Agreed. In WI the title will show the tag attached to the vehicle, not the chassis data relative to the donor vehicle. So my replacement title will show the tag serial number on the firewall tag the 56 Dodge currently shows. I took a ride this afternoon on my motorcycle (a balmy 55 degrees up here in east central Wisconsin) and doing that I tend to run ideas around in my head to figure things out. At one point I thought I needed to fill out the WI DOT Bill of Sale form since I have no title to report to the DOT as a record of sale for the 56. But to do that I'd have to list the person I bought the truck from. But he never had it titled in his name. He got the 56 from his father in law with no title transfer. His father in law bought it from the original owner and had never transferred the title to his name. I can submit a DOT form for a replacement title, onto which I can report the known name of the original owner of the 56 truck when it was bought brand new.

If I submitted the WI DOT Bill of Sale form, with the prior "owners" listed would show two people who never reported the vehicle title transfer, and for that matter never reported the sale to the state to pay the required sales tax. In this part of Wisconsin the vehicle sales tax is 5% of the sale price. Yet the person I bought the truck from has no idea what his FIL paid for it, and his FIL doesn't recall what he paid for it (though I doubt a collector would forget what he paid for any vehicle he bought). So if I submit a formal Bill of Sale it could slow the process of title replacement if the state would contact those persons about unreported sales taxes paid on a vehicle sale. After a bunch of thought, I'll submit for a replacement of a lost title form and let the state do the due diligence to show the vehicle serial number tag is clear for me to title it in my name. I'n in no rush to get the 56 on the road. I just need to start the new title process.