Classic Recreations under investigation for VIN swapping

The crew from Classic Recreations, LLC is in hot water. The shop has been cranking out amazingly clean reproductions of the Gone in 60 Seconds "Eleanor" Ford Mustang and other sharp ponies for years now, but according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the company may also be guilty of VIN fraud. According to the city's KOCO TV station, officials are charging that the shop has been pulling VIN numbers from older cars and then attaching them to new chassis. That process is illegal to begin with, but investigators claim that Classic Recreations then presented the new cars as the original articles – something that amounts to fraud.

The owner of the shop has admitted to knowing that the VIN swapping was going on, but claims that he didn't know that the move was illegal denies all wrong doing. Either way, the OSBI has begun towing certain vehicles from the shop in order to discern which ones are shady. No one has been arrested just yet, but we're guessing it won't be too long before charges, civil or otherwise, are filed against the company.

Classic Recreations has been turning plain fastback Mustangs into updated versions of their most high-strung iterations for a good while and charging heady figures for the work – up to $200,000 in some instances.

UPDATE: Classic Recreations has issued a press release concerning the allegations. Owner Jason Engel said,

"The quote attributed to Jason Engel in a single local Oklahoma news report is second hand information that was misquoted by the local media outlet. Classic Recreations denies any and all wrongdoing. Like thousands of other restoration shops and hobbyists across the country, Classic Recreations builds vintage cars with original and aftermarket parts - the restoration marketplace should pay attention to what is happening here. The shop has built a reputation for building the highest quality vehicles and delivering unrivaled customer satisfaction and will continue to do so in the future."

STATEMENT FROM CLASSIC RECREATIONS

The following statement is from custom car builder Classic Recreations regarding recent news reports from Oklahoma City based media outlets.

Yukon, Okla. (July 9, 2010) – Classic Recreations has an excellent reputation and has always provided its customers with a quality product that is among the finest in the world. We are working with local authorities and are anxious to clear up any misconceptions and erroneous information currently in the news. We are a family-run business that is proud of our hard-earned reputation for honesty and superior craftsmanship, and are confident that this misunderstanding will be cleared up quickly.

Pictures; CLICK HERE

VIA: AutoBlog