In fact, that's even worse. If one of those 14 cars is stolen, it's a problem. Maybe you can't prove it IS that car, but you can't prove it's NOT either, and that's what you'd have to do.
No, what the authorities have to do is prove the rear shelf numbers weren't replaced due to an unfortunate incident some time in the last 40 years....and they only have to do that if they're alerted to the fact that there some question about this car.