Wouldn't be an Ohio issued vin would it? 10 years ago I had to get Ohio to give me a vin tag on a '71 Challenger. The previous jerk(owner) lost(?) it. Ohio BMV would have used an original vin tag but couldn't come up one so they used their own and riveted to the door jamb. The car was 100% legit other than the funny vin tag.

I THINK??? What John is trying to say is that the State applied VIN is now the LEGAL VIN for that car.
Obtaining a duplicate factory Vin that matches everything else is a plausible idea. However the current state assigned tag and title are what is considered LEGAL.
Obtaining and installing a reproduction tag for originality purposes is, or would be OK in my opinion, as long as one does not try to sell it that way. Unless of course you can get the DMV for the state you live in to reissue a new CLEAN title that uses that reproduction tag as the LEGAL VIN tag / number. It may be possible to accomplish depending on where you live and how sticky the Local DMV is. But even if it is possible it could still get sticky when selling the car due to it's title history. Hope this makes sense

I think the OP is saying is has NO VIN tag at all, factory or state issued. It is missing, gone, not there, vanished, nada, zero, zilch, zip, etc.

Which is even worse. Let the seller get a legal VIN tag before you touch it much less buy it, imo.

This topic was quite amusing for the new year celebration. So many of you jump straight to accusations instead of actually reading the question at hand.

State issued registration NOT State issued VIN!




LOL, Carry on!

He who laughs last,


Didn't get the joke.

I wasn't referring to you, as you actually understood and gave the best advice!

I know, I was just being cheeky

30-some years ago I met a guy at a show who had an E-body (can't remember whether it was a Challenger or 'Cuda). As I recall it was a factory 340 car (still had a 340). Sometime earlier with a previous owner the dash pad was in bad shape so they went to a wrecking yard and got a good pad. They didn't even think about the VIN tag. New dash pad was from a higher level engine (recollection is that it was hemi, but could have been 383 or 440). I knew at the time the guy had a mess on his hands...

very similar situation i brought to an owners attention once , 70 v code cuda had a vin on the pad that didnt match the fender tag or body numbers, as i looked around the car, i noticed that inside the door jamb the original dash vin plate was half a** riveted in, almost like when then car was done at the shop they just thought it went there, the guy looked like a ghost when i mentioned it to him.. he was lucky and still had the vin tag, but the whole time he owned the car up to that point he never noticed the dash vin on the car was wrong...

Higher level engine, a 383... Really??? You, just insulted all of us 340 folks.

I remember when many muscle cars languished in wrecking yards some stacked 4 deep like cord wood. In CA the owners of yards had to do paperwork to gain ownership (from individuals or insurance co's) in order to part out. I can remember seeing cars with the vins stripped from jamb or dash, I do not know if this was because of decommissioning a vehicle that was salvaged due to theft, wreck, flood, fire, etc.
I do not think a muscle car with salvage title or state issued vin is a big a problem as a similar with a fake dash or jamb tag. Historically it's the same car, and probably more significant if the reason for the salvage or re-issue history stayed with the car. I bet the subject car in this post has an interesting story.
An original #'s car will hold a premium because it remained intact. I think the op is wise to ask because there is many different views on the subject. Putting out big $ is an important decision and buying a car that many would find issue with has to be weighed.