register gt40 as an older car

[Rune]

I vonder if it is possible to register the gt40 as a older car(1980-1990) in USA ?
If You build a car with old engine and old transaxle could You then say that this a 1990 mod.?
Reason for this is that to build a new car in Norway will cost 60 000 $ only for the tax!!!! This kill a project at once.
Some of You have already a thought of why I might ask a question like this. So if I start a project,I need some solutions or a older replica wreck that have been on road years ago .

Rune

 

[Lynn Larsen]

Rune,

It depends on which state the car is registered in. In Tennessee, for instance, the car registers as the year model it appears to be. In the case of the GT40, that would translate to '64-'66.

Regards,
Lynn

 

[Rune]

Do You have to live in Tennessee to get it registered there? or is it the same where Your address is in us?
Regards
Rune

 

[Bill Musarra]

Rune.
Don't know if this will work for you, but in parts of the U. S, all you need is the serial # out of an older car and any bill of sale, title or the like. You can get an old Mustang for example, register it and pay any back taxes, remove the serial # plate and permanantly attach it to your replica in the designated place dictated by local standards and you are ready to go. Be sure you do everything by "the letter of the law" in changing the engine serial number if required. You may be limited in that you may have to have some of the original car somewhere on your "new" car to pass as a rebuilt or reconstructed car. On some of the Corp. of Engineer lakes(in Georgia anyway), they will not allow any new boat houses on certain lakes. So you find one in disrepair, buy it, save the registration pieces, and build a new one attaching the old registration along with a piece or two of the old house. Of course you would need to check with a "friend" in the government office to see if this was feasable.

Bill

 

[Chris Martino]

When I built my 1973 Z/28, I bought a donor 1973 and a 1980 Camaro. I wanted to use the same F-body style of the 80 and salvage as much off the poor old 73, including the VIN plate. What a hassle to get it registered. I needed a sworn affidavit from the municipal court house, a lawyer to sware my buildsheet in good faith and ultimately it was registered as a 1973 Re-built vehicle with the MTO here in Canada.

Now it's sold... but I do have a GT40 coming-

Chris

 

[Lynn Larsen]

Rune,

In North Carolina, where I'll be registering my car very soon, it will be registered as a 2005. It is different in from state to state and there is no rhyme or reason. Each state's regulations must be individually checked. Sad, but true.

Regards,
Lynn Larsen (my grandfather came from Oslo somewhere around the 1900's)

 

Lynn,
Have you asked DOT in N. Carolina what you have to do to register a car that was so old that titles were not used? In Georgia all you have to do is register the car like a 1966 Ford 2 door blue coupe as an untitled car. Simple and easy. Oh, taxes are great. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
PS: Make sure the serial # has the correct number of numbers in it.

 

[Mark Charlton]

Interesting tactic, Joseph. I pondered the import of an older-date registered GT40 into Canada, but one of two things would occur: A) car is obviously a newer construction and would be denied entry. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif or B) car would be accepted as a 1966 Ford GT40, and the tax would be based on the "fair market value" of somewhere between 1 and $2 million USD /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif Keep in mind that up north here, to keep themselves busy over our cold, dark winters (much like Norway, I suspect...), our government officials conjure up new ways to beat down those of us who show any obviously subversive behaviour...

 

[Bill Musarra]

Speaking of taxes.........
Just yesterday, a book was released by a Georgia senator, John Linder, and international talk radio host, Neal Bortz. It is entitled "The Fair Tax Plan". It basicly eliminates all taxes. You name it and it is eliminated. In its place is a national sales tax of 23%. It is revenue neutral in that it will generate as much revenue as all taxes do today(which is more than should be paid, another subject, another day).Income, social secrurity, death, inheritance etc. etc. You get your entire paycheck to do with whatever you wish. All sales are taxed except vital necessities(food, drugs and the like).The cost of all goods, would remain the same.??? Because all taxes are dropped, the embedded taxes of manufacture of an item are dropped(which by the way is about 22-23%) and the item remains the same price. Even real estate. It sounds impossible but is not. In the book it explains through a FAQ how it works and how it will actually benefit the people who make less income. It gets rid of the class warfare and discrimination(read middle class). It only takes about an hour to read(only about 132 pages) and has the history of where the income tax came from(remember we weere a country founded on taxation problems). The book is #2 through #5 on the amazon.com book list. Sorry to hijack the thread, but couldn't resist as taxes is part of the registration scheme of things. How you register your car is driven by how much you might have to pay to get it registered. give the book a look, it will open your eyes. The tax code as it stands today comprises >66,000 pages, and is undeerstood by verrrrry few, and the whole buracracy could be eliminated and the code brought down to 132 pages. Give it a read. Now,,,, back to our regularly scheduled program!!!!!

Bill

 

[Tommy]

yes you can
there is a company for a fee that will register your car as any year you want.
Here in Louisiana the state uses the year the frame was produced for the year model
i did not want my Cobra replica to be a 2002 so i used the company to register it as a 66 Ford convertible. my GT40 replica was no problem as it was already registered as a 68 Ford. It has been painted 4 colors before i got it. One color appears to have been 1075's blue and orange. I am refurbishing it to look more like the 2005 sans bumper, but still keep the 68 1075 look. I am six feet tall and let me tell you, you don't want to be claustraphobic in one of these little boxes. There is no room for a suitcase, not even a small one! Oh the color I am painting the GT40 is Ford Royal Blue with the 1075 stripe in white. I figured that only fitting as I worked for Esso in 1968 here in the states and my uncle owned an Esso station in Cork.
u can do a search on the internet for U.S. Title and you will be headed in the right direction.
if you can't find it send me an email and I will pass along the info to you
Tom

 

[Bill Bayard]

Tommy,

Is U.S. Titles still in business? I was under the impression that they went belly up along with Titles Unlimited after the state of California threw a fit over lost tax revenue, due to "questionable" titles and registrations of kit cars.


