Thread: Vin & Cowl Numbers (help)

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You're doing the right thing as for protecting yourself. The body tags tell the tale, not the trim that can easily be transferred. What you're seeing is a common modification. Many 210's have had the side insert and BA tags put on to "gussey them up". It could be that the seller didn't do the checks you're doing when he bought it and honestly thinks it's a BA, or he's a liar. Either way, if you want the car and think that you've discovered a bargaining advantage, you should print out the info you've located so you can prove to the seller what you're saying. Even then he may not believe you because it's not in his best interest.

As a practical matter it depends on what your intentions for the car are. As a six cylinder car there's nothing particularly "special" about this car as compared to other '57's. This sometimes causes confusion for some folks. We see the high dollar cars go through the auction and that sets a tone for the rest of that vintage/brand/model so forth. The thing is, the high dollar cars have something(s) special. Extremely low original miles (WELL documented), very rare options (like factory dual quads or FI), or limited production numbers (which a 210 sport coupe with six wasn't). If you're going to modify the car it almost doesn't matter which model you start with (an exception I'll deal with later). If you're going to paint it a non factory color, reupholster it in leather or other non stock design/material, change the drive train, lower it, etc. etc. then when you're done it isn't going to matter whether it was a 210 or a BA to start with. Folks will still appreciate it just the same, and it's value will be based on the tastefullness, and quality of the work done. If you were going to "clone" a limited production car such as the "black widow" cars, then you'd have to start with a 150 two door sedan. But then I've seen semi-clones based on 210 sport coupes too, that's what customizing/rodding is about. Doing a fully authentic restoration (which by definition means ABSOLUTELY no deviations from stock appearance, even though people missuse that term all the time too) becomes another matter, especially since it would cost pretty much the same to do a proper restoration on either model. If you did a car like a 210, sport coupe, six cylinder car, it would be a rarity, there would be way many more restored V8 Bel Airs out there. But rarity doesn't automatically convert to higher value. There's still a demand factor to contend with. Way many more people will pay a premium for a proper Bel Air than an equally done 210..............deceptions excluded. But then if you get into the stratosphere of relative pricing the buyers are usually sophisticated enough to check the numbers, or have it done for them.

So if you're going to modify the car, use the 210 info as a bargaining tool, but in the big picture it doesn't much matter.