California gauntlet
 

First, I'd like to thank all the members here for the incredible amount of information that you share.

I just bought a SPF in Colorado on 2/14. My first Cobra (Am I allowed to call it that - if it looks like a . . . ., sounds like a . . . , runs like a . . . . ). It's being delivered Thursday 3/3/05, so I'm about to run the California gauntlet. I will keep you updated as to how it is going. I'm dreading the return posts saying it can't be done.

SB-100 is out for 2005, and without some mass amnesty program, not a very viable alternative in the future. The car was registered in CO as 67 Ford convertible worth 6K. I intend to register it as a specially constructed vehicle at its full price and pay the f***ing taxes. It has a C7AE-A 427 sideoiler and should pass the 1967 smog requirements. We'll see.

I got lucky. Before reading your threads I almost bought an out of state crate motor car. Apparently, I would not have been able to drive it, only race it, until 2006 and pray to be one of the annoited 500. I'm going to drive my car most days.

Any inside information will be welcomed.

Thanks, Bill

If it's already registered as a '67, then you should be good to go. The car's title is a '67, California doesn't change the title year, that was set in Colorado. You should be able to register it just fine without going through the SPCN (SB100) process.

The SB100 process is for new vehicles without a title. For example, they titled my car as a 2005, but the SB100 gives me smog exemption. Your 1967 title is like a free ride on the California DMV express.

Hope you are right, but that's not my understanding. If CA is yanking registrations on misregistered CA cars, what would stop them from getting to a misregistered CO car. The car was built in 1998.

Sir, please allow me to be perfectly blunt here.....YOU ARE WRONG. Dead wrong. The CA DMV will run the former '67 title against their vast database and this SPF will be red-flagged for a "VIN verification". If the owner is lucky, he will then go see his local CHP and they will tack on their own VIN tag (which will start the whole SB100 process). You can run but you can't hide (any longer). If the owner is unlucky, they will impound his vehicle and it will never be able to be legally registered in the State of CA.

Please perform some more research (do a search under "SB100" on this forum) before posting inaccuracies. Trust me, there are several on this forum (including myself) that went this route and we all have our war stories to share. Follow the DMV guidelines (assuming you get a number in '06) and all will be well.

-Dean
SPF #747 - legally registered in the State of CA under SB100/1578

Hi Dean - saw your handle on earlier threads. Don't scare me now. I was told the DMV would visually verify my VIN number if I applied as a SPCN before sending me to a referee for block verification and smog requirements. Crossed fingers.

Bill,

Straight from the CA DMV web site: "In 2002, another Senate Bill passed, SB 1578, which allowed previously registered vehicles to be allowed this special consideration by BAR in addition to initial registrations."

You are taking the correct approach....follow the rules and you should be fine. Unfortunately, you'll have to beg for temporary operating permits (and extensions, which can be tougher to get now) until '06 rolls around and you can get one of the 500 exemptions. Perhaps they will add you to a waiting list to ensure you get one? Hindsight being 20/20, buying a previously registered, SB100 compliant car (and paying a little more) is, unfortunately, the best way to go these days in CA. Otherwise, buy new and wait for a sequence number. I barely missed the storm during '04 (timing was on my side - bought car from previous TX owner in December '03 and secured a sequence number in February before they ran out). Wouldn't consider repeating it these days.

Good luck and keep us posted on how things went.

Regards,

-Dean

Dean, thanks for the subtle correction :rolleyes:

I had a long conversation at the DMV while working on my SB100 on January 3rd. The clerk had quite a bit of experience with SPCN registration and gave me the information I passed on, which I assumed was correct.

F***! Thanks Dean. Any further info would be appreciated.

feddersenr, didn't mean to bust your chops. Just hate to see misinformation get posted here on an ultra-sensitive topic. My experiences with DMV is that many of their "experts" really don't understand the law or the procedure. I actually walked my local DMV through the process when I went there (web site printouts in hand). Had it not been for the expert advice I received from this very forum, I would have been screwed. Which means I owe pretty much every one here a beer! :D

In need of a sympathetic BAR referee.

Actually, if your 427 block is really a '67 block (and will pass whatever the smog rules, inlcuding applicable smog equip, were for '67), you won't be registering under SB100 or 1578, you'll be choosing the "normal" (if anything is normal with DMV/BAR) route, and choosing to be smogged under the rules applicable to the year of the block. The car will still be titled as an SPCNS, and it won't be "exempt" as under SB100/1578, but you'll have achieved the same thing (in essence) and you can drive it right away.

