New CAV GT 40 owner pls help with info on inspection

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

[quote=mikewegener;240251While a 2008 kitcar has to be licensed as such in California in other states is a legal 1965 Cobra. What gives a loser country like germany the right to doubt paperwork from a proud state like Arizona? [/QUOTE]

Because people are trying this game. And I would not call Germany a "loser"...they have some small sports car companies, somebody called "Porsche" or something like that.

People, new is new, old is old and no amount of spin will change that.

[WEGENER Engineering]

Rick - Germany did lose the big one and we are all for the better
Living over there as a car guy is not easy and everybody has to deal with ridiculous laws. Think of the worst of commie california combined with strict laws from the 1000 year Reich.
My point regarding the import of a GT40 Replica that is licensed and titled as a '65 Ford in Arizona needs to be explained.
If a german citizen buys that car and imports it, Customs officials will slap that person with a fraud investigation and a hefty fine because Customs knows what's right or wrong. I do not think that is right.
After all the car comes with legal paperwork from a U.S. state.
Shouldn't determining the actual year of build and smog compliance be the responsibility of the german Department of Motor Vehicles and their almighty TüV? The way it is now, you can chance it and get '65 import paperwork from a customs official who does not know or does not care, and the next guy deals with a different customs guy and pays a horrifc fine, has a criminal record and a car that can never be licensed because of the smog laws.
I know that you can take the lofty position that only real cars are real and replicas are 2008 models but some high end replicas are knocking on the door of being vintage classic cars just by their method of construction like Safir or Holman Moody or because of how long they have been built already. Contemporay Cobra and ERA come to mind who have been building Cobra Replicas since the early eighties.
Customs should process cars by their paperwork. There are reasons why that paperwork was filled out the way it was. And they aren't always nefarious.
Regarding that little car company. Sure they build great cars but they are built regarding to government rule. To savor the true German Automotive Experience drive your Porsche to your local german tire dealer and buy a new set of tires. In your government issued paperwork for the car it lists the manufacturer and sizes of the tires. Let's say the tires listed are made by Continental. You decide to change to Pirelli tires one size larger. A little later you get stopped for speeding and you meet a policeman who did his homework.
You will get: 1 speeding ticket, 1 ticket for the wrong brand of tire, 1 ticket for tires the wrong size, 1 ticket for driving without insurance because running the wrong tires voids your insurance policy and 1 week later you will lose your driver's license for driving without insurance that day. Oh, and your car got impounded. I lived in Germany and rode a Chopper, drove sportscars and drag strip inspired muscle cars. I was stopped every night by police, my driver's license was always hanging by a thread and the only thing that saved me was the fact that my dad was a high ranking policeman who made many things go away...
When I first visited California in the mid seventies I could not believe how free americans were. Of course this has changed for the worse as germany back then was already like the People's Republic of California is now. The things I hear from today's Germany make me shudder and thank God for my humble Mohave desert home.
Glad I got this off my chest. I am better now........

[Uwe]

ok if this VIN is burnt in terms of guys scanning this forum then I have a big laught. If the "MAN" scans this forum then he already has a very good idea where to look for and which manufacturers are making these replicas. So in my opinion the only way you get this licensed is that you know somebody that will help you. And I am still wondering how CAV can get a new car on the road without a modern motor that will stay in the smog regulations at least here in Germany.
BTW if you are PORSCHE then you get the CARRERA GT and CAYENNE GTS on the road although they make way too much noise. Same with the ATVs, how the hell can a thing like this get a registration ? And to be honest, even if the smog laws would not be in power there would be no big run on the big V8s anyway, nowadays everybody is looking for low MGP for a daily car, so a g40 replica would hardly be used for driving to work. The whole thing is a joke and about money, here every car you own must have a full insurance no matter if it sits in the garage or not ?
In my opinion they should raise the price for gas with taxes and drop everything else, then the one who drives a lot pays a lot and pollutes a lot,
simple as that.

