As an aside, Tennessee has a new class of "medium-speed vehicles", such as ATV's and modified golf carts.... so, you can drive them around town, etc. http://state.tn.us/revenue/notices/titlereg/08-21.pdf
Back to Rovers..... I've been in this discussion upmp**** times over the years, and I must be sadistic as I enjoy it every time.... lol.....
I work for a state agency, that enforces the state version of federal regulations... As federal regulations laid out, then the state enacts their own rules that can either reiterate, or go above and beyond (or within limits of), but don't have to exactly match. The feds have an oversight, but the state runs its own show. At times, there are plenty of things that the feds disagree with how the state does, and while sure, there are sometimes when the feds can call the shots, there have been *many* instances where the state's opinion stands, over the fed view. My point being..... while yes, there are federal laws that may not be adhered to, if you are meeting the letter of the law of your own state, then you're mostly in the clear (*no*, I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not giving one the okay to break federal laws, etc. etc.).
On a state-by-state level, things are all over the board. Cali has laws that no one else has, yet many states feel they have to follow suit on a lot of them. Some things, like swapping VIN's, I think we're all on the same page about it being outright illegal, any way you cut it. Then, the other approach often bandyied about is the kit-car route. Starting off from ECR's site, Mike's site makes the point that they've checked California, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, that building a Defender out of parts and calling it a kit isn't legal. It also goes on to mention specially constructed vehicles, etc. (A lot of good info there, such as the info on titles, too.) (Have to admit, I wonder if a CKD could be legally defendable as a kit, eh? I know the initial answer is no, but, a good lawyer might be able to.... anyway...)
But some states don't specifically deny such. Some states, it's scary what's allowed to run around legally. If you can bolt together a bunch of parts and get something to run, tow it to the DMV, a state trooper here will inspect it, and if he's signed off on it he'll issue you a VIN, and it's street-legal here. (Again, I'm not gonna come bail you out if you find otherwise.... ;) )
And, there are plenty of other facets.... liability, insurance, service, maintainability, etc. etc. etc. There are a lot of people who want a Defender, want one cheaper than buying one of the NAS ones, try to get one via other routes.... but, I think most of the folks here realize, not that I'm trying to be harsh or judgemental, but there are some people just not quite cut out for living with a Rover.... be it a Series or a 'special project'.
I think a problem with special Rovers is keeping them up. It's one thing to have a vehicle that you can run to a dealer and they can go through it by the book. When a Rover is put together by someone else, no matter how well done, it's not going to be an assembly-line vehicle. (That can be a good thing! but...). When someone hadn't built a vehicle themselves, or doesn't have the builder at-hand, then when a problem comes about, they have difficulty in dealing with... some people (the kind that lives w/ a Series), probably has a basic skills set and enough of a sense of adventure that they can roll up their sleeves and have a go, but I dare say we all know of at least one case where someone was enamoured with the idea of a Rover, obtained one, and really started to find that it wasn't a Honda (again, a good thing, but....).
Anyway, I'm rambling, and have a long Rover day tomorrow, so, adieu.......
:)