310 ?

It all ended up being academic.

Blueyonder network was down when I came to check up on the bid near closing time

Anyway it went for over £1000, which is more realistic perhaps but NOT what I was willing to go for a bunch of unknown bits of dubious legality and an engine covered in body-filler dust !!!!

Thansk for all the offers of assistance guys.

the guy can sell it as he has described above, all you have to do is apply for a log book and the dvla will send you one if the previous keeper doesn't reply in 14 days you get your logbook and voila it's yours

get a bill of sale from the vendor and have in writing a guarentee that if the V5 application is refused he will refund your money in full, he will give it to you without any hesitation if he's confident he's the owner, or get him to apply for the V5 himself and once he has it he can legally sell it on.

Voila!

Not technically true. The DVLA can issue you with a new logbook but that doesn't mean you have legal claim to the vehicle. The DVLA are only concerned with the registered keeper (who may not actually have legal ownership of the vehicle).
I'm actually going through the process with a '92 Renno 19 16v Convertible I'm trying to get at the moment. A customer left at a dealership 2 1/2 years ago and didn't pay their bill, then came back last year to pay the bill and collect the car, but were hit with a parking bill of £2000 and then left it again and they haven't returned or contacted the dealership since. My solicitor has told me that to get legal ownership of the vehicle there has to be a claim lodged with the small claims court and be judged in the dealership's favour. When the defendant doesn't pay the claim the car can then be legally transfered to the dealership as part recompense for the claim, and they can then sell the car on. If this doesn't happen then the original owner still has legal title.