Re: DeLorean's Soul

["thebrave65" <johnnysher1@xxxx>]

Well James, you could still retain the same vin but call it 4009 
ver.1a or 2b or 3a and so on and so forth. Then you could tell 
people you own 4009 verson 6.2 or whatever.

Johnny 

--- In dmcnews@xxxx, "James LaLonde" <deloreandmcxii@xxxx> wrote:
> This is an interesting question that my girlfriend and I were 
> pondering over the other night. It suppose it could be applied to 
any 
> car, but moreso to a rare (some would call it an endangered species 
> of) car such as ours.
> What actually makes our DeLorean OUR car. Or better phrased; what 
> determines if vin 4009 is still vin 4009.
> Some may say simply the vin plates or the legallity of the 
situation, 
> but that's hardly romantic enough for MY DeLorean.
> Some may say the Frame... but can I not give my car a NEW Stainless 
> frame? And yet she would still be 4009.
> In fact, over the course of 50 years I could go through the car and 
> practically replace EVERY part of the car, and yet she would retain 
> the vin 4009. Putting aside such trite things as "the law" 
or "common 
> sense"; why is it that a car that (hypothetically) 50 years ago 
> consisted of completely different parts... is still consider by the 
> owners and world at large to be the SAME CAR?
> Do our cars have some intangible essence akin to a soul? That after 
> I've replaced the engine with a Northstar v8 (again hypothetical, 
> I've no plans to do that), and replaced the frame with a stainless 
> one, and am forced to replace all the stainless pieces due to hail 
> damage, etc... etc... IT IS STILL THE SAME CAR?
> At what point do we give in and admit we've hacked the car too 
> much... that it has undergone too extensive of repair to still be 
> considered vin4009... or even a 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 at all!?
> 
> Hey, the list has been kinda slow... humor my crazed rantings-
> James L vin4009