Florida title question
 

Hi All, I just got my new (to me) Backdraft build number 814 titled here in Hawaii.
The car was titled in Florida when I purchased it and on the FL title it has the "Make" of the car as "ROAS" and the year as 1965.
Does anyone else have "ROAS" on their title as the "nake" of their Backdraft? The DMV people here in Hawaii just scratched their heads and titled the car here using the same "ROAS" as the make and used 1965 as the year on the new Hawaii title (since it was on the Florida one).
I can not for the life of me figure out what "ROAS" could possibly stand for on the Florida title and the only gues I have is that it is short for "raodster" (which is certainly NOT a "make").
Car was originally purchased from Frank Dodd in the Boynton Beach dealership.
Seems like some weird Florida title snafu, but I gues it is really of no matter now that it is legally titled here in HI and they do not really seem to care about any explanation of it.
Just curious if anyone else has seen this on their titles, or has any ideas on an explanation for it or some FL DMV code, etc.
Car is absolutely awsome after I did a lot of dress up work in engine bay and interior, etc It was entered in it's first show here a week ago and easily took home a first place trophy blowing away the other "sports/exotic competition. Including two other Cobras in the show. No one even noticed them as they all simply crowded around this car and pointed and gawked endlessly. I'll post some pics of the car and the dress work ASAP.
Just curious abot the "ROAS" thing?
Don

Registered my Backdraft in GA anf they have the make as "Roadster" and model as Cobra. I believe that came from the factory certificate of origin which shows make as same. Ron

I'm pretty sure if it was registered on Oahu, instead of the Big Island, your title would identify the vehicle as a "Cobra", MODEL year, 1965, year first sold 1965, and finally STRD-RPLC (street rod replica).

On the outter islands it was always legal to register a "kit car", "home built", "replica", "dune buggy", whatever term you want to use. Until just a few years ago there was NO WAY to legally register any of the above mentioned on Oahu. That previous law was based on the number of residents per Island, with Oahu exceeding the target limit of population numbers, therefore, no legal way to register. Most of us registered our cars on one of the other islands using "Aunties" address (and various other under the table methods) and then kept a low profile on Oahu before "we" got the law changed. Some folks simply walked in, said they had a 1965 Ford Cobra and got it registered straight up as that BEFORE the Oahu law was changed (lucky bastards). :)

So, on the other islands it was always a bit of a crap shoot as to how the model and year would be determined, there was nothing consistent. ROAS almost certainly means Roadster, a fitting description, I guess...

With the new Oahu law it was BASICALLY meant to describe the vehicle as to what it most closely resembled (Dune Buggy, Porsche (replica of course), Cobra, GT-40, etc) and then note it was a "Street Rod REPLICA". My ERA was originally an "ASE" out of California, an Assembled vehicle (this was before the SB-100 method of Calif registration). It was re-named "Cobra" when I registered it on Oahu, as were many others at that time. The original California VIN was retained and a new VIN decal was installed on the car by Hawaii. Pretty much we all got in line and immediatly registered our "Cobras" following the new law, so it was a mass filing kind of thing, which may account for the consistency of at least the early cars being registered. It may well have stayed "ASE" had I registered it on another island, like yours is still a ROAS. No doubt there just doing like they always have on the Big Island (and Maui and Kaui), whatever comes around, whatever they feel like calling it on any given day.

Previous to owning the ERA I had an Excalibur, which was a "real" car (DOT and Federally approved and all that) so it was easy to legally register on Oahu exactly as it was before in any other state, a 1994 Excalibur JAC 427, with original VIN, as per factory description.

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Shelby

So Frank sold you a used car?

Thanks for the above definition of ROAS. I thought it might be that or a shortened "raodster".
No Frank sold the car new to the guy I bought it from. It was sold new in late Dec. 2009 and then the guy sold it to me when he decided to get married and buy a new home (either needed to use the $ for a down on the house or the new bride made him sell it?-lol).
Either way I got a good buy on a great car with less than 2K miles on it and my wife and I love it.
D.