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What about if your donor didn't have a VIN to begin with? Before ~1972 VINs wern't required by law. My 69 Europa doesn't have one

"what if your donor didn't have a VIN to begin with? Before ~1972 VINs wern't required by law. My 69 Europa doesn't have one"

so if the europa didn't have one how is it registered? do you just make it up with a title? it has no SB # so what gives?

It has a chassis number, just a sequential number at the factory.

A friend of mine has an Austin A40 Somerset - the VIN number is securely fastened to the window sun visor

Speaking as a *retired* police officer (Traffic Division, enforcement) and commercial vehicle inspector (remember, this is in Canada - your mileage may vary, but the principle is the same all over the world), the re-use of a VIN from other than its original vehicle (or obliteration of, or possession of same) is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of possession of stolen property and/or theft, and the person is subject to arrest, and the vehicle is subject to seizure & forfeit to the government. The reasons for this are obvious, as criminals would have a field day were this not the case...

While I understand the temptation to do this (owing to the degree of obfuscation of the process of registration by various DMV's and other government agencies), the possible pitfalls are serious indeed. I would suggest taking the high moral ground here...

provided you are the legal owner of a car, and you modify it to Seven-esque status such as a Pinto, VEGA or Cobra II or something, is there theft involved, ... if it is your legal title-and such VIN, and parts of the donor car are still present somewhere (axles trans, some panels etc...?)

If the VIN is registered to you, you could have a pretty good case of merely highly "modifying" the original vehicle (it should be pretty convincing that the VIN is original, even if the rest isn't. At the least, it would certainly muddy the waters of culpability.

If the VIN is registered to someone else, appears obviously not to be original on the vehicle, or a police/DMV computer check shows the originating vehicle as "destroyed" or something, you could be in for a bunch of troubles, in which case it's probably something to be filed away under not-so-good ideas. Depending on the jurisdiction, you could end up with as little as a fine & confiscation of the vehicle, or as much as a huge fine and a lengthy stay in the Crowbar Hotel

In Fla the Locost might qualify as a "re-bodied" car. And as such would still be registered as a Pinto etc. with a new body on it.

Since the frame is different etc it might be better if you just use the VIN number as proof where the engine and other big parts came from that you installed in your newly built chassis. With receipts for the metal used in the chassis etc you could present a case that the Locost isn't a "re-bodied" Pinto because the frame was also replaced. i.e. it's a new car built from parts from your legally owned Pinto etc.

Best thing is not try "creative" ways to get around the statutes in your state/province and just research the statutes and do what they require. In Fla you have to bring the car to the DMV for inspection. They might suspect that the Locost chassis/design etc really doesn't look like your original VIN car.

The state had a standard procedure for titling cars before VINs came into being. Once you have a title the car is entered into the system.

For instance, if you were to sell the car you wouldn't bring the VIN number to the title agency. You bring the old title in and they look at the information and go with that.

When I first titled my "new" Henny Killowat EV (made from the chassis of a 1962 non-VIN, never titled Renault Dauphine) the state just issued me the state equivalent to a VIN.

My Locost also has a state issued VIN and it's registered as a "1964 Lotus Replica" (complete with an antique tag).

Part of the paper work I presented to the DMV was the bill of sale for the motorcycle engine used in the car. The bill of sale listed the VIN number of the bike that the engine was from as well as the serial number of the engine etc. So if you are using the engine from your -own- car, just type up an affidavit stating that you are the legal owner of the car (title number xxxxx) and you are using the following parts (engine with s/n, transmission etc) to build the Locost.

I have a page on my website that describes what you need to do in Fla. to get a new VIN/title for a Locost etc. The general procedure is probably similar to other places.

this is my plan until i get through the titling process...

I have a 1968 VW Sand Rail and i know exactly how to title and license this way!

heres what u do!

when u buy your donor car make sure u get a bill of sales and title.
stip everything u need and write it down on paper!
cut the vin of the frame
when u build your frame either weld on the vin, or have it stamped on
get rid of your donor frame (take it to the junk yard that melts car frames)
then build your car

when u are completly finish and go for the tittling process. take your vin number and title and re new them plates and titles for the donor car!
that solves registration

now on insurancing, just tell them it's a "highly modified" (year and name of the car)

they will ask u what u did... just tell them u scrapped the original frame and body work and build another one around it! they will check the vins and if their stamped on their more precentable!

they will look at u funny but it's legal!


i had the vin number stamped on from the donor 1968 VW beetle on my oil cooler frame under the gas tank on my sand rail! took the original registartion and title in, got it re-titled, threw on some lights got a saftey (again looked at me funny) and got it insured as a 1968 VW Beetle (i told them it was a "buggy" and no questions asked)

hope this helps

I did basically the same thing when I built a dune buggy out of an old VW bug. The only thing is that they demanded that I show them the VIN number that was stamped on the shortened VW frame. I had to pull out the back seat, the carpets. Then they -very- carefully examined the frame and my title to see that everything matched. They objected that the car wasn't a "sunroof" as the title stated but I convinced them that an open fiberglass buggy body was the ultimate sun roofed car.

On my Locost, by following the rules I have it titled as a 1963 Lotus Replica. I also get to buy an antique license plate for it since it is registered as a 1963 car. There are other advantages to this in that I won't have to pass any smog or safety inspections if they start doing them again since cars that old aren't required to be inspected etc.

I have an article on my website on the requirements to title a home built car in Florida. Your state will probably be similar. Click on "WWW" below to get to the website.

In Kentucky, if you have historic plates, you can use a vintage plate on the car, as long as you have the new historic plates in the car. How cool is that?



Citation:
From http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/186-00/043.PDF

Dave, same deal in IL for antique plates (anything over 25 years). The caveat is the plates have to be IL plates. I run 1956 IL plates on my MGA. it just so happens that the plate number color matches my car color to a "T".

At one time I had a 1966 Datsun Roadster title and vin tag (originally screwed to the inner fender with self tapping screws - from the factory). I always intended to build a Locost and use that as the title.

I figured that if a police officer did pull me over, either he wouldn't know what a 1966 Datsun Roadster looked like originally and the "Datsun" stamped on the valve cover would be evidence enough that it was legit - OR if he did know what a 1966 Datsun Roadster looked like, he be so impressed with my Datsun Locost that he's let me slide.

Unfortunately when I sold my Roadster collection, I let the extra title and VIN go with the rest of the "junk".

I had a 1940 Ford sedan that I stripped the body off of the chassis and made a dune buggy out of it. I shortened the chassis 4 FEET!

I once got stopped and the policeman wanted to see the chassis number, which was strangely enough (supposedly) stamped on top of the TRANSMISSION! I didn't have any tools to remove the floor boards so he kept looking all over the chassis for the number that was supposed to be also stamped on the chassis (somewhere). Since I had already changed the transmission from a Lincoln, the numbers might have matched the car that I got the xmission from at the junk yard.

He was walking around the car kicking the tires mumbling, "They shouldn't ort to allow things like this on the road." He was determined to get me for something. He would ask me to "blow the horn" etc but I had all that equipment on the buggy.

He finally let me go and I proceeded to make a turn into the bushes and roared up the side of the hill that they had cut through for the road. I figured there was no way he was going to follow me if he wanted to give me a ticket for something else!

With a little convincing I could tell ya'll the tale of how I ripped the back part of a fender and the bumper off of the town detectives car with the buggy. AND IT WAS HIS FAULT!