Your tale reminds me of a college car I was once involved with. Freshmen were not allowed to have a car on campus, but we were not to be denied. A bunch of us went together on a 56 Bug with a broken crank...think we scraped together 50 bucks or so to buy it. 25 more for a crank from the junkyard. Got 5 big football players to lift up the rear while one of the guys slid under & loosened the bolts dropping the engine onto a tire. Picked it up and hauled it into the dorm, plunking it down on a sheet of cardboard. A few hours later the crank was in and it was back outside with the motor and the footballers did their duty.
By this time we had enough cash for 5 gallons of gas and a full crankcase...but no license tabs. That year, Minnesota "year tabs" were orange...so we just painted 'em onto the plates. Since our college was "out in the country", we could backroad it to town and fun. Kept it hidden in the woods until needed. At the end of the year, sold it to an upperclassman for 100 bucks.
