[Tishabet]

I have been down this road before. Check with your individual state as there is a ton of difference from state to state about how to do this "the right way."

First option is to "wash" via a state that doesn't title older vehicles (Vermont being a likely candidate), these states don't issue a title for vehicles over X years old so if you buy it from someone in one of those states (they would need a registration but again they don't need a title to get one) your local DMV will be OK with you showing up with registration and sans title and will issue you one. This is not as easy as it sounds and generally people are onto this, same as "washing" a salvage title by passing it through a state where branded titles aren't a thing.

Second option (but not really) is to buy a title and VIN and use them for this vehicle. It may be tempting but don't do this. If you are in an accident and your insurer is able to demonstrate that the VIN they have insured is not the genuine VIN of the vehicle you were operating you are hosed. Likewise you put yourself in a compromising position if you ever try to sell. Last but not least if the police find out they are going to take your vehicle and, if they can show you affixed the VIN, they are charging you with a felony.

In my own situation, I was buying a vehicle originally sold in Sweden which had been imported to the USA for parts and never registered or titled (likely imported when it was less than the magic 25 years old). The right approach for me and my situation (but again this is influenced by state rules) was to follow an "ownership in dispute" process which a lot of states have for these kind of situations or for situations where you bought property and discovered an abandoned vehicle on the property, stuff like that. Basically what I needed was a bill of sale and posession of the vehicle, then I presented both to the state patrol who verified/documented the VIN of the vehicle as well as all other relevant factory stamps and labels via around 30 minutes of them climbing around/under and through the vehicle at their inspection facility. They then verified (both federally and via interpol) that the vehicle had never been reported stolen, no liens, etc. At that point they issued me a "ownership in dispute" title, if there had been any record of the vehicle in any federal system or state DMV they would additionally send registered mail to anyone on record asking them if they had any claim to the vehicle but in my case no records came up. The "ownership in dispute" title meant I had a title and plates and then had to wait out a 3 year dispute period, basically a grace period where state patrol waits to see if anyone makes claim to the vehicle. Once the 3 years passed I was issued a new clean title and that was that.