[James Ball]

Have you ever been to view a car and then had the seller refuse not only to let you drive it, but even to drive it himself?

I viewed a 74 Carrera 2.7 yesterday which the current owner has restored over 12 years and which he has tried to sell twice, both times the prospective buyer pulled out after months of negotiation. This has made him understandably sceptical about prospective buyers. However, after talking about the car, showing me round the car and answering questions on the car for about 2 hours, which included starting and revving the engine, the owner refused to take it out for a drive. Instead he asked me to "go away and think about it" and then to come back, take another look and take it for a drive then. Now while it is only a 90 minute round tripto see the car I still feel this is a little unusual, but I can't for the life of me see what he would have to gain, other than buy a little time to fix a problem he knows of. The driving issue is also complicated by the fact that the engine has not yet been run in following a top-end rebuild including new rings.

I guess I have 2 questions:

1) How worried should I be about his reluctance to take the car on the road?

2) How can you buy a car with an engine that can't be taken to more than 3000 revs under load? Would this not make it impossible to assess accurately the egine?

Cheers
James