[Cliff Beer]

One notion thats worth keeping in mind here is that the reason we (US gov't and non-renegade States at least) allow the older vehicles to not comply with modern emissions standards is because we presume: a) this group includes a finite number of cars all produced in the past, and b) as these are all old cars their numbers are continuing to diminish. Both a and b serve to lessen the environmental impact without having to take the draconian steps of either banning old (ie high pollution) cars from the road or requiring that they comply with modern emission standards. This is a fundamental principle reflected in both the current automobile emission legislation and also in the Congressional debate record. By allowing "new" cars to be treated as old cars for emissions purposes we're working to defeat this principle. I'm guilty as charged myself.

[Veek]

Fortunately, in a few places there is still some governmental sanity out there. When I registered my car in Florida, the big hassle was the fact that CAV has an odd number of digits in the VIN so checking the record was difficult. They were primarily concerned that the car was not stolen. As far as legal conformity goes, you can get that done here pretty easily. As they explained it to me, they are somewhat lenient on hot rods and customs as long as they are safe to operate. They also know most of these are driven on a very limited basis. But then we soak the tourists with taxes and fees and so we don't need to generate revenue over tires the wrong size, emissions retesting, etc., etc. So when you stay in a hotel or rent a car in my home state, you are supporting car hobbyists from Pensacola to Miami.

FYI, while government conspiracies are always fun, I don't think "da man" can read the numbers off of a picture of a VIN plate. Heck we had a president a few years ago that couldn't pull off a simply burglary.

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Originally Posted by mikewegener

Customs should process cars by their paperwork. There are reasons why that paperwork was filled out the way it was. And they aren't always nefarious.

No, not always. But sometimes they are. If I fill out a form that says my (non-existant BTW) SPF GT40 is indeed "P1075" does that make it so? I think not. Just because some US state accepted a given person's definition of year at registration time does not mean Germany (or California or Iceland) must accept that paperwork.

The point is be careful, and if you are "streching the envelope", it is probably not a good idea to discuss it on a public forum!

[josvdp]

Originally Posted by spatz

And I am still wondering how CAV can get a new car on the road without a modern motor that will stay in the smog regulations at least here in Germany.

Ok just time for something other than a rant : in England the rules effectively permit a new car with an old engine block to have the smog equipment of the date of the block hence some replicas are permitted to run without cats - does this apply in Germany too ?

[Cliff Beer]

Heck, in Washington State if it has four wheels and a seat and isn't stolen then you can register it and you're on the road. Doesn't matter if you have mis-matched bald tires, no windscreen, straight pipe exhaust, and a rusted out chassis. Ah, the land of the free and the home of the brave.....

[Ron Earp]

Originally Posted by Cliffbeer2

Doesn't matter if you have mis-matched bald tires, no windscreen, straight pipe exhaust, and a rusted out chassis. Ah, the land of the free and the home of the brave.....

And that is the way it ought to be!

[Ian K]

Originally Posted by Ron Earp

And that is the way it ought to be!

You won't be saying that after some fool in a piece of crap like that runs into your
Lola replica - and he doesn't have insurance. Since, apparently, that isn't required
either.

BTW, some counties in WA require biennial emissions testing.

Ian

[Ron Earp]

Sure, I was being a bit tongue in cheek with it. I do think we have far too much govt regulation in autos though.

[Ian K]

Originally Posted by Ron Earp

Sure, I was being a bit tongue in cheek with it. I do think we have far too much govt regulation in auto though.

I used to think so, but living in San Diego, I lean more towards it. Dealing with cars registered
in Mexico driving here, or worse, taking your own vehicle to Mexico (even with buying
insurance specifically for it), I appreciate most of the regulation CA has. I sometimes wish
they did biennial safety checks to (a la NY's annual) - I'd like a little more reassurance that
all of the registered vehicles on the roads I drive on have things like properly functioning
brakes, steering and alignment check out, tread on the tires, lights, etc.

I also agree with pipe emissions testing, even for hot rods and kits. As long as a reasonable
limits are set, any well maintained hot rod or kit should burn relatively cleanly. I totally disagree
with the visual inspection. Having the correct equipment in place does not guarantee it
is working properly, something the pipe sniffing will find out about.

Ian