Posted by Sam Mangano (IP: 209.71.89.192) on December 03, 2000 at 14:40:24:
In Reply to: VIN numbers posted by Craig Selvey on December 02, 2000 at 20:09:39:
Ok, here's my 2 cents. In no way do I condone fraud, deception or thievery. Having said that though, think about many of the "restorations" we all have done and how much of the original car remains afterward. Case in point, I took a plain 2-door Comet and made it into a fuel-injected hybrid with a Maverick front end. When I take into account everything that was replaced on the car (entire drivetrain, fenders, doors, trunklid, bumpers, grille, seats, dash, factory A/C, etc.) not much of what rolled off the assembly line remains besides the unit body. Some of you are now probably asking yourselves what my point is. Simply stated, what's the difference between changing all the parts or changing the VIN? As long as one car gave it's life for another, is there really any difference? If a person spends the time and money building a car to match a factory Grabber, then why shouldn't he seek to make it whole by having the numbers reflect what it has come to be? After all, why do we pull our hair out looking for those rare Grabber parts anyway? To put them on our cars of course. And then what? Well, after we replace enough parts, does the original car still exist or does it become what we make it?
I don't know that using what's left of the identity of a car destined for the crusher is much of an issue unless one was trying to re-create a car with some sort of famous history and then endeavoring to capitalize on it. Even then, think about some of the legitimately "famous" cars that have been found literally in pieces rusting away under a tree somewhere. Many times the only thing that remains is a shell. The only reason that they ever get restored in the first place is because of the little metal plate below the door striker. So here we have an authentic frame and data plate "restored" with 95% new reproduction parts made years after the car. So is this really an authentic car just because of the data plate? Many would say it is. But if you do it the other way around, it's considered a crime. Go figure.