[MultiMopars]

Boy, it is very obvious from this short thread that it is in the eye of the beholder. With words like "intent" and comments like "if the tags are removed and replaced on the same portion of the original body," "all the metal was replaced on the original car" etc. it is clear that it depends on what people can live with in their own minds.

This arguement has been raging throughout the old car hobby for many years now. What many don't know is that reboding has been going on since the 30s when the high end cars such as Duesenbergs were often "rebodied" with a completely different model body on an existing frame simply to satisfy the customers desire. It was done at the factory, the dealer, or any garage capable of doing it. It has been accepted in the antique hobby on these cars for years. Why then is it suddenly so important in the muscle car venue when someone modifies/takes parts from/restores/re-tags a basic factory model that comes down the assembly line and has different items added to it to build what the V.I.N. or trim tag shows it to be? Note that the word "restores" obviously means many different things to many different people.

Here is a copy and past from another web site from years ago that is speaking of unibody cars on the subject but it's basis certainly applies to all old muscle cars in the hobby.


Most feel the real problem is that there is no definition of where the line is with regards to the restoration of a unibody car.

At what point does the car cross the line from what has been described above as a restoration rather than a rebody?

How much of the original unibody has to be left for new, reproduction, or good used parts to be attached to?

How big of a CHUNK of a donor car can you use in this restoration before it is considered a rebody?

Does the simple act of removing the V.I.N. plate from one car or part of the car constitute a rebody?

What about removing the V.I.N. plate because the part of the car that it is attached to is damaged? Does this constitute a rebody?

Does a car that was front or rear "clipped" by a bodyshop 30+ years ago constitute a partial rebody?

If a car was first FRONT clipped and a year later REAR clipped, does this constitute a complete rebody?

All good questions with no answers that probably any two people will agree on.

This is why so many people have mixed feeling about the restoration/rebody arguement.