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Well spring has sprung. Seems there are more tech questions posted as the bears are awakened from hibernation. Many cars again appearing on ebay n craigs list and such. That green 55 400 was for sale last year wasnt it? A shame the interior sheet metal is not all paint matched as the upper door panel trim looks blue not green.
I am surprised on some other vehicles not more is mentioned about vins. No comments on the vin tags affixed with phillips screws?

I assumed the tag was removed during the repaint.

I understand that possibility however a more reasonable attempt at reattachment is in order if that is the case. Refrencing an auction in CT that was documented on a television show the state police there certainly had an issue with similar and threatened to pull some cars from the sale. I for one would be more comfortable having a car with the tag originally affixed. If a respay requires removal ,pictures taken before removal and respray to imortalise the fact that this is the vin the car has always had. Knowing how the 55 and 56 plates were secured and how fragile that connection can become over time. I guess masking over and sanding up to the tag is not an option.

Fortunately, as they were almost instant collectibles from the day they were first sold, there aren't many 55/56 Caribbean convertibles with a muddled or mysterious past, most of them have a fairly well-developed past history. And their history is helped by the survival of the build or shipping orders and active roster-keepers over the years. One thing that did catch my eye on 5699-1019 if I remember it correctly was the gold anodized mesh behind the grille - the changeover from silver to gold is thought to have occurred after #1040 and before #1079.

Wouldn't it be nice if some day a factory record surfaced that correlated the Utica engine and transmission numbers to the vehicle number?

Oh. Am i to understand from your post that every carribean has been documented by the roster keepers with the vin numbers and the embossed cowl stamped antitheft numbers? If so i guess there is no chance of stolen cars or someone claiming ownership from theft. Is this list posted online?Makes me nervous to see cars disasembled with tags screwed on for sale.

Am i to understand from your post that every carribean has been documented by the roster keepers with the vin numbers and the embossed cowl stamped antitheft numbers

Read again, that's not what I said. I said...most of them have a fairly well-developed past history. There is at least one incident of a stolen 56 Caribbean convertible that I'm aware of; to my knowledge the car has not been recovered or resurfaced and identified. Unfortunately the owner did not record the theft-proof number, so let that be a lesson. If you choose not to report the VN and theft-proof number to me for my database or to a roster keeper, at least keep a photographic record.

BTW, Caribbean, not Carribean.

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. All should document and or register the vin and body numbers. I would think the value and rareity of those cars would make them more of a theft target compared to the Clippers n such. I guess if one were to add the full vin and the body stamping number to their owners registry post it is date stamped and registered for all future owners and recovery efforts? Would this be admissable in a recovery effort? Has ever there been a case of the roster keepers information used to recover an asset? I am very interested in this. In the case of the 55 clipper customs my vin and body seem to be 60 or 70 numbers apart. Is there a very expected pattern to this in the clipper model? If Pachard was so ahead of the curve with theft prevention with these body stamping numbers, why didnt they make them match?

In the case of the 55 clipper customs my vin and body seem to be 60 or 70 numbers apart.

Not sure what you mean by "body" number(?); the motor number and the vehicle number on the door jamb should match and if not, the car probably had a motor swap.

My engine number matches exactly all digits on the vin tag in the door jamb. I was referring to the last few of the vin compared to the last few of the firewall stamping. Is this as expected or is there normally no correlation. Excuse me if this has been discussed before- is there a prior thread you can direct me to.
I did not know Leeedy had his stolen and i too have been a victomized about 25 years ago so I understand. Thus my interest in this info