Finishline and Shelby are/were separate entities. although maybe their relationship was connected at that early point in time. In theory, the seller should have a receipt from Shelby and a receipt from Finishline, which is hopefully OK.

However, the DMV could, in all their wisdom, could still claim the car is a turnkey. :rolleyes:

I got lost somewhere in the slide from registration of a car that was assembled by legally distinct parties to a car that will be difficult to register because it is a 'turn-key'.

Is the problem here the fact the purchaser will have title to a running car that, for purposes of the law, was never identified as having a chassis and body seperate from the engine and drivetrain needed for it to be made complete? Had the seller registered the car he competed, providing the DMV with the requisite receipts, would the pending sale be just another private party sell of a used car?

Agreed to a point but it happened last year to a guy that bought a Backdraft and got hosed by California DMV. His posts on this has all been deleted and I am thinking that he might have went a different route;).

You're definitely at the mercy of the BAR referee. But, in the Backdraft case, once you see that there's no "light bulb" over the referee's head, then you should make a quick exit. Once "the path" has been chosen, you're toast. :)

The lesson here, whether you have a shop do the work or not, you must insist on receiving a separate receipt for the transmission and also one for the engine from a 3rd and/or 4th party (not the install shop and not the Cobra manufacturer).

I have read in past posts on the SB100 issue that there are more knowledgable and "friendlier" DMV offices in SoCal where they get it. Others don't have a clue and just go to the book or call Sacramento for advice and now you're in their system. As Rodknock said, then you're toast and have opened up the can of worms....

Maybe this makes sence,
If a car is assembled and intended for use in the state of California it has to meet emission standards for the year it was manufactured, if you can do that then you don’t need the SB100. Since we all want loud, smelly, powerful cars, having them meet the emission standards is just not an option. So the only way to get around that and become “smog exempt” is with the SB100 process, but it is only available to individuals that create a vehicle that never existed before for their own use. You have to prove to the state that you did not buy the car already completed (Turn Key), so even if you assembled the car yourself but bought every component from one source, that could be a red flag at the DMV, you need to clearly show that major components were bought by you from different sources, you can have it assembled by someone else, but it needs to be clear that you were in charge of supplying all of the components.
The problem with the car in this tread is that it is a completed car being offered for sale that has no title or registration. The seller is now a manufacturer because he did not establish that he built the car for his own use, and therefore it needs to comply with current emission standards.
The time span that has occurred is not an issue, some of these cars take many years to complete. But the bottom line is that the only one who can legally use the SB100 process is the current owner. If he can clearly show the stuff I mentioned above then it is not a difficult thing to do. There are obviously things that you don’t want to mention to the DMV pertaining to the currently proposed sale, but this car was clearly built for the current owners use and not originally intended for resale. If he wants to sell it, immediately, after receiving title that’s not an issue because the state gets to collect sales tax again when the new owner transfers the now legal title.

I don't think it's a huge issue to have a receipt for the engine/trans/install, as long as they are clearly two different entities. The Backdraft situation was a one off and people need to strike the word "turn key" from their lexicon.

Oh the good ol' days when all you had to worry about is the DMV stapling your paperwork correctly. :eek: :LOL:

Just thinking that IF the original owner has the MSO, he could sell the car as a "never completed" roller. The buyer would then purchase the engine on a bill of sale, "reinstall" the engine ;), then walk it through the SB100 process.

I would never advocate something like this, but it could happen. ;)

Recently I bought a used run-of-the mill car from GA with 43,000 miles and went to the DMV to have it inspected, of course, a requirement in order to register it here. The tech inspector finished looking at everything and filling out the form, when he handed it to me. Of course, with the infamous paperwork snafu back in 2008 still fresh in my mind, I gave the form the "once over" to make sure everything was OK. Well, wouldn't you know, the DMV person wrote 143,000 miles on the form. Fortunately, I caught the error and had him start over from the beginning. :mad: :CRY: **) ;)

Thanks, roadrod. That helped...

Yup, I remember reading that on the other forum..... ;)


Bill S.

The concern, as I see it, is that the original owner (the guy you will be buying the car from) never registered the car. Therefore, as of this moment, DMV has no knowledge of the existence of this car. If you buy it from him, it's most likely going to be perceived as a turnkey car. And you don't want to go down that street with the DMV. Once alerted, they could make it so that the car can never be registered in California and would have to be sold out of state.
If it were me, I would gather up all the receipts and the MSO and try to register it for the first time and get an sb100 exemption.
Just tell DMV that the car has been a project car and was only recently completed. If you're worried about the mileage, replace the speedo.

Still could be trouble though. Not sure I would mess with it unless it is at least $10k under market.

And, finally, the owner probably won't want to register it before he sells it to you because of the registration fees and sales taxes he will be asked to pay.

If the current owner dosn't have the paperwork to get through SB100 I suppose he could part out the car so that someone else actually finishes the assembly.

I would not recommend providing the VIN number here, but after the CSX VIN stamped on the frame, does it start with a 3 or a 4???

This thread is how "How to register a CSX4000 car?".

If this was a "completion" car (CSX30??) instead of a "continuation" car (CSX4???), it would be pretty much impossible to get an SB100.

I will call the owner and see if I can see ALL the paperwork. Sounds like this could turn into a real pain in the rear, as much as I like the car the DMV could really make me hate it in the long run. Is it this tough in other states? I do have relatives in the midwest...... :)
I am glad I asked this question here, makes me think long and hard now. Went through the SB100 with the SuperFormance....missed the jan deadline one year, had to wait another year to do it all over again, had to use temp reg all year.

As mentioned earlier, if there's a deal in there somewhere, then you should get paid for the time, legwork and hassle (i.e., lower price). I'm sure there are SB100 #'s still remaining for 2013, so that won't be an issue.

You'll need to review ALL the paperwork and see if makes sense to proceed. You will definitely need the MSO and at a minimum receipts for the engine and transmission preferably from companies other than Finishline. And then all the Finishline receipts for labor and other parts. Again, preferably parts like the alternator, starter and all the small parts are from other sources. After all that, then you'll need worry about the "odometer question" and it's entirely possible they make not even care. You just don't know for sure.

I wouldn't pay market value, as if the car is currently legal and registered.

Why not solve things the easy way? Move out of Kalifornia. Lived there for 35 years and finally got tired of banging my head against the wall because of the corrupt government. Moved out 13 years ago and have never regreted it. In almost every other state it is a piece of cake to register a 4000-series. How about more details on this Cobra -- I'm sure a bunch of us are interested. Good luck with the gov'ment.