Is this a rebody?

[LS6 RAT]

I believe the original posters question, is this a rebody? I would answer this as being pretty damn close! A collectible vehicle with that much extensive structural damage wouldn't have much appeal or value in my opinion.

[JoeG]

How 'bout ... rebody*......

[njsteve]

As I said before, the originally proposed project would not be a rebody under the Federal motor vehicle VIN statutes.

That means the guy doing it and the guy ownng it are not at risk of being arrested/prosecuted, and/or having the car seized as contraband in the way a VIN tag swap would most certainly be.

Otherwise this "rebody" argument will end up being more like the "survivor" term argument - everybody has their own opinion on an esoteric discussion topic with no true answer.

Some people just don't seem to get it: if you take the VIN tag off of one body and put it on another body, IT IS A FELONY. It doesn't matter what your reason was, (restoration as compared to auto theft) - it still gets covered under the Federal chop-shop statutes. There is no restoration exemption.

[iluv69s]

Just for arguments sake, I'd like to mention a 70 or 71 Cuda that I remember helping my cousin work on in his small body shop back in the 80's....It was his own car.He had this original 318 car that had a CUDA hood but was really nice. It was stolen and when he got it back from the police the next week it had been stripped bare and was left on a train track and hit by a train...The rear of the car was wasted and the roof and floor was buckled..and the whole car was basically a bare shell...but this was his Dad's car originally and he was going to fix it. Sure enough, he cut the car to basically the same condition as this Camaro...with only the very front bird cage and cowl/dash and door jambs....he bought"another whole car"..as the parts were not even available back then. And I guess he did not remove the numbers from the original car...but he did use another car and fixed "his" car..or did he piece in the numbers from his car into another car???

My point is, if this Camaro was fixed using another car would it be a rebody??....I understand how the law is written, but I think any judge would understand if a person bought both cars to save one...the law should be based on bad intention..or fraud...If you save all of the original car that can be saved..even if it is just a small portion....you did not re-body the car...(of course it must have the part with the VIN) in my opinion....

[camaro41701]

I usually just step in and read on this forum.But,this topic seems to come up a lot on different forums.So I have a question on this.If I jig my car up so everything can be replaced,jig the hidden #'s,serial #,and cowl tag,then cut around each 2-3 inches and replace everything else what would be the difference?Numbers have not been moved and still attached to some of the original metal.I know this extreme.But not much different than shown.

[Jim Ferron]

Of course this is a rebody...

[x Baldwin Motion]

[ QUOTE ]
Of course this is a rebody...

[/ QUOTE ]



Lets see what you are starting with, it looks like a firewall with numbers. So, all you need to do is attach a body. Not a rebody? There is NO CAR IN THIS PICTURE!!!

Just pointing out the irony of the law and what some consider not a rebody... JMHO

[firstgenaddict]

[ QUOTE ]

My point is, if this Camaro was fixed using another car would it be a rebody??....I understand how the law is written, but I think any judge would understand if a person bought both cars to save one...the law should be based on bad intention..or fraud...If you save all of the original car that can be saved..even if it is just a small portion....you did not re-body the car...(of course it must have the part with the VIN) in my opinion....

[/ QUOTE ]

No I wouldn't consider this a rebody, personally I would rather have one done this way then done with all repro metal.

[njsteve]

The law is written and interpretted by prosecutors and judges very strictly. Whether it is fair in application or not is unfortunately, irrelevent.

If people think there should be an exception for restoration purposes, you need to start contacting your local congresspersons and ask them to draft an exception.

Just because you don't think the law should apply doesn't mean it won't be applied. I imagine there are a whole lot of people in prison who followed that principle.

For example, the law of Bank Robbery is pretty straightforward = robbing a federally insured bank. I remember a case where the badguy actually tried to use that type of defense in a bank robbery case. He didn't think the law applied to him. It went something like this: "I wasn't robbing a bank, I was taking money from people and it wasn't their money, therefore you must find me innocent and set me free."

It was a 15 minute jury deliberation (including lunch) GUILTY.

[kwhizz]

[ QUOTE ]
The law is written and interpretted by prosecutors and judges very strictly. Whether it is fair in application or not is unfortunately, irrelevent.

If people think there should be an exception for restoration purposes, you need to start contacting your local congresspersons and ask them to draft an exception.

Just because you don't think the law should apply doesn't mean it won't be applied. I imagine there are a whole lot of people in prison who followed that principle.

For example, the law of Bank Robbery is pretty straightforward = robbing a federally insured bank. I remember a case where the badguy actually tried to use that type of defense in a bank robbery case. He didn't think the law applied to him. It went something like this: "I wasn't robbing a bank, I was taking money from people and it wasn't their money, therefore you must find me innocent and set me free."

It was a 15 minute jury deliberation (including lunch) GUILTY.

[/ QUOTE ]


The Jurors are obviously more "Intelligent" on the East coast ........unlike the first O.J. trial ....