Who has the original VIN placard from a Coupe they've owned?

T

tomcolitt

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...and would like to sell it to me. I also need the front/ engine bay wiring harness from the fuse box forward for an early 3.0CS/ US spec

Thanks, Tom
 
A friend bought a fake social security card in LA, maybe they also make fake VINs.
 
Arde said:
Interesting. I assume they are blank and you print any number you want, right?
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Correct! These would drive the MOPAR crowd out of their mind! {:>) I see no problem with them as long a they match the # stamped in the body near them?!!?!? Makes for a cleaner restoration IMHO.
 
The placards from BMW unfortunately aren't quite accurate...

I am looking for the complete VIN and title from any state) to go with a Coupe that my insurance company totaled only because it had an engine fire. Obviously I'm restoring the car to better condition than it was before the fire and a salvaged title would be a bit of a diminishment in value. That's why I'd like to do what the hot rod guys do, which is use a VIN from a car that has gone to heaven and resurrect it in another earthly body :-)...

Actually, now that I think about it, just an un-salvaged VIN plate or just a clean title could work too, but it would be nice to have the VIN plate to go with it as well, since yes. I do like the correct look on this car as well.
 
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Be Aware ... the Department of Justice [DOJ] for the State of California and other states are coming down hard on that tactic. Judges are ruling against shops that pull that stunt.
People are losing their cars too.


Rare Shelby Mustang tied up in legal fight between insurer ...
www.denverpost.com/search/ci_15143560‎
The Denver Post
May 23, 2010 - A candy-apple red 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 is at the center of an ... a state trooper ran the car's vehicle identification number through the ... The insurance company then filed a lawsuit against him in Douglas County.

Australian couple ordered to repay $108,000 for selling fake ...
blog.hemmings.com/.../australian-couple-ordered...‎
Hemmings Motor News
Jun 12, 2012 - According to the lawsuit that Sammut brought against the couple, they had bought the car ..... I guess SAVING a Shelby VIN from a rusted hulk before scrapping is Illegal?? or the TV .... impression this was a state/local court and they were settling it on the merits of the case.
 
I have one, i might sell it for the difference in price of which you speak;-) Seriously tho, I would be seriously pissed if i bought a car like that. Personally, I like legit salvage cars that are properly fixed with lots of expensive new parts.
The moral and technical ins and outs of this would make a lively discussion.

tomcolitt said:
a salvaged title would be a bit of a diminishment in value. That's why .
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True. I see that is isn't legal. I also don't have front license plates on my Coupe either and many people tell the DMV that they paid less than they actually did for a car when it come time to title their car, so it might be a bit righteous (nobody specifically) to hear that what I wanted to do is "immoral". This is a car that had a clean title until a month ago, sustained minor damage and will be much better than before once it's done. I have also owned such a car for decades (it turns out, it must have had it's identity changed sometime in the 70s- probably a theft) and it's one of the cleanest cars I own. It's not like it's an original Shelby or such and in that case you'd probably want to keep the original VIN despite the salvage title. This Coupe would be going from one Coupe to another Coupe's VIN and in my eyes wouldn't really change anything except right a wrong in the way the law is enacted...
Had the car been insured for $5000 more we wouldn't be having this discussion because it wouldn't have been salvaged.
 
Will you be disclosing the fact that you switched the vin numbers to the new potential buyer when the time comes to sell and let them know the car did at one point have a salvage title?
I agree with most of what you said regarding items like not having license plates but that does not hurt an individual directly where this at some point will be hurting the new buyer personally and maybe financially.
 
Well the VIN placard should have room for two VINs so one could express:

"2251552 nee 2341212"
 
tomcolitt said:
I am looking for the complete VIN and title from any state) to go with a Coupe that my insurance company totaled only because it had an engine fire. Obviously I'm restoring the car to better condition than it was before the fire and a salvaged title would be a bit of a diminishment in value. That's why I'd like to do what the hot rod guys do, which is use a VIN from a car that has gone to heaven and resurrect it in another earthly body :-)...

Actually, now that I think about it, just an un-salvaged VIN plate or just a clean title could work too, but it would be nice to have the VIN plate to go with it as well, since yes. I do like the correct look on this car as well.
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Like Verde2002 said above, I'd be seriously pissed if I unwittingly ended up with this car. Since you imply that you're not doing it to "clean the title" prior to a sale, then why are you doing it? The salvage title doesn't diminish your driving enjoyment, does it?
 
