Ace-Garageguy

And consider this: when you think of the potential value of some of these things, then realize that it's an order of magnitude easier to produce a flawless and aged data plate, correct number stamp dies, and a spotty but believable paper trail than it is to make counterfeit plates for currency and get the watermarks and paper dialed in... Last time I checked, I seem to remember there were enough "missing" Porsche 550 Spyders to make it definitely worthwhile to fake one, even taking into consideration the $250,000+ cost of an engine now. Couple years of work for one highly skilled man, way less than a half mil in parts and materials, selling for around $5 million. Good thing I'm too lazy.

One man's take on this mess: there's a fine model in there somewhere, but you kinda have to dig for it.

There's at least one "real" GT40 out there that was built around a data plate.

Well fellas, your inexplicable delays and shipments dropping off the tracking-number grid just might not be the fault of the USPS these days. The recent photo below is a freight yard in LA, where the latest craze is breaking into and looting containers on slow-moving trains.

Yup. Yup. Yup.

So...there's 7.9 BILLION people on Earth. This guy only needs ONE who's stupid enough to buy the thing. Sounds like pretty good odds when you consider the baloney millions upon millions buy every day.

Beautiful BIG blue car.

Yup, and while it's in theory possible to have a new VIN assigned to a car by the authorities of the state the car resides in, the provenance of major components and assemblies usually has to be proven. I've gone through the process multiple times with "kit cars" and restorations of "pre-title" cars...though some states are more lax than others. And naturally, any car with an assigned VIN that didn't come from the factory has vastly diminished value. EDIT: And in some states, this car could be a real nightmare. " "Kansas law 8-116(b) prohibits “knowingly” owning or having custody or possession of a motor vehicle if the “original vehicle identification number has been destroyed, removed, altered or defaced.” The statute orders law enforcement officers to “seize and take possession” of such vehicles and the vehicles are treated as “contraband.” Generally speaking, the law says, “articles of contraband shall be destroyed.” " SOURCE: https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/check-the-vin-before-you-buy-a-classic-car-to-avoid-getting-it-seized/ar-AAQhI0d

One more time...EVERY single thing that supposedly identifies this car positively as a Shelby could be replicated exactly by a competent fabricator. EDIT: Everything that's NOT a bolt-on part, of course. And these guys saying things like the rear axle has never been removed or replaced must not have actually been under a lot of cars. It doesn't take long for it to become absolutely impossible to tell with certainty whether something has been worked on, especially after 50+ years...and assuming the thing ever spent any time outside, which is pretty likely.

As I noted above, in Georgia, you can't even scrap a car that has no VIN. Other states have similar laws.

Most cars you come across with no VIN will turn out to be stolen, or possibly in this case, if the thing actually WAS a Shelby, the numbers have been sold. Keep in mind that removing the VIN from a vehicle, or changing a VIN, is almost universally considered a crime. IIRC, besides violating state laws, it's also a federal felony, with a 5-year maximum sentence and up to a $250,000 fine. In many cases, dedicated race cars don't have to display a VIN...but anything that's ever going to be run on the street in most jurisdictions will HAVE to account for the provenance of major parts and assemblies. If the original VIN can't be established with absolute certainty, the car is essentially worthless, at least from a legal standpoint. In Georgia, you can't even scrap a car with no VIN. To the best of my current knowledge, all the stamped VINs on panels on early Mustangs appear on the inner front sheetmetal. As this car has obviously had all of that removed, the possibility of positively identifying this car is remote, at best. Many cars have VINs stamped in other locations as a deterrent to "clipping" to obscure a car's real identity. EDIT, Federal Law: Section 511(a) of Title 18 makes it a felony knowingly to remove, obliterate, tamper with, or alter an identification number for a road motor vehicle or a road motor vehicle part. Section 511(b) of Title 18 creates exceptions for certain persons who engage in lawful conduct that may result in removal or alteration of an identification number. Section 511(c) of Title 18 contains the definitions for "identification number," "motor vehicle," "motor vehicle demolisher," and "motor vehicle scrap processor." The term "identification number" means a number or symbol that is inscribed or affixed for purposes of identification under chapter 301 and Part C of subtitle VI of Title 49. EDIT 2, Federal Law: There seems to be a caveat under 511(b) that might provide a legitimate loophole as far as removing the VIN goes, but still, to PROVE the identity of the car will take one jell of a lot of legwork, probably sworn testimony from several people in the ownership chain, etc. Good luck with that.

Yup.

EDIT: It's not conclusively "proven" as far as I'm concerned. Everything that supposedly "proves" it to be a Shelby could have been done by a competent fabricator. I know this to be true because I am somebody who could do it. And yes, if the car was originally a Shelby, with no VIN now, it's nothing.

Thanks, and glad you found something useful there.

Sorry fellas...when I first saw the thread title, I thought the second letter was "R". EDIT: Judging from the posts about the recall and other problems, I guess it should be.

GOOD looking car. Nice clean work. Sure would be fun to build a real one and stand back to listen while all the "experts" pontificated about what it was.

The Revell Mickey Thompson Challenger has just about the worst panel fit ever kitted. Start 3/4 of the way down page 2 of the thread below to see how I fixed it, including using a few touches of liquid cement to hold everything in alignment while harking on it. Yes, it takes some skill and effort to break everything free and clean up the backsides of the panels, but to my mind, it's worth it.

You have a wife or girlfriend? Old nylons make excellent strainer material. Test first though. Some paint solvents will dissolve some of them.

I think I got it...

I think I know...

Our big-deal winter storm turned into a non-event. Snow stopped about 4 PM, temp never got below 32F, then went right back to 33, so roads didn't ice and the trees never loaded up. Radar shows most of the precip has blown through. Couple inches still in a few places, pretty, but will be mostly gone by noon probably. Going down to the mid 20s tonight, so there'll be patches of black ice in the AM where water is standing, but it's a holiday so shouldn't pose much of a problem overall.

I'm just a wild and crazy guy.

Light to moderate snow here for a couple hours so far. Temps falling, now at 33F. Most of it was melting almost as quick as it fell, but there's an inch or so on the cars. Earlier high wind gusts have stopped, though I had one large limb go down last night. No ice load on the trees as yet, but if the temp continues its forecast decline, that will change. Already some power outages from trees coming down earlier due to wind.

Factory hot-rod 540K streamliner from 1937:

Maybe you should take that up with AMG and every other semi-in-house Euro-tuner since the dawn of time...like Abarth, Autodelta, etc. Factory hot-rod Bentley, anybody?