how to title car in MN

MnCCX · #1 (**permalink**) 08-24-2007, 01:25 PM

Hi,
I am purchasing a 1988 contemporary classic cobra equipped with an original 427 FE side oiler. The car was titled originally in Florida as a 1988 but have been told that I may still be able to title this car as a 1965 b/c of the motor. When I called the MN DMV they told me that if it was originally titled in MN they could look at the car and probably change the year of title but since it was titled in FL they could not do that (they wouldn't question the year of title issued by another state). Somebody has advised me to tell the DMV that I just put in this motor now and try to get it titled as a rebuilt car...does that make any sense (I'm also not too excited about the lying part in the first place)?

Does anybody have experience or ideas of how I could get the car titled as a '65? I ask for future resale value and b/c it would save me money on taxes. This will be my first Cobra so I am as new to this as you can be so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

chesterakl · #2 (**permalink**) 08-25-2007, 08:13 AM

You may have a hard time with that because in MN you have to provide receipts for all of the major parts. That would mean you'd have to get the original owner to give you all of his receipts from when he built it plus the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin. I kind of doubt you could get that one by the state when you brought receipts in that were 19 years old that probably have someone else's name on it, assuming he could find all his original receipts. You could try to say that you were purchasing someone else's uncompleted kit, but it would probably bring more scrutiny.

It won't help you on resale value or taxes. When you sell it, you're still selling it as a replica - doesn't matter what the title says, '88 or '65, it's still the same car. And the taxes are based on the amount of what you purchased for. Changing the year won't affect that either.

MnCCX · #3 (**permalink**) 08-25-2007, 04:08 PM

Yeah, I didn't really see how I would be able to claim this was a freshly installed motor and like I said, I wouldn't be too excited about the lying part anyway.
The resale advantage wouldn't be b/c anybody would think that this was a real shelby, it would only be an advantage in selling to states where cars 1966 and older are smog exempt. Also, in MN cars over 20 years can be licensed as collectors and pay a flat $90 sales tax regardless of sales price. And wouldn't you know it, this car is only 4 months away. Oh well, I don't think the licensing will effect its performance and thats why I bought it!

NRP/MN · #4 (**permalink**) 08-29-2007, 07:27 AM

You may want to reconsider your thoughts of obtaining collector plates. The state restricts the use of your car and you can get a ticket for driving it outside of the permitted times. This happened to a friend with a vehicle that had collector plates when he drove to work one day. Good luck with your purchase and welcome to the community! Mike Beamish , Rosemount Mn.

Willie Z · #5 (**permalink**) 09-26-2007, 11:56 AM

I just titled my FFR in MN from AZ. I did regular plates and the AZ title was 1965 Factory Five. They did the same thing in MN. Well, I think that's what they'll do. I have my plates, but I haven't received the new title yet. I just did it a week or so ago.