[dataway]

I have the feeling there was more to this story. Some of these state police garages are VERY good at their job. Combine a re-attached legit VIN tag, with another identifying chassis number that shows as stolen ... and you have what could easily be a complete stolen car with re-attached VIN tag from some totaled car.

For instance supposed you have a 68 GTO with a re-attached tag that seems legit, but has frame numbers, trans, engine numbers that all match and point to a stolen vehicle?

I'd bet in the story above it was NOT just a technical issue with the VIN that caused the problem. There very well could have been other identifying factors that pointed to a stolen car under the tag. Even original owner engraved numbers in a hidden location, specific serial numbered part used etc. Lots of owners have many detailed records on their rare cars other than just the VIN, and that info goes into the police report when the car is stolen and is entered into the databases.