<VV> VIN Numbers

[James P. Rice]

Ah yes.  Old cars and VIN numbers.

Roy said: "Also, on the VIN number topic, it is not uncommon to "re-body"
race cars. Are all these race cars now frauds?"
JPR: No.  They are race cars.

Roy said:  We also routinely swap out engines, transmissions, rear ends,
front & rear suspensions, interiors, etc., etc. We can actually "change" out
all the parts, so where does the original car become a fake?
JPR:  Fake?  Never.  Using you implied definition of fake, you would call a
fellow human being with a heart transplant, or any number of other
transplants or joint replacements, a fake human being.  My wife of 42 years
has had her cataracts replaced.  Is she a fake human being.  Not last time I
checked.  Fake meads "make something seen real by deception; a fraud;
counterfeit; sham; false artificial."  A rebodied/renumbered car is still a
car.  No original as delivered?  Yes.  Fake?  No.  Fraud?  Depends what
story the seller tells, but it is still a real car without, in most cases,
substantual value as anything other than a means of getting from here to
there.  Fake and fraud are related, sometimes used interchangeably, but are
two different things.

Jake said: "Offered in one of the Corvette publications a number of years
ago was the following that supposedly happened.  A vintage race car was in a
bad accident, one guy bought the drive train, another bought the body and
the third guy bought the frame. All three guys restore the car back to
original condition. The question is, who owns the actual vintage race car?
And the answer is, the guy with the paper work, which in this case also
included the log book."
JPR:  First, a logbook is not required in any vintage race sanctioning body
so far as I know.  Vintage mostly means old looking in the context of
vintage racing.  There are more Loyus 23's around today than Colin Chapman
ever made.  All racing without question someplace.
Second, there are multiple stories like this.  I know about a case in
England where a D-Type (or maybe it was a E-Type) Jag with significant race
history was really badly wrecked.  One guy bought the chassis, another the
drive train, both new owners reconstructed/resurrected the remains, followed
by claims of originality.  Conflict followed.  It was resolved because one
guy had the funds to buy out the other.  Put original drive train into the
original chassis.  Don't know what he did with the left over chassis and
drive train.   I believe in England what we know as license plates are
assigned to a car for life.  There was a Lister-Jag, (a late 50's race car
for the uninformed) suitably registered which was crashed.  Parts sold in
England and France.  Both restored/resurrected.  Lawyers and courts in two
country's got involved.  Don't know how or if it was resolved.  In Italy a
number of years ago, there were some misc original 50's Maserati
sports-racing car parts laying about.  Chassis's built to original specs
were built, but the Italian courts somehow got involved.  Ultimately the
recreation/resurrected cars, including the original parts were crushed.
Ouch!!

But in each of these cases, we are talking about rare cars or those with
significant race history, but not, how shall I say this, some plan jane mass
produced street car.  Which all Corvairs actually are, with a few
exceptions.  Remember, "historical value" depends on one's value of history.

Jake said:  I think the idea of fraud comes into play when the INTENT is to
cheat a future owner by misrepresenting the actual article.
JPR:  I agree, whatever "actual article" means to the seller and buyer.
Best to tell the truth as best you understand it.  And sell the car "as is,
where is" with no claims to much of anything else.  Mostly, it is what it
is: a car.

Historically Yours,
                   James Rice
                   CORSA member since mid-70's
                   Former Chairman of the Competition Committee
                   Member of original CPF Advisor Committee
                   CORSA/CPF BoD member and CPF Liaison 1999-01
                   Occasional contributor to the Communique