The Mustangs Unlimited GTE is back for Sale

[Don Rush]

Actually... Not all export GTE's got smog. A member here from Sweden shared his Marti report with me just the other day that spelled out shoulder harness delete and smog delete.

[R Code]

So it's a rebody, without the engine, what's left?

[0F94M]

What's left? Headache for the next owner... I'm surprised an auction house would accept a car with essentially 2 vin numbers. The best legal solution for this car would be a state issued vin... the worst would be felony charges for the seller for altering the vin number and consfication/destruction of the car. Something tells me mecum will reject this one when it arrives at their sale.

[CatVert68]

Just out of curiosity, if I took a body shell from a GT-E and placed it next to the body shell from a GT of the same trim level (XR-7 or base) and covered the VIN numbers wherever they appear, could anyone here tell one from the other?

Except for issues of disclosure, I've never quite gotten why rebodies are so frowned upon and devalued in a way that would not be applied to the same car that had most of it's structure rebuilt around the stamped parts. What's the functional difference that makes one better than the other? The argument seems more emotional than logical to me; hence the question.

[Don Rush]

When one really digs into it you will usually find date codes are different, maybe the car was originally manual drum and not factory punched for a booster or the car was made at San Jose vs. Dearborn and details will differ. A rebody is a memory of a car not THEE car.

[BurgundyXR7]

I contacted Mecum regarding this car. They are being led to believe this is an authentic GTE. They have received this Marti report (attached) and believe it is valid to this vehicle. They told me it will be auctioned as a true GTE.

[mo2872]

Just out of curiosity, if I took a body shell from a GT-E and placed it next to the body shell from a GT of the same trim level (XR-7 or base) and covered the VIN numbers wherever they appear, could anyone here tell one from the other?

Would not the GT-E have holes drilled for the body side molding that a GT would be lacking??

[R Code]

I contacted Mecum regarding this car. They are being led to believe this is an authentic GTE. They have received this Marti report (attached) and believe it is valid to this vehicle. They told me it will be auctioned as a true GTE.

I guess if you're Mecum you can't put yourself in the position of verifying all seller-provided data. You just have to trust the disclaimers the lawyers crafted & let it fly.

[CatVert68]

Just out of curiosity, if I took a body shell from a GT-E and placed it next to the body shell from a GT of the same trim level (XR-7 or base) and covered the VIN numbers wherever they appear, could anyone here tell one from the other?

Would not the GT-E have holes drilled for the body side molding that a GT would be lacking??

That's a cosmetic difference, not a functional one. My point is that there is nothing magical or functionally different about one 1968 Cougar body shell versus another so I've never understood the fealty to the original shell when most of it's been replaced versus, say, a pristine original body shell from a GT. Even a small-block body shell isn't really different at the unibody level. Things like shock tower reinforcements are added to the same basic body shell, as far as I know.

[CatVert68]

When one really digs into it you will usually find date codes are different, maybe the car was originally manual drum and not factory punched for a booster or the car was made at San Jose vs. Dearborn and details will differ. A rebody is a memory of a car not THEE car.

I get that, Don, and I agree that it matters for a concours show car.

But those things are usually important because of the degree of value difference assigned to originality. But the concept of originality is really stretched if most of the body shell has been replaced for rust repair or other damage. That damaged and repaired car will be valued much higher than an identical car that got a pristine rebody and that doesn't make much sense to me, logically.