Yahoo Autos Classic Corvette Finally Returned After Six-Year Fight Over VIN Discrepancy
At the heart of this story is a philosophical dilemma. At the heart of that dilemma is a 1959 Corvette. And, in the end, there comes some expensive lessons and a (somewhat) happy resolution.
Back in 2021, attorney and YouTuber Steve Lehto reported for R&T about a Kansas Corvette owner who was battling to keep his car from being crushed over an issue with its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
“Richard Martinez bought the 1959 Corvette from a dealer in Indiana and sought to have it registered in Kansas,” explained Lehto. “During that process, the Kansas Highway Patrol found a discrepancy: the VIN tag on the door post did not match a VIN stamped on the frame. Various news reports mention the VIN being found in a ’secret’ location but those locations aren’t as secret as they were before the internet came along. Corvettes from 1959 had the VIN stamped into the frame at least once, though it can be hard to locate the stamping 60 years later.”
Lehto explained the legalities of the confiscation. “The KHP told Martinez that the car was going to be seized under Kansas law, due to the VIN issue. Kansas law 8-116(b) prohibits ‘knowingly’ owning or having custody or possession of a motor vehicle if the ‘original vehicle identification number has been destroyed, removed, altered or defaced.’ The statute orders law enforcement officers to ‘seize and take possession’ of such vehicles and the vehicles are treated as ‘contraband.’ Generally speaking, the law says, ‘articles of contraband shall be destroyed.’”
All that led to a brutal six-year battle between Martinez and the State of Kansas. The misalignment of VINs on different parts of the Corvette led to its confiscation. The good news for Martinez is that, according to a report on KAKE.com and KCTV5.com, the case has been resolved in his favor. The bad news is that while the restored car was in the state’s possession, an estimated $28,000 in damage was done to it, and he reportedly had to spend more than $30,000 in legal fees fighting to get it back.
Martinez paid $50,000 for the car while it was in Indiana. And the car had been restored in Illinois. There had been no trouble in either of those states registering the ’59.
Local KCTV has a solid video report on the drama. It's worth a watch.
The resolution came from a change in Kansas law to accommodate classic car purchases in the state. The state also awarded him $20,000 to refurbish the car.
This is an old car we are talking about here, and old cars have had lives that often involve replacement parts, swapped components, engine transplants and frame exchanges. Except for those freaks that were purchased new and moved straight into long-term automotive hibernation, they are all, in their own way, the Ship of Theseus. The Greek philosopher Plutarch asked if a ship that traveled so long that one-by-one all its planks were replaced with new timbers, was still the same ship that first sailed? Isn't a Corvette still a Corvette, even after its engine is swapped, its frame replaced, every body panel repaired?
Time isn’t kind to cars or people. Originality is often an illusion. Buyers need to keep this reality in mind when shopping for ancient machines like 63-year-old Corvettes.
And they need to know the law before trying to register their latest acquisition in a new state.
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