Rebodied cars and do they get certified

[PeteLeathersac]

Thinking again, E is maybe the better answer afterall? ~ Pete

[Supercar_Kid]

[ QUOTE ]
You mention these supercars as if they were people,but they are not.Unlike people,cars can exist as any sort of conglomeration of parts,and here are some scenarios.

[/ QUOTE ] I like the analogy because like people, each and every VIN# should be considered a one of a kind original, never to be duplicated and never to be reassigned. The idea of swapping #s also doesn't translate well to people, and it sort of highlights the obsurdity in how we look at the practice when it concerns valuable cars.

As a hypothetical, if I start calling myself Elvis Presley and start using his Social Security # does that mean I'm a "restored" Elvis Presley? Hardly...

Another good hypothetical would be if a soldier is killed in action and you took his dog tags off and put them around another member of his platoon's neck, does the dead soldier's mother now have her son back? Nope...the tags simply identify the soldier...switching them to any other soldier no matter how many ways he closely he resembles the original doesn't make him THE original, even if it's to his twin brother born only 1 minute later.

So lets get back to thinking of this in terms of Supercars, and remember why most folks didn't give a squat about #'s or tags on their cars back in the day.

The hidden VINs and body tags do not make the car, they simply identify the car to which they are attached, same as a Social Security # or a Military ID tag does for a person.

Saving the tags is not saving the car, it's merely giving the ruse that the car that was once identifed by those tags has been saved, when in fact it's another car posing as that original car.

If you remove a body tag and scrap what it was attached to...that car and the tag it represents is forever "dead' IMO.

[Supergas990]

My head is kinda spinning because the possibilities are endless.

Regardless of the legality issues (re-tag, rebody, etc...), when does a car become something so different from what rolled off GM's line that someone draws a distinction?

In my mind, the classifications are as follows:

"Survivor" (unmolested, left as time treated them) - The best IMO. Patina adds so much class - i.e. the Sandlin Duece

"Restored" (repaint, repair, refurbish) - Most cars fit this category in varying degrees. Can be anything from a nice driver to a 1,000 point trailer queen. Very nice cars with sheet metal replacement, fresh paint, drivetrain rebuilt, etc... This can include replacement of missing original drivetrain components with correct parts.

"Rebuilt" - Car with significant body rebuilding (clipping, firewalling, retaging, etc...)

In order to have a "restored" car you need to have worked with core to come up with an end product.

Trying to keep a complex topic simple isn't an easy task. With the big bucks in many complex restos the resulting product of a "restored" car is a project from the heart rather than the mind (if that makes any sense).

Deep inside most of us know right from wrong.

I'm taking cover now, so let the comments fly.

Blair

[Supergas990]

Wish I would've read Supercar Kids post prior to my response. He's headed my direction.

Blair

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

I like that nomenclature, original vs restored vs rebuilt.

[PeteLeathersac]

Again it's all down to personal opinions just like any car deal for what something's worth....BUT the facts of the "redo" ARE on the table! . The right or wrong isn't hard for some but how many guys who transfer an identity in the process of the job want to point that out and prefer to call their car rebuilt, not restored? . This whole "restored TO original"....and things like "restoration motors" as a nice way to say restamp....it's "caveat empor" alright but deliberatly to take advantage of someone who's uninformed? . All personal opinions again of course. ~ Pete

[Stefano]

So it is OK to take advantage of someone who is informed?

[sYc]

[ QUOTE ]
So it is OK to take advantage of someone who is informed?

[/ QUOTE ]

[Born30YrsLate]

[ QUOTE ]
Is "Freds" last name Bain?

[/ QUOTE ]

I can tell you it ain't Eichhorst.......that's me

[PeteLeathersac]

Ask our Governments....they do it every day! . What I was more referring to was....some of the terms are meant to target and mislead those in the market with the funds but not the knowledge or sense to obtain the services of someone who knows (or claims to know?)? . Obviously not a buncha' gearheads and number addicts such as the likes that spend time hanging out on sites like this??? ~ Pete