Help... Vin #'s dont match
There is no swapped VIN tag. There is a car with a title and some numbers on various panels, some of which could have been changed due to repairs (not unknown on a forty year old car).
You think? If the partial stamping matches a stolen car, that's not how its going to go in a court of law. Maybe you could try to argue that, and maybe you wouldn't go to jail. But you wouldn't keep the car either. If it, or any
part of it with a VIN stamping is stolen, it can be confiscated.
If it were my car, I would take it to the local authorities and go about getting a
real title for it, at this point that will likely mean a state issued VIN tag. If it's not stolen there are legal ways to deal with the NONE of the numbers matching besides the dash VIN and the title. You know, so the owner can sell the car in the future without doing a big song and dance around possible fraud charges.
But let's forget the law for a second, if the car (or part of it) was stolen at some point that means some poor bastard out there had his/her car stolen and used for a re-body or VIN swap or whatever positive euphemism you have for VIN tampering. I don't want to keep that car from that person, because if someone STOLE my car I'd want it back. Do unto others, Karma, whatever you'd like to call it. Tells me all I need to know about your moral compass.
I'm all done here. The only legally responsible answer is to have the car verified by the authorities.