John Roper wrote:
>I don't believe so, in that you have not moved a data plate and thus VIN
>from one vehicle to another and thus changed the VIN of the second
>vehicle to that of the first. The heritage body shell is not a vehicle
>and to my knowledge has no VIN assigned. It is mearly a replacement
>part, albeit a large one. John
Um, so what's the difference between buying a new "replacement" part,
that is, a hertiage shell, and say a used "replacement" part, a shell
that's been sitting out in some scrappie's 'yard?
When does an old car stop being a car and become a collection of parts?
Here's a story for you. A Team member has a couple of MG Midgets, both
rubber bumper, one a '79 and one a '76. The '79 is, in some ways, a more
complete car, with most of the emission bits, and is, of course, an
example of the last year of the MG Midget. Since no else is doing, we
decided it would be nice to *totally* restore the '79. The '79 has massive
floor rot, being a car from the rain soaked south. The '76 is a car from
California, no rot, but the engine has been modified--no longer CA legal.
So, the plan is take the rusty tub, build it into more of a play car, say
an autocrosser or something (we talked about IT, but unfortunately the SCCA
decided to remove the Midgets from IT). The nice rust-free tub will become
the foundation for the '79.
Is this fraud? I don't think so, teh tubs are the same. All parts associated
with one year or the other will go with their respective titles. And, by
my book, it's not really fraud unless we tried to sell the car and not tell
of its history.
Is it illegal? Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.
Unless historical fraud (building up a car and claiming it's some
long lost Sebring racer or some such) or theft is involved, I think
our society has much more pressing matters to be concerned with
than the question of what some small group of hobbyists are up to
with their old cars.
-Keith Wheeler
Team Sanctuary http://www.teamsanctuary.com/
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