I know, some years ago, in some states (Florida being one of those), you could rebuild a totaled car and get it "re-vinned" and could get the "salvaged" removed from the title. This car may have been a totaled '69, was rebuilt, and a good VIN reissued. It was not illegal to do as long as you could prove that you spent enough $$ and actually rebuild the car. If the transfer states accept the title the way it is, the only problem is the fact that the car is a '69 with a reissued 72 VIN.

I'd still be skeered of it if I ever went to sell it.
 Here's a theory, based on something I know for a fact happened.
You got one car ya want to build/drive, but no title. You have another car that is trashed, you do NOT want to repair, but...you have a valid title. What to do? Swap the VIN tag from the trashed car to the car you're going to drive. Now you have a drivable car with a title. Problem solved. Well...almost. In this case, the two cars were different year models. One, the driver, was a '77. The title car was an '81. So...the drivable car, while in reality is a '77 thru & thru, the title, and the VIN say it is an '81.
In this case, the VIN was transferred to the other car by cutting the windshield pillar off, with the VIN intact, and welding it to the windshield pillar of the other car. This kept the original rivets in place, undisturbed, and the welds completely hidden by the pillar post trim.
Illegal as h ell, and I washed my hands of the project when I heard what he did. I had already done all of the mechanical work, and he was ready for the paint/body work.
Last I heard, he still had the car, and couldn't get rid of it. Partly because of the horrendous body mods he did, and partly because everyone that looked at it to buy noticed the title discrepancy, since it was obviously NOT an '81 Corvette to start with.
Buyer beware, indeed....

an authorized body shop could replace a rotting post and then re-affix the VIN to the new post. Nothing has really changed, the VIN is still affixed to the correct car. This car was NOT damaged or totalled, it IS very much intact and undamaged. It appears that someone somehow was trying to hide the 69 car by disguising it using a 72 VIN and probably the frame and body of that car was a total and is in actuality residing in a junk yard somewhere. My question is now what did someone somewhere report happened to the REAL VIN vehicle?

Good looking car, and a hell of a good price 13,900., the question is, is it illegal to have a registered 72 body on a 69 frame or visa versa, if not, try not to loose to much sleep over it and drive and enjoy the car,  if it is, tell the previous owner you want your money back, if he say no, then tell him you will be contacting your lawyer, law inforcement, and DMV of both states, this is not your fault, put the ball back in his court, either way its fd, if its not illegal, and it drives good, drive it for awhile turn it and get another with a lesson learned, I know, easy for me to say, but what other options do you have, I wish you luck!  anips2010-02-28 16:35:44

 think you are still missing the point. It is a 69 body on its correct 69 frame with its correct 69 transmission. Only the window frame is incorrect and belonged to a 72 car.

I am going to try to re-vin the car back to its original VIN.

The previous owner probably didn't know either since the title before his came as a 72.

The price was OK for a 72 but a good price for a real 69.

we will keep everyone posted.

another question?

I just hate to see or read about somebody trying to bastageize a corvette.  The latest issue of Corvette Magazine has a picture of a 64 coupe that was turned into a snow plow !!!!  The new owner got it and turned it back into a 64 !!!!!  A Snow Plow !!  Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it!!

The only legal way to replace the VIN plate is with the DMV's authorization, and usually that means a state issued, replacement VIN plate, and those are not normally configured.
Body shops and other repair shops have been swapping VIN plates for many years. You can buy the rosette type rivets on e-bay these days, even.
My opinion is, if you are swapping a damaged windshield post(on a Shark) for a new/replacement, swapping the VIN shouldn't be an issue, because the VIN plate is correct for the vehicle, and there is NO intent to defraud.
Putting a '72 plate on what is obviously NOT a '72 seems a wee bit fishy to me, but apparently, the title has been changed a few times, and no-one has raised any questions about it.

[quote=ranger3]Joel,

I'm curious. If you had a C3 Vette and the windshield frame/birdcage was completed rotted out and you gut the car to replace all of the metal, what happens to the VIN tag?

[/quote]
It would depend on what the guy doing the job wanted to do. As far as I know, by law the VIN plate has to be surrendered to the DMV in that situation. If the car was being rebuilt back to a drivable condition, the VIN could be replaced on the car, but Imma thinking the DMV is supposed to referee the actual installation of the VIN plate.
The state doesn't really keep that close a tab on all of this stuff, but they do sometimes send out inspectors. We had two come into a trans shop I was working at years ago, checking the VINs on the transmissions we had in stock. They were looking for any that might belong to vehicles that were reported as stolen. So...they do check every once and a while.

Nicholas, I get your point, but its been registered in two states as a 72, and you didn't have any problems putting the title in your name, right, soo as far as is DMV is concerned its a 72, yes its obvious to us its a 69 and I know you want it right, I would too, but when the car came from out of state and the previous owner had it titled in your state the person that came out from behind the counter to check the VIN didn't know the difference also, so like I said as far as DMV is concerned its a 72, my point is who knows where this nightmare started, first thing I would do is run the frame #'s to see if it was on a hot list before I went to DMV to re VIN the car,  if some one had a stolen 69  and a totaled 72 thats all some thief would need to pull off a switch by welding in the 72's A pillar, I'am not trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill but Ive heard worse, if the car was stolen and you go to re VIN, then you get pulled into this thing, I suggest you run the numbers first BTW, if the car were not to be stolen and I don't know the laws in your state and you re VIN the car they might even issue a Special Construction title  which would be worse.anips2010-02-28 21:43:41