SEATTLE (AP) _ The U.S. government wants to seize Charles Morse’s car, because the French government considers it a national treasure.
The Seattle car collector says he would be willing to turn the car over, but he wants to be reimbursed the $927,518 he paid for the one-of-a-kind 1919 Turcat-Mery touring car.
“It’s a one-off automobile with a wonderful history to it. It was built for the Duc de Montpensier, an heir to the French throne,” Morse told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
The Duc de Montpensier was a descendant of the Orleans branch of the Bourbon family, which reigned in France from 1589 to 1848 and owned the French castle of Randan in Puy-de-dome.
He had the vehicle customized on the Turcat Chassis by Henri Rougier, a famous cyclist and race car driver. When he died in 1924 without children, his wife inherited the Turcat. She remarried, and the elegant, silver and tan car was passed down through the generations until 1991, when the French government classified the royal estate at the Randan castle, including the car, as historical monuments.
U.S. authorities say the historical classification forbid the export of the Turcat, which changed hands in Europe several times before it was purchased by Morse.
The vehicle was exported to Morse from a company in the Netherlands, according to an affidavit written by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rich Cohen and Agent Thomas Penn of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In July 2005, the Turcat arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in a 20-foot container from Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, according to customs paperwork that lists the vehicle’s country of origin as the Netherlands and a value of $420,000.
A few weeks later, Morse showed the car at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California, where it took top honors in its class.
The affidavit by Cohen and Penn says a letter from French officials sparked the investigation into the car’s provenance. Daniele Deal, the French deputy director of historical monuments, wrote to U.S. immigration officials in February saying that the French minister of culture considered the export and sale of the Turcat a violation of French law on heritage and national treasure.
Morse said Monday that J. Braam Ruben of Find Automobiles in Utrecht, Netherlands, who sold him the vehicle, said he did not know the car was protected as a French national treasure.
“They insisted that they didn’t know,” Morse said. “But they are in the business, and they should have known.”
Cohen filed a court complaint for forfeiture of the Turcat last week. The U.S. government says the vehicle can be seized because of alleged false statements in the customs documents concerning its value and its country of origin. Morse is resigned to the Turcat’s ultimate return to France, but he’s still hoping to be paid.
“I don’t want them to just steal it,” Morse said. “Our communications have been with the Ministry of Culture in France. They’ve said they would buy it.
Information from: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://www.seattle-pi.com/
AP-WS-12-31-08 1644EST
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