GT-40 Titles

Kevin Carey · 10-27-05, 08:49 PM

I am posting this because this an ongoing issue with all custom or replica car builders and owners in the US. The laws of the "title search " companies is over, the state are going after the car owners and it is not pretty!! The last issue of the SAAC #74 tells the story. SEMA has been doing a lot on the subject but we as consumers must help and speak out for this. A few states have been turned in our direction ,Rhode Island, Illinois, Missouri, and Montana. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM.... These are not the most dense states as to the amount people living in each. We all need to get invovled with this issue!!!! I am going to contact every state rep and mail all the right thinking on this. Connecticut , (the people fought) the helemet law in this state and won ,a long time ago ,but it is a yearly work to keep it alive. We must work to the same degree on registering our cars of ,"not new status", or we will all be biulding ecno- GT-40's. This is important. Kevin

Rob · 10-27-05, 09:04 PM

Kevin,
Please elaborate on "the laws of the title search companies". What do you mean by this?

thanks
Rob

FRP Guy · 10-28-05, 02:47 AM

Today Dave Smith, owner of Factory Five, Joe Leone, Mike Forte, and myself got up in front of the Massachusetta Joint Transportation Committee to help support and to show our support for House Bill 2156 & 2212. The Pro-Hobbyist Street Rod and Custom Vehicle Bill is based on model Legistration crafted by the Specialty Equipment market Association (SEMA) If this bill gets passed, it should make it a lot more of a simple process to get hand crafted car registered. Other Us states have passed similar Bills. This is the first step in passing this Bill. Knowing how this state's gov't works, it could take a long time.

Kevin Carey · 10-28-05, 09:42 PM

William, thank you for doing what you have done. There is a lot of work invovled with this type of legislation . That is why I posted the information . But in this country we as a group seem to be a bunch of sheep ,when it gets tough to fight anything. Can you send me the information that you all used in the fight for new laws on the registration of Hot Rods and Kit cars? And YES to all that read this post we all own (or most ) own "kit cars" ,even if we do like the connotations of that.Conn. is not a freindly place as to this subject. To All , BE aware ....... Kevin

FRP Guy · 10-28-05, 09:54 PM

kevinc, email joseph.leone@comcast.net
Joe has all the info

BenL · 10-28-05, 11:50 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Today Dave Smith, owner of Factory Five, Joe Leone, Mike Forte, and myself got up in front of the Massachusetta Joint Transportation Committee to help support and to show our support for House Bill 2156 & 2212.

[/ QUOTE ]

An Act RELATIVE TO THE REGISTRATION AND INSPECTION OF STREET RODS AND CUSTOM VEHICLES.

http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/ht02/ht02156.htm
http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/ht02/ht02212.htm

(looking quickly at the two bills, they look similar)

I'm not too wild about them being exempt from safety inspections (if you're going to drive a car on the road, it should be able to meet the minimum standards for safety) but the rest of it seems reasonable. Though I'm not quite sure what is the attraction of "blue dot tail lights". Are they a new fad, or were they actually used on cars 40-70 years ago?

Kevin Carey · 10-29-05, 02:01 PM

Rob, the "title search co" were or maybe there a few left were companies for a fee would buy your car and title it in their state and then sell your car back to you as a registered car i.e. 1966 ford. But California has gotten smart and has arrested one that I know of who ran one of these companies and then have gone after the car owners themselves and some have to pay back taxes and worse. Kevin

FRP Guy · 10-29-05, 04:08 PM

Kevinc, the way I understand it; people were misrepresenting the price of the car and cheating the state out of Tax money. We all would love to buy the low, insure it high, register it low for low tax assessment, and sell high. Can you imagin buying a Cobra replica ( the bill of sale says "1965 Cobra" ) for twenty thousand dollars, going in to the registry to register it and pay the sales tax, then the person behind the desk looks up in their little book of what the going price is for a 1965 Cobra. If they valued it at $300.00 the sales tax would be $15,000.00 with Massachusetts 5% sales tax. In the state of Mass. we pay sales tax when we register the car.
Ben, I think the biils are trying to eliminate the emissions testing not the safty check.

Mike Dozier · 10-31-05, 12:51 PM

It's a shame because the intial purpose of the "buy a title"
companies was good. MANY old cars would have been crushed
if the owners couldn't obtain a title...which are all but impossible to obtain through "official" channels.

