I know that car. I had my first dealership job in Mpls in the summer of '93, and that car was stored upstairs. It was very nice then. I talked to the owner at the time. IIRC, it had another of these "coveted now, not then" stories. It had supposedly sat on the dealer's lot until 1971, until they finally got an older guy to buy it to tow his boat. If he backed said boat in and out of water, plus a few Minnesota salted winters, it probably did need a bit of work.
I also remember that in the post price crash era of '93, he couldn't get $25K (or was it $20K?) for the car with a fresh restoration. He ended up trading it off to an exotic car broker.
The restorer had many early Cudas, and they weren't expensive at the time, so I doubt there is any ownership history issues here with the M-code car or the Texas car.
NJSteve, while I can appreciate your perspective, isn't every E-body that has had the dashboard replaced (gotta pop that VIN and grind those rivets) or every early Mustang that was hit in the front technically afoul of the law as well? (for reference, Mustangs had the VINs on the tops of the inner fender aprons, often replaced with ones from other cars when repaired. Many have been hit, and those front bumpers don't bump, they're just trim pieces
).
I like the car. I still think its worth owning. I know he had a complete but rusty M-code Cuda when he started, and had a nice restored one when he was done.