From the DMV's web site:

Bill,

First of all, welcome to Club Cobra, and congrats on your new Cobra. I remember my first Cobra, and I hope you have many miles of smiles.

I noticed that you're from Brentwood. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's in Northern CA...right? If so, then I suggest that you join us for Breakfast on Saturday at Athens in Dublin. There you will not only meet a bunch a great guys (and see some awesome Cobras), but you will be able to discuss your titling/registration issues face to face with some folks who have done exactly what you are doing.

The advice you are getting on this forum is top notch. I'm not discounting it at all.

If you're interested in Breakfast, then do a quick search for "Athens" under the Bay Area Cobra Club section under the Club Forums area on Club Cobra.

Congrats again,
Randy R...

Dextger is correct on the "year of block" alternative.

Choose your poison.:D

Randy, nice welcome, but I believe Brentwood is in West L.A. (if memory serves me correctly, somewhere between Beverly Hills and UCLA? All I remember about the name is that I can't afford to live there. :D

When a vehicle is brought into CA from another state and is going to be registered and titled in CA the VIN has to be verified by a Police Officer, Sheriff's Deputy, or CHP Officer. Most times the DMV will tell you to go to the CHP. As was previously posted, they will catch right away that it is not a 67 Ford.

I agree that it is best to tell the DMV up front that by CA law it is a SPCNS and proceed accordingly. Please keep us advised of how the emissions issue is resolved. There are some contradictory things going on right now in CA.

SB-1578 added 4750.1(a) and (b) CVC (and some other things)

4750.1. (a) If the department receives an application for
registration of a specially constructed passenger vehicle or pickup truck
after it has registered 500 specially constructed vehicles during that
calendar year pursuant to Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety
Code, and the vehicle has not been previously registered, the vehicle
shall be assigned the same model-year as the calendar year in which the
application is submitted, for purposes of determining emissions control
equipment and inspection requirements for the vehicle.
(b) If the department receives an application for registration of a
specially constructed passenger vehicle or pickup truck that has been
previously registered after it has registered 500 specially constructed
vehicles during that calendar year pursuant to Section 44017.4 of the
Health and Safety Code, and the application requests a model-year
determination different from the model-year assigned in the previous
registration, the application for registration shall be denied and the
vehicle owner is subject to the emission control and inspection
requirements applicable to the model-year assigned in the previous
registration. However, a denial of an application for registration issued
pursuant to this subdivision does not preclude the vehicle owner from
applying for a different model-year determination and application for
registration under Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code in a
subsequent calendar year.


I honestly don't know if (a) or (b) above will apply to a vehicle brought in from out of state. But DMV's own website currently states;

As of January 4, 2005,
All 500 sequence certificates have been assigned.
No additional sequence certificates will be available until January 2006


Specially constructed passenger vehicles or pick-up trucks registered without a certificate of sequence are subject to emissions control requirements based on the model-year of the engine as determined by the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) referee.


There is more contradictory info out there as well. So, Good Luck and please keep us apprised of your progress.

Hmmmm,,,, sounds like there are TWO kinds of replicas to buy in Calif.

1. All ready has a SB100 number.
2. All ready has an "old" motor.

The old motor route is the way I would go, and few SPF's actually have a side oiler. That MIGHT be your ticket to ride!

Specifically says in the law "NOT FOR RESALE". So how can you sell an SB100 car?

Randy - Thanks for the invite, but Brentwood is in West Los Angeles.

short form, civics 101
 

Try to follow me ,gentlemen. The governor don't make the laws, the LEGISLATURE DOES. Heres what you have to do. Band TOGETHER, Streetrods, Cobras, Muscle,cars etc .Hire a lawyer/lobbyist. Identify which of you legislators is "car freindly". It helps if he is up for re-election. Find out which legislation is popular with the other legislators (pay raises always pass). Hook your new rule on with the others, VOTE,VOTE ,VOTE! If your guy gets in, and he don't stab you in the back, you might have a chance, if not ,BRIBE SUMBUDDY. Whinin' about ain't gonna change a thing, nor will letter writing. This WILL take a few years to fix, or sit with your thumbs up your a$$eS and moan.

That refers to the original construction of the car - i.e., you cannot buy a turnkey car as the first registrant. It doesn't mean that your SB100 registration is voided when you sell the car - there have already been several sales of SB100 compliant cars, the SB100 registration follows the car.