Lynn,
I agree with you 110%. I can't fathom why someone would lay down $40K for a car on ebay without actually looking at the car, or having an informed person look at it for him. I've had a few contacts from long time, experienced "Corvette" people who decided to acquire a 409 car. Absolutely contrary to the level of detail and research they're used to in the Corvette hobby, they blindly ran out and bought a poorly done clone..........THEN asked me to document the car! Makes no sense to me.....but..
As for the '63 in question, the car was offered for sale in Fla. in Dec. '90 At that time the cowl tag read:
12E
63-1867 JA 3046
831-1-Z 914 (blue vinyl convertible buckets) (Monaco Blue paint)
F C Q Y
The cowl tag now reads:
12E
63-1867 JA 3046
862-1-Z 932 (Saddle vinyl convertible buckets) (Saddle Tan paint)
F C Q Y
Everything is the same except for the paint & trim codes. The VIN is also the same. There can't be two cars from the same plant with the same sequencial body number. At that time the car had a 425hp 409 and 4-spd. The engine was cast A2262 (Jan 22nd '62) and assembled T0202QB (Feb. 2nd, coded as 425hp). The body was built the 5th week of Dec. '62 and I calculated the VIN to a final asembly date of 12/31/62, therefore the engine could not be original.
It really saddens me to see such things going on in "my" hobby. And I couldn't feel worse for a guy who remembers a car from his past, saves his money and finally dumps his savings to buy the car of his dreams....only to find out later that it's not real.
When the cowl tag is changed to reflect the changes made to the car, well.....that's a line that should never be crossed, in my opinion. The cowl tag is the birth certificate of the car.
OK, I'll get off my soapbox.......
Verne