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Reply to "Vin Plate duplication"

Marcus:

The spelling of "Garrozzeria" was pointed out to me before, but then I received the replacement tag from Hall and it had the same spelling! According to Chuck Melton, who wrote an article in the Winter 2003 PI Magazine on the different VIN and other ID plates, early Panteras had different tags but, as of at least 1974, they changed to the one shown in my previous post. I think all these later tags had the "Garrozzeria" spelling, but I stand to be corrected on that.

As for the second error, some people have speculated that the reason my tag still reads "Vignale" when the coachbuilder was Embo is that DeTomaso couldn't be bothered (or were too cheap) to make up new tags and continued to slap on the old ones just because they still had them in stock.

And, yes, it's possible that the previous owner had an exact duplicate custom-made in aluminum, but why they would have done that when it's readily available for a couple of bucks, I don't know. Also, there does not seem to be a logical reason for wanting one of these tags on the car in the first place if they are not original.

I guess it's all destined to remain a mystery unless someone else has a post-1985 GT5 to compare with. What about the GT5-S and post-1985 GTS owners out there? Do any of you have the same tags on your cars? Post a photo and help us clear up this question! Or maybe someone could give Santiago a call and ask...

- Peter
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