Texas Kit Car Registration

[Shawn]

At the request of one of your regular forum members here is the most current information for registering my car in Texas:

First you must attain your VIN# from a regional office. You will need:
1) VTR-68-A form signed by your local law enforcement vehicle theft division. I recommend finding the Engine, Transalxe and FFR frame number in advance and be ready to show the officer where they are. I removed my diffuser and some of the engine aluminum to make it easy on them. These numbers need to correspond to a sales receipts. Your regional office can give you a phone number to a regional theft office or if your local city police department has a vehicle theft division you can use them.
2) Receipts from FFR, Engine, and Transaxle
3) Picture
4) $2.00
They will issue a VIN# and a sheet describing where to die stamp the number on your frame. You will need this sheet at your local registration office. (If the regional office is not in your County then you have to go to your county office to complete the final step).

Second, go to your County inspection station and get the safety inspection done.
1)They will sign it off at the same time providing you with a registration sticker.
2)You will need a copy of your insurance for this step. I called my insurance agent right after I received my VIN# and they were able to add it to the policy and print me out a insurance card.

Third, Take all paperwork to your County Registration office
They will need:
1) Vin # Sheet
2) Builders Affidavit showing all serial numbers and where parts came from
3) Title Application
4) Safety Inspection Report
5) Pencil Tracing of Frame, Engine, and Transaxle number
6) FFR Certicate of Origin
7) Proof of Insurance
8) Picture
9) Patience - These ladies do not do this every day and mine had to call someone in another office 3 or 4 times to verify things. I was there over an hour.

Links to forms and such:
Link to VTR-68-A form: (Also phone list of all regional offices on page 2)
http://www.txdot.gov/txdoteforms/Get...vletConfig.xml

Link to find a regional office near you: http://www.txdmv.gov/wheretogo/regional_offices.htm

Link to checklist of requirements:
http://www.dmv.com/tx/texas/custom-vehicle-registration

Hope this helps! <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[Bill Musarra]

I have a question that no one has addressed yet. If someone moves to your state and has their 40 registered in their former state, is there anything that they need to do to transfer the tag etc. other than what is normally done??
This is open to anyone in any state that would like to chime in.

Bill

[Doc Kaler]

Thanks Shawn!

[Ron Martel]

Shawn: Thanks! That'll be a big help when the time comes.

Bill: I went through a similar (excruciating) process in CT to get my Cobra on the road, but bringing it to TX was a snap. A simple safety inspection, which every car must go through every year here, registration transfer at the DMV (in TX it's at the local courthouse), and done. I don't suppose it's any different for a 40, as they're both "composites" or "kit cars".

[Doug]

Shawn, I'm in San Antonio and in the process of an RCR GT40 build. Do you know if the kit will qualify for a "Classic" or "Antique" car registration as a 1966 replica? Benefits are cheaper registration, no/little inspection, rear plate only, etc. Thanks,

[Doug Sainlar]

Originally Posted by Doug69

Shawn, I'm in San Antonio and in the process of an RCR GT40 build. Do you know if the kit will qualify for a "Classic" or "Antique" car registration as a 1966 replica? Benefits are cheaper registration, no/little inspection, rear plate only, etc. Thanks,

Depending on what your intended purpose is for the car, Doug, you may want to avoid "antique" or "classic" registration. When I registered my Cobra I inquired about this, and was told that there was a very significant yearly mileage limitation (IIRC it was 2,500 miles per year) and restrictions on where the car could be driven (IIRC, it was limited to parades and events at which the car might be displayed to the general public, such as a race or a car show).

Admittedly, I have slept since the time I originally registered my Cobra, so my memory might not be accurate, but I'd strongly suggest you check with your local county office regarding these registrations.

Cheers from Doug!!

[Doug]

Doug - Doug, I had the same thing going on with the '69 (pic), however, the antique plate was never an issue, never stopped with them on, etc. Not that I would intentionally disobey the law, but the law does say something to the effect "show" the car or something like that. Needless to say everytime I drove the Mach1 I was showing the car - I expect the same from the GT. Also, I was told at the DPS there was/is no mileage limit. Anyhow, it is still some time off before I register/title the car. Slow going this summer due to no a/c in the shop!

[idk]

yeah, i know this is an old thread, but, there are a few questions i need to have answered.. i'm in texas as well.

the main thing is, everything that i see, says you have to keep all of your receipts including and especially for the engine etc etc..

well....

what if you're using a donor car that is already in your name free and clear, registered, inspected, titled and insured?

i.e. you own a car and think "wow, this vette would make a great donor car for a kit project" and start stripping it down. You obviously won't have a receipt for the motor or any other parts your donor car donates to the kit like suspension, seats, electronics, or anything else.

seems fairly impractical since TONS of kit cars use a donor, and if you buy a car from someone, you don't go through and list out every part on the car, and i don't think i've ever put the engine vin on a bill of sale when i bought or sold a car..

where's the loophole here?

i do understand that you show the receipts in order to assess the value of the car you're building, but it makes it all the more difficult to do if you aren't buying every single piece of it from someone or from somewhere. do you have to sell the car to a friend or family member, and buy parts off of them as needed? or can you look on various websites and print out the cost of each of those items and show them to them... the state website is really unclear about a lot of this, and unfortunately, i don't know anyone in person who has gone through this process.

thx

[Doug Sainlar]

I would suspect you might have to surrender the title for the donor car. You are correct, a huge percentage of the FFR Cobra kits completed use Mustang donors. If you buy a body/chassis from an individual/salvage yard, you have a receipt to prove you own the parts. If you have an already registered car, you have a registration to prove you own the car, which would include all the parts on it.

It might be helpful to take photos with date/time stamps on them as you disassemble the donor car, showing clearly the parts to be used on the build, in case anyone (read: DPS inspectors) want to be sure you actually used the parts.

If only TX would adopt the SEMA registration plan....but, then, that still would not negate the need for receipts or other proof that the parts were not stolen.

If you get further information, please post it here on this thread...we all like to add to the collective knowledge base when we can.

Club Cobra has a dedicated "registration" forum....here's a link, perhaps you could get the info you need from there. If it isn't there already, join and post a Q, you'll get lots of help there, too. Here's the link:

Registration Forum - Club Cobra

I did a Club Cobra search for Texas donor build, no hits, but if you just search "donor build" you'll get a few.

Cheers and good luck!

Doug

[Doug Sainlar]

Mitch, I went ahead and posted the question on the Club Cobra forum, as I figure there have to be a truckload of donor-build FFR Cobras in process here in TX. Here's the thread (lots of good info in there!!):

Texas donor build? - Club Cobra

Hope this helps with your quest!

Cheers!

Doug

[idk]

Doug, that's awesome, thank you for the additional information, it makes much more sense now, i'll also check out the thread you provided and will come back with additional questions as needed. obviously, it takes quite a while to get everything together to actually start on a build etc, so, it may be a while lol. but thank you for the information.

thanks!