In the "somewhat evidently honest but out of my mind" dept

I had a vehicle like that come into my bay once for a safety inspection. I called the cops. They did the homework and came back with a VIN of their own, which I dutifully riveted on, as they watched.
I have a 68 Barracuda with matching body vins, that I have a bill of sale for dated 1978, but that car was never registered by me. I went to the DMV and searched the VIN and found it clear.
I parted out a rolled 70 Duster back in the 70s, and kept the Rally dash. Which I wanted to install in my Barracuda. So I swapped the legal VIN onto the 70 dash.
The engine came out of a 71 Monaco, that I also owned, registered,drove, and eventually parted out. That Monaco also supplied it's rearend, which I narrowed to fit.
The 4-speed transmission came out of a 69 FormulaS that I still own, was registered by me, and sits on blocks .
I went to the copshop in about 1997 with my story, prior to starting the project and they said it would be fine. That was a long time ago.
The Vin, the fender-tags, and the body-stamps all match. But the fender tags say 225/904, console, yada yada; whereas the engine is a 367, and trans is now a Commando gearset in an unstamped Passon alloy box.

Maybe this CL guy did the same thing. IDK jus saying. Sometimes all is not how it first appears.