[njsteve]

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Put what this car was represented as aside please. What I am talking about here is JUST the car itself. I saw a few posts earlier that someone said the car should be DESTROYED (Les Quam i believe it was). If the vins were never "stolen" and 2 cars were purchased legally and the vin and hidden numbers were switched to SAVE a very rare set of numbers, then I don't see what the difference is between saving a car with 95% of the metal needing to be replaced and one that is completely solid and had a rare set of numbers put on it from a very rusty body to save a piece of GM history.

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Fast67VelleN20,

The difference plain and simple is that IT IS A FELONY, period, end of story. It doesn't matter what your altruistic reasons are, for example, that you are saving the only one of its kind, or you had a 6 cyl perfect body and the original body was too rusty to save, etc. The law has no loophole for restorations. (-if you want that loophole, call your congressman and lobby for it. Maybe we can then call them "Restoration Bodies" to go along with the "Restoration Engines" already out there)

Your opinion doesn't matter in criminal court.

If you take the VIN from one body and put it on another IT IS A FELONY. If you sell, buy, trade a VIN tag IT IS A FELONY. (I know I am beginning to sound like Jeff Foxworthy here...You might be a felon if...)

The VIN dies with the car. There is no reincarnation with VIN plates. There is no transplantation with VINs. There is no Hindu caste system with VINs that elevates one from a Z/28 to a higher Karmic level than one from a 6 cyl coupe.

O.J. didn't think it was robbery and kidnapping to bring a bunch of thugs with guns into a hotel room and order people around and take their property. But guess what, robbery and kidnapping are still felonies regardless of your personal beliefs.

Here's an analogy.

Jon Smith thinks that money should be free to take from a bank because it's just paper. Jon Smith doesn't have a bank account at the First Savings & Loan. Jon Smith legally owns a gun. Jon Smith walks into the First Savings & Loan with a gun and takes $125,000 from the teller. Since Jon Smith doesn't believe it should be a crime, did a crime actually occur?

Yes, because it's still a felony regardless of what Jon Smith believes.

Cars with swapped VINs are considered contraband under the law and are seized 99% of the time. They cannot be returned to the open market and are either used as law enforcement vehicles or scrapped. There is no replacement VINs issued by the federal government. And it is very rare that a state will issue a new identification number for the car and let it go back out - too many liability issues.