I don't think I implied that at all. The reason for doing this is because the car's value was, through a law that I believe was intended to prevent theft and severely compromised vehicles from being sold as undamaged. But where do you draw the line. 20 years ago a Coupe would have gotten a salvage title for having a fender replaced. Today, it get's one for maybe being stripped or catching on fire and put together with better parts than it had before. How many people here have completely taken their cars apart and reassembled them without diminishing the value or getting a salvage title from the government? Do you all advise a buyer that you car has had a new engine with the wrong number installed, unless it is a car of high pedigree? How many people have taken a part of one car they own or even 2/3rds of another and put them together into one car? Which VIN number more accurately represents which car ends up driving on the road afterwards? I could see that telling the new owner about the VIN switch would be fair, but I don't see how the new owner would be negatively impacted unless they paid for a car with the highest pedigree (some might even argue that he would be happier if he didn't know the VIN number was that of the car that donated it's parts to the original car and not of the shell of the original body). And for that matter, how about welding in completely new panels off of existing Coupes with a different part number or even no VIN numbers at all? The list of possible combinations of parts and components and numbers could be extensive and if the buyer is looking for a car that doesn't have any alteration, then he would certainly ask and if he bought it from a quite honest person like me (as opposed to a car dealer), he'd even get an honest answer.

Here in CA the title doesn't even tell you how many previous owners a car had, like in many other places and that is something that would impact the value more than having a car with a clean title with one generic 3.0CS VIN or another. Many of the points some of you are raising are valid, but please reserve the judgment. I'll take it up with the Coupe gods in the afterlife and if they don't want open the hood for me, then I'll have to roam the factory halls of 1960 Karmann forever after ;-)....
 
Fascinating.

Where does the soul of a car lie, and what constitutes virginity. When the law is insufficient and science has no answers culture fills the vacuum with axioms.

I use the chain model, the car is the same car as long as its evolution was a chain of small changes with continuity of identity and operation at all times. Just like me, how many original water molecules are in me since birth? None, but I must insist I am the same one, often to my parent's chagrin.
 
so a fellow went to sell the hatchet that George Washington used to chop down the famous
Cherry Tree. He was quizzed about the initials "GW" on the handle- Are those really his intials?
No- they wore off so we had them duplicated. Then he was asked- Is that the real original handle? No- that rotted away, we replaced it with new one. And then he was asked- Is that the original blade? No that rusted away so we had a copy made.......

I don't care about the chain of events, an item is either real or not.

At my age I don't work on cars with fictitious vins. God help you if you get involved with one that gets shipped across a state line.
 
Question?

Seeing that there are legitimate views more-or-less on both sides would it be possible to either work with the insurance company or the DMV to figure a way to come up with a "clean" title? Maybe there is another category or a special title for vintage/resurrected cars.. Just thinking. If so, we would solve problems for many instead of creating a potential one.
 
hey tom, sorry, didnt mean to sound righteous or passing judgement. I have expensive radar equipment and regularly pin my speedo(and I dont mean repair)(when it works) among many other crimes;-).

I just meant the 'discussion' of the moral and technical issues would be interesting. Did NOT mean to point any finger at you! Apologies for any offence.

Like I said, I like buying salvage cars that have expensive rebuilds, as long as its been disclosed. There are all kinds of circumstances, if you are standing in front of me looking at a used part, I might point out the good points, when selling buyer unseen on ebay I have to point out the bad points.

And I agree the salvage laws are generally kind of silly and should be improved.

Here in Manitoba, if a mouse chews through one wire on your new mercedes the car is written off because of the fear of, is it lymes disease?, you get from mouse ****. Than the car goes to a mouse **** certifier and has a salvage title.

I recently bought a car sight unseen from a guy who lied through his teeth about the history of the car and spent a ton of money on it covering up damages. When I saw it, i could see his cover ups and paid the remainder owing. I couldnt decide whether he was stupid for lying or stupid for dumping all that money in it and losing sight of the real value of parts, labor and the car. I am sure he spent at least twice what the car was worth to cover up his BS and than sold it for half what it was worth. He was so concerned with covering his tracks he lost perspective. I digress. peace out
 
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