Yellow Canadian L89

[TimG]

I think that before the science of trim tags evolved, many folks changed trim tags on all kinds of cars. The originals were lost or tossed and a reproduction put on to reflect what the restorer wanted. Now trim tags are, with out a doubt, harder to fake than an engine block.
I owned a '69 Pace Car that burnt in a fire, the trim tag melted. If anyone rebuilds that car, they'd have to replace the trim tag with a reproduction due to the loss of the original. They could include all of the original data, but it would be a reproduction on an original Pace Car with the original engine (what's left of it). It would probably raise lots of questions.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

"....It would probably raise lots of questions...."

As it should! A car that got burnt in a fire, lost it's tag, and got rebuilt - has a story to tell that will answer the questions.

[427king]

If someone removed the winters casting mark on the aluminum heads ,does that mean the car isnt real???? You guys are forgetting that alot of people took off cowl tags to make the firewall and cowl area look cleaner,and others took them off to sand blast the body and they got misplaced . If this car is a canada docs car[or a US car with buildsheet],ill take it over any undocumented real tag car.There is a guy in CT that sells trim tags on ebay like they are jujubees,if anyones car went thru his hands in the past, theyd have a car with no tag for sure.I assume the way he got them is that he bought cars and sold them without a cowl tag,since 10/15 years ago noone even looked at them and wouldnt know if they were missing . To assume the car isnt real because a meaningless tag was changed is not being fair to the seller unless you know for a fact that something else is going on.

[LVCamaro]

uh-oh...we agree again, Chuck.

SS

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Nobody is saying that the car is not real, just asking for an explanation as to 'why' it has a fake tag. If the story is that the firewall was smoothed.... it was a racecar.... the original was lost.... whatever the reason, it's usually better to give the explanation up front as opposed to having the car go through this!

[chads454Ls6]

[ QUOTE ]
uh-oh...we agree again, Chuck.

SS

[/ QUOTE ]

Like a green ls6 convert that was proven to have a restamped motor in it?

[PhilS]

That L-89 is a pretty amazing car. I think that if I were interested in owning it I would settle for examination of the cowl and firewall vins. With the GM docs to back up the vin I could overlook a missing tag. It's great to know the history of these cars but just isn't possible in many instances. I've tried to track my cars and have history on most but not all and some of it is just hearsay anyway. I don't personally know this car or its owner but that paperwork represents an awesome combination.

[ASTROJET]

Am I missing something? If somebody is interested in the car,why not phone Matt in Hamilton?

[Belair62]

[ QUOTE ]
That L-89 is a pretty amazing car. I think that if I were interested in owning it I would settle for examination of the cowl and firewall vins. With the GM docs to back up the vin I could overlook a missing tag. It's great to know the history of these cars but just isn't possible in many instances. I've tried to track my cars and have history on most but not all and some of it is just hearsay anyway. I don't personally know this car or its owner but that paperwork represents an awesome combination.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to agree....if the body matches the paper this would be a cool car. Uncovering the background is also useful to determine value. People will put the car way down on their desirable list if there is persistent stories that haven't been addressed and look for another IMO. Not that L89's are a dime a dozen.

[camaromb]

Phil,
Yes the L89 looks amazing but as you well know not all cars are as they appear, especially some of the Canadian cars. The Canadian import sheets are great documentation and also incentives to save otherwise unsalvageabe cars.
With the right knowledge one can make a lost ownership claim In Canada for vehicles that don't exist in the record databases, such as the 5 ZL1s registered last year. Canadian paperwork is great but lets not forget its only a record of what came in to Canada many years ago. With the ability to get vin plates, trim tags, etc. sometimes all you may have in a rare car that is real is the paperwork!
In regards to the L89 in question I would like to see the vin tag, firewall stamp and the sheetmetal dates, it is original sheetmetal as described? Of course the original owner would solve all these issues. Unfortunately there is no record of him as of yet.
As usual, buyer beware without all the facts