect the cars, looking for true originality. VIN plates was a big cause of concern as they weren’t accepting new replacement plates or even newly riveted on original plates! They were looking for fake cars. I think some cars were removed from auction pending more verification and others sold with a caveat of non original plates/rivets being recorded.
