Corsair Deluxe on ebay

[Fid]

I always liked black on the '53 J. 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380970785826?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&fromMakeTrack=true

Not as nice as the seller believes it is. Looks like a good "turn key drive and enjoy" car but check out the patch work in those floors -ouch! Typical HJ though. Look at the thresholds on the door openings - patched up big time. It's missing the ribbed dash cover. If it sells to anyone we know, I have a nice original dash cover for it, with the chrome trim.
The VIN listed in the ad cannot possibly be correct. It's also got a modern 2 gauge battery cable which will not work well.

I would disagree with the "very original" statement. The floors aren't, the dash isn't, the knobs aren't the upholstery is not at all. Bumper guards missing, 'K' emblems painted.., look at that fuel gauge - it's from a '51, door arm rests are 1970s issue, window cranks are out of something else... but it does still have the locking door handle on the passenger side - you don't see that very often.

It could be a fine driver though. It will be interesting to see if and what it sells for.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

It's been my experience looking at cars for sale posted here that if its a dealer posting, they are taking Caveat Emptor to its very limits or are parroting the claims of a seller in an effort to avoid legal action for mis-representation. 

Fid, could the VIN number listed be ID number for the block?  If they worked solely off a title or registration document, if would make sense.  I don't have start/stop lists on engine numbers.

[Fid]

Jack, I believe you are correct - that VIN looks like an engine number from the era. Some states (Florida for example) go by the engine number. When my dad sold that '51 Frazer with the 283 Chevy V8 in it, the new owner had a heluva time as the engine number didn't match what was on the title. The 1955 edition of Motors lists the Henry J engine numbers as starting with 3000000 for the six cylinder and 3050000 for the four cylinder so that likely is the engine number.
I've never understood why a state would use the engine number to ID a vehicle. As a data person by trade I know you never ID anything by an attribute that can change easily. We all know as "car guys" an engine swap is very common so trying to ID a vehicle by  the engine number is not a good idea in my opinion.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

In the pre 17 character VIN number era, some states were confronted by a problem out on the farm (literally).  Passenger cars no longer in regular use got their bodies taken off or extensively modified.  In earlier years, for example there was a farm outside of Montello WI that had a 1928 Chevrolet "tractor" and a 1922 Chevrolet "tractor".  Bodies were gone & frames cut so there were no body serial numbers available or door post type numbers, but the original engines were still in place so they could be titled for road use off the engine number. 

[Fid]

Interesting. So it could go either way it seems.

[mikemon22]

I drove up to see the car when the owner was trying to sell it for $13,000 on Craigslist. I did not make an offer on the car. Caveat Emptor applies here. The floor looked like a patch work quilt from underneath and the steering wheel had 3-4 inches of play. It started and ran well, but I was afraid to take it for a test drive. The vin color code was correct for black, but the lighting was poor and I could not make out other details. The owner was pleasant and we talked for quite a while about a variety of topics, but not much about the car since I had decided early on that I was not interested.

[Gordie]

California registered all motor vehicles by the engine numbers until 1955 when they switched over to serial numbers.  Ford V-8's had a serial number on the frame but the motor number was on the bell housing of the transmission so if anyone ever changed the engine no one would ever know as long as it was the same type.