Window Stickers

[SS427]

If these reproduction paperwork sellers want to work with the car community and be on the up and up as well as not condone fraudulent use of their work, I would say the best thing to do on their webpages is to list every VIN of every car that they have made paperwork documents, POPs or cowl tags for. No invasion of privacy here, just a list of the VIN's and what was produced. No harm no fowl. However, when that is suggested everyone freaks out and says no way. Why is that? What are they trying to hide?

Some of this paperwork is getting extremely hard to prove is a reproduction as these guys are getting that good. Now a buyer hires an inspector to inspect a potential purchase and the inspector gives his thumbs up on the car and the paperwork only to find out later that the paperwork was faked. Now we have a liability issue as the inspection gave a letter of authenticity.

If there was a database then all that would have to be done is to look on that database to see that those items were reproductions. Since the reproducer of the paperwork claims they are not trying in any way to be fraudulent and the owner of the car and it's new paperwork claim they only want a facsimile of what GM offered for show purposes, I just cannot understand why no one wants these VIN's to be made public to protect future buyers.

The last thing that troubles me is all these fake pieces or paper are having an effect on cars that have legitimate paperwork and their value. I personally inspect dozens of LS6's around the country every year and have gotten to the point that I don't even want to see your window sticker, dealer invoice or POP as many of the reproductions are so good that you cannot tell the difference so in turn the real items have very little meaning or value anymore.

Bottom line is, if you want a facsimile of paperwork that could have been offered with your car, that is cool. Not wanting to admit that it is a reproduction, having it watermarked as such or having the information made public only shows me that you have something to hide. It is sort of like engine stamps. I would much rather see a CE block in a car than a restamped engine. A CE block leaves nothing to hide whereas a restamped block only puts up a red flag that there may be many other things about the car that are fraudulent.

Flame away.

[HawkX66]

Originally Posted by SS427

Not wanting to admit that it is a reproduction, having it watermarked as such or having the information made public only shows me that you have something to hide.

Not a flame, but to assume someone has something to hide because they might like to stay private is a slippery slope in the land of the free. That's the same mentality as the folks assuming someone wants to go on a killing rampage because they don't want to register their firearms. Spend your time going after the counterfeiters and other criminals, not guys you have no idea about. Or not...

[StealthBird]

I create reproduction window stickers for 1964-1979 Pontiacs. My window stickers are far more accurate than anything Pontiac fans have had before. I developed my own forms because other reproductions (that are laminated) use a somewhat generic window sticker blank, and sometimes they cover 3 different years with one form. As owners of high end Pontiac show cars become aware of the fact that their reproduction window stickers are inaccurate, they contact me and I create an accurate window sticker for them that's correct for the specific year, model, and plant where their Pontiac was produced. That being said, my reproduction window stickers are for show, NOT to be used to authenticate or validate anything. Thankfully, we have PHS as the rock solid proof against any dishonesty. But there is no way I can control what people do with a reproduction window sticker once they receive them.

However, on my window stickers, I have a very minor deviation from original that tells me immediately it's one of my reproductions and not an original just in case someone tries to age one of my reproductions. I do not disclose what that deviation is, but I have responded to many people asking if a specific window sticker on a car that's being sold is an original or a repop.

For those opposed to Chevrolet reproduction window stickers and docs, this seems to be a minor issue when you have hundreds of restamped blocks, carbs, rear ends, and all sorts of "date coding" going on with restored Yenkos, COPOS, and LS6 cars. Most high end resto shops have no problem restamping a block or carb to complete a "numbers matching" project.

Mike