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Report: Classic Recreations under investigation for VIN swapping
Filed under: Aftermarket, Classics, Coupe, Performance, Government/Legal, Ford, Specialty
The crew from Classic Recreations, LLC is in hot water. The shop has been cranking out amazingly clean reproductions of the Gone in 60 Seconds "Eleanor" Ford Mustang and other sharp ponies for years now, but according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the company may also be guilty of VIN fraud. According to the city's KOCO TV station, officials are charging that the shop has been pulling VIN numbers from older cars and then attaching them to new chassis. That process is illegal to begin with, but investigators claim that Classic Recreations then presented the new cars as the original articles - something that amounts to fraud.
The owner of the shop has admitted to knowing that the VIN swapping was going on, but claims that he didn't know that the move was illegal. Either way, the OSBI has begun towing certain vehicles from the shop in order to discern which ones are shady. No one has been arrested just yet, but we're guessing it won't be too long before charges, civil or otherwise, are filed against the company.
Classic Recreations has been turning plain fastback Mustangs into updated versions of their most high-strung iterations for a good while and charging heady figures for the work - up to $200,000 in some instances.
Gallery: Classic Recreations Shelby G.T.500CR
[Source: KOCO]Report: Classic Recreations under investigation for VIN swapping originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Classic Recreations Ford Mustang GT500CR - Click above for high-res image gallery
The crew from Classic Recreations, LLC is in hot water. The shop has been cranking out amazingly clean reproductions of the Gone in 60 Seconds "Eleanor" Ford Mustang and other sharp ponies for years now, but according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the company may also be guilty of VIN fraud. According to the city's KOCO TV station, officials are charging that the shop has been pulling VIN numbers from older cars and then attaching them to new chassis. That process is illegal to begin with, but investigators claim that Classic Recreations then presented the new cars as the original articles - something that amounts to fraud.
The owner of the shop has admitted to knowing that the VIN swapping was going on, but claims that he didn't know that the move was illegal. Either way, the OSBI has begun towing certain vehicles from the shop in order to discern which ones are shady. No one has been arrested just yet, but we're guessing it won't be too long before charges, civil or otherwise, are filed against the company.
Classic Recreations has been turning plain fastback Mustangs into updated versions of their most high-strung iterations for a good while and charging heady figures for the work - up to $200,000 in some instances.
Gallery: Classic Recreations Shelby G.T.500CR
[Source: KOCO]Report: Classic Recreations under investigation for VIN swapping originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
More...