[John V.]

Keep in mind, it was also a bummer when the original Owner/victim discovered his car was stolen when it was still new. And worse if it was not insured.

Like that '68 Corvette and other cars less publicized, if the car was uninsured, yes, it would be returned to the original Owner/victim. The current Owner gets nothing, although would have recourse to whomever sold him the car, but somebody will be left holding the bag.

If an insurance claim for loss was paid out, it is legally owned (still today) by the Insurance Co. In that case, most likely, a simple settlement would allow the current Owner to retain possession. Ins. Cos. are not in the Collector Car biz, so generally they would look to sort it out with no need to give up the car. Not a guarantee and if we were talking about a '33 Duesenberg, they might not be so quick to relinquish their rights to the car!

The other part in this, even if the original VIN is found and even if you were 100% certain the car had been stolen and the VIN tag swapped (which seems pretty certain here), it will still be a tough task to find anybody interested in pursuing the "cold case". The Corvette was an exception and it took way too many man-hrs and some luck to sort it out. So even if you wanted to learn more about the theft and the original Owner, that task may prove impossible.

But discovering the original VIN will make it possible to obtain the PHS doc for the car and that alone will be worth the effort.

[INJUNTOM]

Originally Posted by John V.

But discovering the original VIN will make it possible to obtain the PHS doc for the car and that alone will be worth the effort.

I would be all over that for sure.

Another scenario for putting a lesser VIN on the car is simply just to get out of paying high DMV back fees if the car had sat for several years. I've also seen people go to extreme measures with a car when maybe it didn't have to be so bad. I remember Ron Landis parting out a '69 GTO that was out of the DMV computer and apparently in his state they won't let you put it back on the road. Not a problem here in CA. It could have easily been tagged here or another state and then registered there, or just simply sold to someone in one of those states. Back in the day someone may have thought to slap a LeMans VIN tag on it.

[BiLL32137]

Well I spent quite a while searching my car for additional numbers. I couldn't find anything anywhere. Checked the door jambs and the frame as best I could without actually lifting the body off the frame. I also did a lot of thinking and decided to stay on course with my original plans to build my strip/street dream machine. My apologies to everyone anxiously waiting for the outcome of this possible rare find. I am gonna sleep best at night assuming the wood was just an aftermarket applique. Since I have no intentions on selling the car anytime soon, I guess it is what it is. Thanks to everyone for the history lesson and the advice!

The dash is still available and I am contacting everyone in the order I received their email's.

Thanks
Bill

[BiLL32137]

Bump!

I had 2-3 people who wanted this dash! Now nobody wants it? What happened?

[3 Deuce 64]

Keith mentioned the other GTO that is currently being discussed. Same story on that car. And it is unlikely that you could detect the VIN tag swap. As I said about that car, this was not amateur hour stuff. The thieves were pros, would have used the proper rivets, the tag swap would have been undetectable and they knew how to go about getting clean paperwork so that the car could be sold without any question. Chances are the buyer thought he was just buying a used car, had no idea it had been previously stolen. By the time the car had changed hands a couple times, it was just another used car

John just a thought a 64 vin wasn't riveted in it was spot welded so if bills vin is riveted it's a sure sign of a switch Don

[BiLL32137]

Sold!

Thanks again PY!