I hate to admit it but I was the previous buyer.
eBay didn't give much room to tell the story but it is, and was, definitely fraud. The car is a steaming pile. I bid on the car based on the pictures, and that's where the fraud comes in. The pictures are very old. The thief that listed the car kept talking about having the car for 14 years so I'm guessing the pictures are 14 years old. The car is not as represented. Apparently over the years the car was hit in the driver's side front and repaired poorly. The front bumper is pushed over to the passengers side about an inch and a half. The entire front of the car is pushed over, it needs to be put on a frame machine. The passengers side door hinges are worn or broken, the door pops down when it's opened. The latch that opened the engine cover is broken and has been replaced with a loop of cable. It appears someone pried the engine cover open when the latch broke, because it's bent badly. Overall the car has a bad rattle can paint job and the fender flares are sculpted Bondo. What's under the Bondo is anyone's guess, rust perhaps? The interior is much worse than the pictures show, it's as if it's had at least 14 years more abuse and neglect than the interior in the pictures.
This car might be a decent rat rod, maybe. It is better suited to be entered into the Concourse de Lemons. It's that bad.
If you are interested in bidding on the car I urge you to inspect it BEFORE you bid. In my opinion the car isn't worth the $500 deposit. I'm guessing the next buyer will also loose their $500 deposit too. That's probably just fine with the thief. I'm thinking the theif is hoping the new high bidder will not inspect the car, and have it shipped. If they do, they will NOT be happy when it's delivered.
So far neither PayPal or eBay is concerned about the fraud. I hope the authorities in Euclid and Ohio are more interested, we'll see.
For me it was a hard lesson learned - Inspect in person, or pay someone to inspect it for you, before you bid. There are plenty of crooks out there that will steal your money. At least I didn't loose more than my deposit (and a 16 hr round trip drive! At least, I was able to buy gas at $1.16 a gallon.).
If anyone here has placed a bid on the car please PM me. You might be interested in knowing how my efforts to stop this fraud are progressing.