Into the past in Europe when a car was seized by a ministry and the title was lost , the vin was cut out and when it was sold by the ministry on an auction the car was sold witout a title. ( only with BoS from ministry)
The new owner can make a choice . dismantle the car or bring it back on the road after a technical inspection and get a new (short) VIN .
Maybe this was happened with the Pantera above ?
Newer cars use a 17 caracter VIN, while older cars can use only a few, 3 or something like that.
By sample , classic cars from Texas USA has most of the time also an different VIN plate into the doorpost poprivet ( special) have notice this on a ERA Cobra , but also on Mangusta and a few others.
Simon