I am lost in a nightmare bureaucratic saga to get plates for an old trailer. No VIN anywhere, original owner deceased, title is gone, DMV has scrubbed their 10+ year old records. The state won't let me declare it homemade, they are demanding I get a $300 court order for a new title! No thanks. This trailer is old, built sometime between 1970 and 2003. It has a four-digit number stamped on the tongue. The most logical thing I can think to do is to at least figure out what make/model it is, and craft a VIN number from that. It's the simplest possible trailer, a one-axle triangle shape. Can't be more than about 14 feet long, I can pick the thing up and carry it around. If I saw a picture of one like it, I'd know it was the one. Where's a good place to look for pictures of old trailers to try and figure out who made it? What are some popular manufacturers of simple trailers like this in the 70's, 80's, 90's etc? The previous owner attached a couple of wooden beams across it to carry a 15' MacGregor Venture Cat, but I have no idea if the trailer has anything to do with MacGregor. I'm guessing not. It has a Dutton Lainson hitch on it that I am guessing is original equipment as it is completely rusted together. The tongue has a hinge on it, at some point this thing could be folded up but the hinge is rusted together too. Any thoughts? I thought about getting a Maine plate by mail order, do you think they'd accept this four-digit serial number that's stamped on there or do they need a 17-digit VIN?
