In VIN Veritas

As he figures out the GT350 is rebodied, the shop owner is overheard by a CHP officer, who begins an inquiry

by John Draneas

What do you do with your authentic, vintage Shelby GT350 when it’s so rusty it’s beyond repair? Some Shelby owners think the answer is pretty simple—just rebody it. But that can easily lead to confusion, fraud, criminal charges, and costly litigation, as we’ll see below. Although this is an actual case, we’ll do the guilty a favor and not disclose any real names.

Our rustbucket Shelby owner decides that his 1965 GT350 needs to be rebodied. To do this, carefully hold onto the Shelby VIN plate and cut away the rest of the car. Then take a donor Mustang body and carefully attach the Shelby VIN plate to it. Take all the Shelby parts off the old body and install them in the new body, and if you’re attentive to detail, cut the body parts that hold the Ford VINs off the old body and attach them to the new body, and voila! You have a “refreshed” Shelby....