Bill

 

[Ron Earp]

U.S. Titles and Titles Unlimited are both toast, as far as I know. Titles Unlimited made it in the news paper a year or so ago since their materials were seized and was being gone through - obviously this made a lot of people worry that had used Titles Unlimited to get 65/66 titles for their Cobras and also for all the Rod titles they handled, which amounted to many, many, many more than Cobras.

Here is a link I turned up in 3 seconds on Google, and on the Cobra forum no doubt:

http://www.clubcobra.com/t53291.html

I would stay away from these places, title the car the way your state or another state requires, but stick with the law. I started to go the titles unlimited route about 3 years ago but NC was not going to allow that to work - it was a known thing at that time and they were on to it at the DMVs.

 

[Chris Martino]

Even guys like Boyd Coddington have been under investigation for titles. I don't understand why anyone would go through the troubles anyway-

1) It's not like someone is going to buy a GT40 replicar under the impression that it is a genuine 1966, just because it was titled as such and pay $1M + for it

2) Good luck claiming that kind of money from the insurance company and expecting there to be no questions asked & no insurance adjuster knocking on your door because it was titled

3) Hope you never get into an accident that injures or causes a fatality because when the accident investigation turns up the truth about the vehicle (and they will) expect all kinds of trouble.

I personally couldn't enjoy myself in the car knowing that shit could hit the fan at anytime when out driving. Like Ron said, follow the laws and you and your investment will be safe.

 

[Ron Earp]

Chris,

Actually, for some folks in some states, the early year title is a lifesaver and it has nothing to do with the value of the car or to sell it as a genuine 1966 car. It has to do with jumping through hoops and can have a profound impact on what motor you can use in your replica.

Some states have their emission laws tied to year on the title. At the time I was wanting to get mine done North Carolina (the state I live in) had no provisions for "kit cars" and emissions. If you titled your car as a 2004, the year it was built and finished per the law at that time, then it would be expected to pass emissions like a 2004 car - OBD-II and all! Good luck getting a SB Ford with webers to pass 2004 emissions requirements. So, you can see why I would want the 66 title. In the end, Lynn Larsen and I wrote some letters here and there and with the help of other folks a waiver was granted by the State legislature that exempts all "kit cars" from emissions, thus removing the driving for (for me anyhow) to have a 66 title. You jump through the hoops, get a 2005 title, but don't have emissions problem.

All the states down here are different and the best states simply title the car as the year of what it looks like. I wish it was like that all over, makes no sense to me that my buddy that lives 300 miles away in TN can do that, but I cannot. However, that is the beauty of the US. If I wanted People's Republic of California politiks I could move there I suppose, same as I could move to TN.

 

[Chris Martino]

You could go for a Ford Focus powered GT40 to solve your emission problems...but then again - naaa. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Chris

 

[Mike Dozier]

Ron

You're right...many people were forced to "gray market"
titles because their States had no provisions to exempt
kit cars from current safety/emission requirements.
And the issue is too small for most States to care.

It would be interesting to see what would happen
if someone from a "bad" State purchased an early titled replica from someone who "legally" registered it in their own "lenient" State, and was challenged by DMV when they tried to register. Nevermind...I think I know the answer...
the little guy gets scr__ed.

MikeD

 

[Rune]

I'pleased to see that members have involved themselves in this . I have observed that the major problem in us is on the tecnical side not the huge taxes.
I have to play with the authoritys to see if it is possible to find a way that not killing a project.
But could there be someone out there that have a old gt40 damaged 99% that want to sell to me? I could need a total wreck to make a complete rebuild.
Then I was by the law. otherwise my vife kill me if I mention this at full cost. (I tried once) .

Have a look at www.sportscar.se I was there visiting Goran and I'm impressed, it was a quality above 100% on everything he do.

 

Did somebody say Republi"K" of california?! Moderator,, are you messing with "ma people"? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

I am one of those people that had to redo my registration because of the title unlimited fiasco. 7 years ago when my car was titled, "K"alifornia had no decent provisions for Kit Cars. If you had a 65 or older engine, you were fine otherwise, as Ron said,,, forget about webbers or anything resembling vintage motor. NOW, we have a pretty good law regarding Kits. The only problem,,,, only 500 cars with somg exemption allowed per year. So I will be sleeping outside of the DMV office come Jan 1st.

I think the reason most people used those companies in the past were smog reason and nothing else. No body in their right mine would have had done it for passing a replica as an original.
HELL THE ORIGINAL GTs HAVE THE STEERING WHEEL ON THE WRONG SIDE ANYWAY /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif


Fredy Fender
From the best/strangest state in the Republi"K" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Craig White]

[ QUOTE ]
HELL THE ORIGINAL GTs HAVE THE STEERING WHEEL ON THE WRONG SIDE ANYWAY /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey, original GT's have the steering wheel on the right/correct side. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I'm sure the UK guys will back me up. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Australia has the same problem with rules differing from state to state as well. Although all states enforce either current or rolling 5 year rule when it comes to emmissions for all newly registered Cobras & GT40s...so no engines older than 5 years. Also very, very restrictive sound levels. Plus all the other hoops you have to jump through. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Tommy]

Bill,
i talked to them this week

U.S. Auto & Title Co
P.O. Box 17325
Rochester, N.Y. 14617

the cost has increased from 315 to 450 for a 66 Cobra replica since this time last year.

sometimes the DMV makes it impossible to register first in your state. i don't mind doing the merry go round thing to get my plates.

tommy