The VIN tag on 58, 59, and very early (before December 59) cars, was mounted on the drivers door hinge pillar. After then, the VIN tag was spot welded to the steering column. Without getting the VIN off the frame, and finding if the car is stolen, I would not even consider buying it. Once you get the Frame VIN, and have it cleared, then you can apply for a state-issued VIN and get a new title. Be prepared that this may take up to 6 weeks in Texas assuming that all checks out. While the car has a valid 58 title, and would probably not present any issues to changing the title to your name in Texas, It would present a real problem when taken out of state, where it is required to have the VIN tag inspected prior to registering it in the state. Furthermore, It is clearly not a 58, and this may come back to bite you some day. I would not seriously consider buying the car until it has been blessed by the state as not being stolen and has a new VIN tag attached to it that reflects the proper year model. A good friend of mine, invested huge ammount of money in purchasing and restoring a nice 64 SS Impala, only to
have it confiscated. He lost every dime he had in the car.
Both of the last 2 C1 cars I have bought have had title issues, but I researched the issues well enough to know that I had no exposure. My 60 took almost 6 months to get a title cleared up from an owner who died wnd the car was never probated properly, and my current 59 had it's VIN tag lostr while it was apart for restoration. This car had a correct title that matched the VIN on the frame, so it was easy to get a new VIN tag produced to match the original VIN. This will not be the case on that car since you need both a VIN tag and a correct title. I think that the only avenue is to go with a state-issued VIN and title.
Regards, John McGraw