However the popularity of "self built cars"
(mostly street rods and Cobras) enabled so many owners
to "cheat" the States of Sales Tax that it eventually caught the eye of Big Brother. If the States didn't make it so difficult to title/register "kit" cars without having
to pass current emissions, the "buy a title" companies
would have far less business....and the States would reap
more revenue. Problem is that most legislators could care less...most of them are tree-huggers anyway.

MikeD

40 Bud · 10-31-05, 01:49 PM

Mike, well said!! That was so true in Calif. Before SB100 it was almost impossible to give your kit an identity unless it was complete and ready to roll.

Kevin Carey · 10-31-05, 07:49 PM

40bud, the SB100 what does that entail? As we all know everything starts at the left coast and ends at the right coast.I have posted my thoughts only because I am soon to try to register my GT40 .With that I also remember all the past in this state of CT., is not freindly to modified vehicles. Many years of choppers and hot rods ,and the ex!! helmet laws ,I do want safety inspections ,but as the emmisions that is another subject. But with all this , I do believe that an informed public can win its desires over the elected politicians.It does take time and commitment to go forth and fight these things like this. To Mike D, F ..the tree -huggers The best to all, Kevin

40 Bud · 11-01-05, 12:56 PM

Kevin, you can find lots of info on SB100 with the search feature. However a short version is that Calif. allows a small number of cars each year to be registered as what they replicate - i.e. 1965 GT40- or under the engine year that the car has. The chassis year is the prefered method and these special exemptions are usually gone within the first couple of days of the year.

Kevin Carey · 11-02-05, 06:56 PM

Yes I am aware of this in CA.But I am looking for a better way .. with a new engine ,better gas mileage and emmisions . Why not a spot for the few who document these cars.To register a car by the year of the motor..... is very limiting. I do not know just looking for answers to questions I do not have . The best ,Kevin

JOSEPH · 11-07-05, 01:08 PM

Why not go by the year the car is replicating? That is what we are doing anyway. Joseph

Mike Dozier · 11-07-05, 05:24 PM

Joseph

That would be logical...but again I see the major problem
as political...particularly under the current situation
(Iraq war)...not a lot of legislative support to help
put more "gas guzzlers" onto the streets of America.

MikeD

JOSEPH · 11-07-05, 08:00 PM

Don't forget that back in 1966 there were no titles for any cars. Why not register them as an untitled vehicle like you would an original 1966 Ford Mustang? Joseph

Mike Dozier · 11-08-05, 12:33 PM

Many States (including mine) prohibit registration without
a valid title.

MikeD

Ian K · 11-08-05, 12:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yes I am aware of this in CA.But I am looking for a better way .. with a new engine ,better gas mileage and emmisions . Why not a spot for the few who document these cars.To register a car by the year of the motor..... is very limiting. I do not know just looking for answers to questions I do not have . The best ,Kevin

[/ QUOTE ]

Kevin,

In California, there are currently 2 (well, 3, but the third
does not apply to new builds) ways to reg a replica/kit.

SB100 allows 500 specialty constructed vehicles to be registered
based on body style replicated or engine date, defaulting to
1960 if neither apply. Once the first 500 fill up, the other
option is to reg based on engine year.

SB100 makes your vehicle smog exempt - so you can have modern
engine/management/etc. and still not worry about emissions
testing. The other method requires a dated engine conforming to
the emissions standards of that year. If you use a pre-66
block, you will be pipe exempt, but must pass visual.

I'm of the opinion of screwing visuals and having a pipe
test scaled for reality - most well maintained vehicles
should burn relatively cleanly (as opposed to early to mid
70's clunkers that have not seen maintenance in 100,000 mi).
I also wish some sort of safety inspection were required
in CA - I may have confidence in the people on this board,
but again, there are plenty of poorly maintained vehicles
on the road that have burn out lights/markers, no mirrors,
no brakes, bald tires, etc.

Ian

Ian Anderson · 11-08-05, 03:04 PM

Guys
What does the law state if you import a car from another country.

Say you register a car in (say) Mexico (Faili and friends is this possible?) and then "import" a Mexican car into the USA will this get around the rules because you should have some Mexican document stating what the car is that some bureaucrat can then copy, charge the required tax and get you on the road.

Just it might end up opening another route

Gee and I think the SVA is bad in theUK

Ian