There are only so many surviving classic cars of each make and model out there now. It’s one of the reasons devoted collectors and historians spend so much time and effort tracking and caring for classic cars. And for one Floridian, it’s more than enough reason to take a Texas couple to court when he discovered that they have a C1 Corvette with the same VIN as his treasure classic. 

A Florida man is taking a Texas couple to court– over the VIN of his classic, first-generation Chevrolet Corvette

You worked hard for a long time with one target in your mind: buy that first-generation Chevrolet Corvette and drive off into the sunset. And now you’ve done it. But wait, there’s a second Corvette with the same VIN as your beloved car, sapping its uniqueness and value. 

According to the Houston Chronicle, that’s exactly what happened to Dale Wilkinson, a Florida resident and Corvette fan. See, Wilkinson bought his ‘Vette, a 1962 example from the coveted C1 generation, nearly 20 years ago.

Trouble is, Wilkinson’s Corvette seems to have a twin. More accurately, Wilkinson’s beloved classic sports car has a clone. But Wilkinson holds that things are a bit more nefarious than an episode of the “X-Files.”

The Florida man’s 1962 Chevrolet Corvette has the exact same Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), the unique number assigned to a car from a specific year, as the Texas car. In short, duplicates don’t just happen.

So, Wilkinson took the Texas couple to court, suing them over “disparagement of title.” The Texans, on the other hand, hold that they’ve done nothing wrong.

They provided documentation supporting claims that they purchased the classic Corvette at a Mecum Auction with just 1,283 miles on the clock, a number that Wilkinson points out as unlikely and deceptive given the car’s 63 years. 

Wilkinson stands to lose over $110,000 in value if the case doesn’t go his way

So, what’s the big deal with two cars having the same VIN? In this case, Wilkinson is concerned about the loss of value.

The average sale price for a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette is over $100,000, per Classic.com. Wilkinson’s car, which is reportedly “all-original” and had just 56,000 miles on it at the time of his purchase, could lose up to $110,000 in value should the judge not declare it original. Ouch. 

Check the tag

Now, there are ways to verify these things, even when we’re talking about a convincing fake. In this case, the proof might just come down to the tag itself and not the numbers on it.

Chevrolet used steel VIN tags, which you can find in the door sill, to assign each car its unique number. Wilkinson reportedly hired an expert in these matters, who concluded that the VIN tag on the Texas car was made of aluminum and featured the wrong font. I know. Scandalous.