Importing 15 year old Cobra from US into Canada

[cycleguy55]

My most recent experience at importing a car indicates Transport Canada / Canada Border Services Agency cares more THAT you have a title certificate than on WHAT it says - particularly when it comes to what the car is titled as. IOW, they essentially ignore "1995 SPCN Cobra" or, in my case, "1991 West Coast Cobra". I think they've been stung in the past by these descriptions on title certificates.

It seems they're now looking for some documentation as to "an official registration history" as SunDude pointed out. As we were unable to provide "an official registration history" for my car, what we used as a proxy was a combination of the VIN issued by Michigan (plate / decal affixed to the door jam), and a letter from the Michigan Secretary of State detailing how the last 6 digits of the VIN represented the VIN issue date. BTW, that was only accepted because Michigan doesn't issue VINs until the car has passed safety inspection.

BTW, I was told the VIN / letter combination would not have been accepted if it was possible for the VIN to have been issued prior to the car being completed (as apparently happens in some places - registration while the car is still under construction). In that case we would have needed to provide some other proof of completion to satisfy the 15 year test. Yikes - glad I dodged that bullet.