Magilla,
It doesn't help that some states, in some years, titled vehicles based on the engine number...which is all fine & dandy until someby swaps the engine to get a few more years out of an old jalopy...
In the case of vehicles like the Model T Ford, the only ID number IS the engine number...
Red 58, I think I hear where you're coming from...yes all legit factory-produced vehicles do have a "vehicle identification number" (note all lower case)...but the VIN system was/is a specific "unified" ID system that began to be applied in the US beginning with the 1970 model year (according to my 1963-'70 Chiltons shop book).
Pre -1970 US cars & trucks do not have a VIN #; they may have what we could call a vin #...yes, it is fine semantic distinction...
There was similar attempt to unify the vehicle ID matter around 1929-1930: the Fedco system...Chrysler Corporation products of the '29-'30 period used this, as did a few other makers...the id plate with the Fedco number was affixed to the center of the dash board, and was an alpha-numberic code...it didn't catch on.
Magilla's trying to play by the rules - I hope he's successful !
As for "stupid title clerks"...I hope there's a special circle in Hell for them...it seems that there is an inverse proportion of attitude to knowledge there...
