State Laws on Assigned VIN numbers....

[Revved]

I'm finishing up a build where the client provided a shell purchased from an auction without a physical VIN on the chassis. Typical deal... Mustang where someone had replaced the aprons and not transferred the VIN's over. The car was legally obtained and the client knew that at some point before the vehicle was finished he would have to deal with the VIN issue... and here we are.

From my understanding Texas (where I am located) issues a generically assigned VIN number, but I don't know if they title the vehicle as what the shell originally was... i.e. 67 Mustang. Texas has changed this process multiple times in the last few years that I've been paying attention so I don't officially even know what the current policy is and which department is handling this now. I saw something on the SEMA blotter that Texas is in process of changing this policy again... so time for more phone calls to the DMV and TXDOT... :bang:

The client lives overseas and is now informing me that for him to import the vehicle the title must be issued with the correct year and model.

So my question is twofold..... Has anyone been through this recently in Texas? Secondly, are there other states where year correct State assigned VIN numbers are being issued?

With the number of Mustangs especially having VINs only stamped on the upper aprons, and the aprons being commonly changed out for rust or collision, I'm sure this is becoming a common occurence.

[Dieselman]

FWIW....
I don't live in Texas. However, I'm restoring a 65 Mustang in Rhode Island and I caused myself the same issue. I removed the fender aprons, and they were discarded prior to me be able to remove the VIN fro the old aprons and weld them back onto the new ones.

I had a discussion with local law enforcement. And in the state of R.I., they can go by the door tag even though it states on it that it should not be used for VIN verification. This is due to the vehicle age, and as you stated, the common removal of the aprons for repairs. He also told me that the bill of sale, which has the vin on it taken off of the old registration, was proof along with the door tag. Keep in mind that I AM talking about R.I. lol

I've been told, that if you join the Mustang Club of America, someone there sells lettering dies that match the OEM stamping font and you can re-aply your own. It was suggested that you take pics of before and after. Also, if you have your local law enforcement sign something stating that you adding the vin is legal, that you should be ok.

I hope this helps.
Regards,
George

[dhutton]

Oh mama. While I can't answer your exact question I can tell you of my recent experience on a similar issue. I recently did a frame off restoration on a 57 Belair for my neighbor who developed some serious health issues. While I was providing the labor for free (I just like doing these sorts of projects and he asked me to to it for him) he owed me a considerable amount of money for parts when the car was completed. Since his health issues were leading to financial challenges he decided to just give the car to me. Great except he subsequently could not find the title so I had to get a bonded title. Sounds simple...

Part of the process involves getting a form 62-A through an inspection by the local "auto theft task force". I am in Denton county so my options were to go to Dallas or Fort Worth. I chose Dallas since they do inspections twice a month versus once a month for Fort Worth.

Upon my arrival the first sheriff to inspect my car immediatley announced that the VIN tag had been removed and reinstalled. After some considerable discussion with him and other sheriffs it was finally agreed it had not. Next they put the car on the lift and announced that the car was on an aftermarket frame because it was not rusty and because another expert working for the Texas Insurance Board had never seen a 57 chassis like this one before. After arguing with him for some time that there were two styles of chassis for tri-five cars, California and others, he finally went on the internet and confirmed this is true but still maintained the frame had to be aftermarket. Yet another sheriff piped in that his dad had a 54 Chevy and the frame was rusty so it was impossible for my frame to be rust free. At this time they started pointing out the sway bars, disc brakes, and polished/restored stainless etc as further evidence that I had built the car from scratch. These guys had absolutely no idea what they were doing when it came to classic cars. I am telling you all of this to prewarn you what sort of experience you could have if you go there with a car without a VIN tag. They could very well declare the car stolen. They are incompetent enough to do it...

I am not trying to scare you here, I am just trying to make sure you do all your homework well in advance. Depending on where you live you might also want to try Fort Worth since it is hard to imagine they could be any less competent.

Regarding your question about the reassigned VIN, I am reasonably certain it will not be a VIN for a 67 Mustang since they have no way to verify that they are not duplicating an existing 67 Mustang VIN. You should also check to make sure the title you get will not be bonded. As far as I know you cannot export a car with a bonded title. You should check this.

Good luck I hope you have better luck than I did.

The form and rules are here:
http://ftp.txdmv.gov/pub/txdot-info/vtr/rtb/2000/5-00.pdf



Don

[GregWeld]

Brizio and I have been having this conversation --- I want to license and title the freshly built '33 here in Idaho -- yet the car is nothing more than a "kit" -- manufactured body - custom chassis etc... and I want to drive it in California before bringing it back here. So you know that's going to be a cluster...

[FOMOGO]

Dont know if this will help much but this is a link to the South Carolina DMV and there title policy on vehicles older than 25 years. Maybe give you some information to use in your struggle.

Doug

[FOMOGO]

Duh..... Forgot the link.....

http://www.scdmvonline.com/DMVNew/default.aspx?n=titleandreg#Vehicles25YearsOldorOld erwithNoTitle

[SSLance]

In the past, Arkansas has been a very easy State to get a vehicle titled in. I once sold a car on a handwritten bill of sale and the guy was able to get it titled there no problem. Not sure if it is still that easy, but might be worth checking out as it's not that far away from Texas.

[MarkM66]

Have you called the DMV to ask?

[GaRys69]

My Camaro did not have the VIN tag when I bought it, but the owner had a clean title.
I was ready for a big DMV hassle when I was putting the title into my name.
They did a quick search for any issues against the VIN # on the title.
Since nothing came up from all those years they said no worries and issued the title.
It took longer for the paper work needed to be able to use 1969 tags.
I know if I need to sell, it will not be worth as much as if it had the VIN tag,
but that is probably the only reason I could afford to by it.

[dhutton]

My Camaro did not have the VIN tag when I bought it, but the owner had a clean title.
I was ready for a big DMV hassle when I was putting the title into my name.
They did a quick search for any issues against the VIN # on the title.
Since nothing came up from all those years they said no worries and issued the title.
It took longer for the paper work needed to be able to use 1969 tags.
I know if I need to sell, it will not be worth as much as if it had the VIN tag,
but that is probably the only reason I could afford to by it.

When did you do this? The laws also changed late last year. At least this is my understanding. I think location has a lot to do with it.

Don

[Revved]

Sorry... been a way for a few days...

I know the VIN will not be a 67 VIN but I'm wondering if the title will list it as a 67 Mustang for anyone that has been through this here in TX but it doesn't sound like there is anyone that has posted. Apparently the country this vehicle is going to wants to see the original year and model on the title although at this point they don't seem to care what VIN is on the chassis as long as paperwork matches.

I've dealt with the guys at the Farmers Branch PD on a Unique Performance vehicle about two years back because at least they know the situation on those cars and I didn't want to run into a horror story like you had DHutton. They were great.. checked out the car... BS'd about the UP drama.. they filled out the 68A and I was down the road. Problem with that car is TXDOT voided his VIN in their system during the UP drama without telling him before handing him his car and title back. He decided he wanted it un-voided and it's been in court for nearly 2 years now so we haven't even made it to the titling point yet.

And before someone suggests it... no I'm not interested in swapping VIN numbers off of a junker... not legal in TX... or anywhere that I know of. If someone knows of a state where this is legal let me know... I've heard rumors in the past of states that would allow you to crush an unusable car and use the VIN for a Dynacorn but have never seen anything to legitimize those claims. Always figured it was just guys doing it regardless.

Anyone else know of a friendly state for new titling?