A Lifelong Love of Classic Cars Fuels Dennis Mitosinka’s Success as an Appraiser Who’s Lent His Expertise to the FBI

Dennis Mitosinka has turned his love affair with cars into an expertise that has been used by law enforcement agencies, insurance companies and other car buffs.

He owns Dennis Mitosinka’s Classic Car and Appraisal Service, inside a 72-year-old building on 4th Street that is crowded with rare and expensive showroom classics.

The 40 cars include a 1939 La-Salle, a nearly extinct American collectible.

But Mitosinka’s personal favorite is a grayish-white 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1, one of only six built that year in Massachusetts. The car, worth about $250,000, has been driven in movies by Elvis Presley, James Garner and Elke Sommer, Mitosinka said.

His interest in cars began when he was growing up in the Bay Area town of Antioch. “My dad was a mechanic, working mostly on Fords. Living in a small town, it was easy then to go out in the weeds and find a Model A or T, fix it up and drive it to school.

“I’ve been around cars almost all of my life,” said Mitosinka, 50.

He is currently restoring a black 1949 Ford convertible that he purchased from its original owners, an Anaheim couple. The car, which has 1940s-style wide whitewall tires, is powered by a cast-iron V-8 engine.

“This car is almost 50 years old and has never been driven out of Orange County. I’m still working on the top, and I’ll be driving it around soon,” he said.

Mitosinka, a former manager at the old Movie World Cars of Stars in Buena Park, said his business as an appraiser allows him to buy the cars he collects.

His reputation as an appraiser has kept Mitosinka busy.

He has been hired as an expert witness by the FBI in criminal fraud cases and has done appraisals for the State Board of Equalization, Department of Motor Vehicles, banks and insurance companies, he said.

In 1990, Mitosinka was hired by Southern California Edison, which was being sued by a Los Angeles County man who said he lost a $1.3-million DKW Monza in a fire caused by the utility’s arcing power lines.

Mitosinka said he proved the vehicle was worth only $3,500, and the man settled.

In another case, Lloyds of London offered a customer $30,000 for the loss of his Aston-Martin. According to Mitosinka, he was hired by the car owner to appraise the true value of the car and Lloyds was forced to settle for $70,000.

His fee can sometimes run thousands of dollars.

“I do appraisals that start at $100. There have also been occasions when I’ve appraised one vehicle and done a 700- to 800-page report for $15,000. It all depends on what the client wants,” Mitosinka said.

Mitosinka’s sentimental favorite is a red metal racer tucked away in a case near his desk. The toy car, manufactured in the 1920s, was owned by his father when he was a child growing up in that era.

“This is the only toy I have that belonged to my dad when he was a kid. It’s priceless,” he said.

“He left me some unusual items, including some never-used Ford spark plugs from 1932, which are still in the boxes they were sold in.”