Rebodied car title question

After watching this as well as the Hot Rod tuck body on a Crown Vic chassis I got to wondering if someone wanted to use a Crown Vic chassis to build a car how would they title it?

I mean it looks nothing like a Crown Vic but in the case of the Charger the body has no VIN.

I suspect in general that since the VIN plate is on the car body that's what the authorities will go by, but it wll probably also depend on where you live - each state does things differently.

In reply to stuart in mn :

Right but in this situation the body parts are all aftermarket reproductions with no VIN. The only thing left if the crown Vic was the frame floorpan and drivetrain.

Based on my continual Kit Car musings, if you were to reuse the entire chassis & drive train I believe you could then title it as a rebodied  (whatever you started with). If you were using the original car as a donor and bolting the parts to a custom chassis (tube frame), then you would have to title it as a special construction. Of course all of this varies by what state you live in.

I know in ohio alot of sandrails and dune buggys are tagged as volkswagon beetles. My friends dad has an 88 daytona bodied rwd car. Its tagged as a daytona. Im guessing local laws have more to do with it then anything else. Ohio used to offer homemade titles but there more desirable then the vehicles half of them are attatched too.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure this varies state to state. 

However, I sure wouldn't want to get pulled over by some shiny happy person cop and get my car impounded for fraudulent registration because my 68 Wagon was titled as a Lexus. (Have seen it happen.)

What vehicle has the clean title? Based on that I would title it as the older vehicle to get the most exemptions. 

It really does depend on the state.  In some states the title follows the chassis, in some it follows the body (which would be a problem with the Charger Body parts on the Crown Vic chassis scenario) and in some states it would be a home built with a state issued VIN.  There may be a state or two where you just won't be able to register it.

Fuel for the fire...I am sure it wont help with get an answer, but it should keep the fire going...

My re-bodied 73 WW beetle is registered, titled, and insured as a 73 Volkswagens beetle.
I am in NH, the title was from Virginia, where it was a beetle also. NH wont issue a title because the car is over 15 years old. If they did, I assume it would be a beetle title as they would just look at the VA title. The title does have the vin from the beetle.

There is an Assigned Identification Number from Washington State on the door jam, so at one time I assume it had a custom builders title. The VA owner did say he got it from Washington.

The time I needed AAA to tow me when the throttle cable broke, the guy showed up and said "That ain't no beetle", and If I ever get pulled over I am sure that will be the same thing the cop stays. It may not be fun to find out what happens.

Any way, here are 2 vids of the car before my ownership.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61HfiKd3I7E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61HfiKd3I7E

This is the condition I got it in, missing on a couple of cylinders due to the carb intakes not seating square because the dog house (fan housing shroud) was/is to wide for the carb set up, pushing them out at an angle. Which I fixed with some care full ball peen hammer shroud reconstruction. It still ran like, well, you know, but better. Now its EJ22 powered, see my other posts.

Back to the original topic, its a Kelmark GT body, but there is no way it could ever be registered as so as they where never a true car manufacture. Kelmark, Beetle, Ferrari Dino, Porsche 904, the Fiat ??? that was posted a couple days ago in the hot liking pic thread, what should it be in the eyes of the law. I don't know and I wont be making waves.

Steve

I don't know how they did it back in the Kelmark days, but I think reputable kit car companies today will provide a manufacturer of origin (MSO) number that helps with titling the rebodied car.

 I think the trick is to keep enough firewall to retain a VIN, and register it as that.  It may look an awful lot like a Factory Five Cobra reproduction, but the registration says it's a 92 Mustang. Now, what happens when you need the insurance is another story. 

A few years back, I heard that there was a pair of sun visors floating around the kit car community here, because if you jump through enough hoops to get it registered as a kit, you need to pass a safety inspection, and you need sun visors to pass the inspection.

Last story.  A good friend of mine built a road going sandrail, and was able to drive around registered as a "modified vintage vehicle" Beetle.  He carried a copy of the traffic code with him, and was able to convince many, many traffic cops that, for example, windshield wipers we're not actually written as being required in the rules.  He got cancer and died, and his son didn't have the same skills.  It was off the road within a week.

I put a 1952 Dodge truck body on a 1987 3/4 tpn Dodge frame & drivetrain, New York sees it as a 1952.

I had a VW-based kit car for several years (Bradley GT). It was titled and registered as a VW Beetle. I never had any issues with it, even through emissions inspections or the times I got pulled over. My dad and I are planning on rebodying a modern Charger with the body from my '66 Belvedere, and we will keep it titled as a '66 Belvedere.

However an old Charger with the title of a modern Crown Vic will probably raise some eyebrows if they get pulled over or need an inspection, because it looks nothing at all like a modern Crown Vic.

Imagine reporting that car stolen- "Yeah, so, it's a 2000 Crown Vic, but it looks like a '69 Charger."

In Texas,  the VIN follows the frame. So it would be a crown Vic. You can also apply for a replica title that can take care of that as well. Then the title would read 69 charger. If you need a body, I know right where one is. I walk by it every day.