The Dart that was auctioned use to belong to a guy who lives in Florida, He actually owned two, the one you see on this thread and the old Ted Sphere D/Dart. Here's a link to a site that he frequents. He knows the history of the car depicted here. Apparently from what he told me he sold the car to the guy with the original engine on a pallet. He kept some parts for his other D dart. If I can remember correctly he made the mods you see on the car, M/C, water pump etc. to drive the car on the street. He's pretty knowledgeable about these cars. I'm not sure if he or the current owner had GG inspect the car. The guy who bought this car probably had plans to flip it and make some bucks. I'll bet the reserve was way more than the 40K. I think it was last month the guy from Florida said the car was going to be auctioned. Anyway, here's the site.
http://www.seriousviewers.com/D-Dart/ddart.htm