National Treasure Seized in Seattle
By Nigel Matthews
Imagine how proud you would be if your car was declared a national treasure. You would likely be less than thrilled if the government then removed it from your garage and returned it whence it came.
That’s exactly what happened to Seattle classic-car collector Charles Morse recently when the U.S. government seized his 1919 Turcat-Mery and returned it to France.
Duc de Montpensier, the last descendant of the French Bourbon dynasty, once owned the very rare roadster. He died in 1924 and his wife inherited his royal estate, which included a chateau in Randan, France.
In 1991, the French government deemed the entire estate a French national treasure since it contained “goods of public historic interest.” According to the French Code du Patrimoine, (the Heritage Act) this designation prevents the export of any part of the estate.
Nevertheless, in 2004, a relative sold the roadster to a dealer in the Netherlands. In July 2005, Morse says he purchased it for $927,518 and exported it to his home in Seattle.
In 2008, it went up for auction at Pebble Beach. Auctioneers Gooding & Co., likely aware of the French government’s interest in the car, dropped it from the catalogue.
Three months later, the U.S. government filed a civil forfeiture complaint for the vehicle. The subsequent investigation concluded it was a ‘historical monument’ and its removal from France was illegal so it was returned to France.
Morse retains ownership as long as it is kept in France and he must inform any potential buyer of the car’s historic significance.
The case aroused my curiosity as to what would happen here in similar circumstances. I talked to Mike Fairburn, one of the principals of RM Auctions, the world’s leading classic-car auction house.
Fairburn told me: “We do not question the involvement of both governments and agree that if the shoe was on the other foot we would whole-heartedly agree with protecting similar Canadian heritage artifacts.”
In early 2007, there was a similar situation involving the oldest Ford Motor car in Canada, a 1904 Model C built in Windsor, Ont.
When it was sold to a U.S. collector, Heritage Canada stepped in and got an injunction preventing the car from leaving the country, having deemed it a “cultural artifact.” However, it seems the car was just driven across the border to Florida.
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