Back in the 80s I saw quite a few cars re-bodyed. Five that come immediately to mind. Nothing was really known about the hidden VINs (by these guys or me) , and when pointed out (I actually spotted the cowl VIN on a disassembled 69 COPO Camaro body) these guys didn't really care. In their minds, it was far more important to have a perfect body than worry about that. In some cases, they built a car out of the leftovers so it was like a double hit (in later years, two 69 Chevelles got particularly sticky as the two owners tried to figure out a solution). I was just an observer in all this, but most of the cars were sold for high dollars, and as more info became available in later years I figured these buyers lost some big money. Mind you, this was never to hide stolen stuff, but the State police/DMV doesn't see it that way. In MA, at the very least they are going to take the car, and IF (BIG if) you get it back, it will have a state VIN and they will keep the GM tags (even the trim tag). I'm very familiar with this as I've seen people lose cases and frames of motorcycles for the smallest Discrepancy (the state police stood over one guy I know while he disassembled his engine so they could take the cases just because they didn't like the VIN)
I would say it helps that a dealer sold the car (but it doesn't help the dealers case being cagey about not addressing the issue) But I still would bet the police take the car, and it will be a long drawn out process. Like 69L78 said, lawyer up and quick.
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