My Recent Experience with SB100 & Bringing a Used Cobra into California

[51astro456]

Thanks very much to Cobalt289 for posting his experience registering his out of state cobra. Here is my experience to date, registering a 2007 superformance cobra previously registered in South Dakota.

I bought the car on 3 April 2017. I went to the DMV on 6 April . I ended up working with the supervisor..the first person was a bit clueless. All she took was the application for title/registration form 343. Once I made it clear that I wanted to register it via the SB100, she called and got a sequence number from Sacramento. My number is 2017096, so on 3 April they were only on 96 out of 500.

I ended up with a receipt that had what I paid for the taxes (about 10%..ouch)…and that I had to get a VIN verification and BAR. I asked about the CHP and she said that I did not need to do the CHP since the car already had a VIN assigned from superformance, as indicated on the South Dakota title. Note: In FFVR23 (REV. 11/2015) it says "Kit vehicles are registered by the manufacturer's serial number and do not need a 17-digit VIN or model year." BTW, the South Dakota title said “1965 Ford Cobra Kit”…it was tempting to let them register it as a 1965, but I figured that the SB100 route was the better way to go.

Luckily I have all of the paperwork from the first buyer (MSO, and all receipts….)…as well as the South Dakota title…

I received the official SB100 certificate 2 weeks after I went to the DMV. I had tried to schedule the BAR appointment, but they said I needed the certificate first…so I waited. As of now, my apt is on 4 May 2017 at the Monterey Peninsula College BAR station. **UPDATE: Appointment now 9 May...BAR scheduler called and said referee would not be there on the 4th.....

I will update this post after that visit! Thanks to other posts, I have already made the PCV system a closed one..with PCV hoses.

UPDATE: Had my BAR referee appt. The referee was friendly, but gave little indication as to whether or not I would be approved. He and an intern student took some photos, and looked over the car briefly. He noticed that the car had the closed PCV system..thank you Cobalt289!! He allowed me to hang around and ask questions. He said that they would send the photos and paperwork (copies of MSO, chassis/engine receipts, statement of construction, Certificate of Sequence, title from South Dakota) up to Sacramento and I should find out by Friday. I explained why I didn't have the paperwork from the CHP...he seemed to fully understand that part...that the car already had a VIN assigned by Superformance (and title had same VIN), and would use that...He did say "Oh good, it says 'kit' on the South Dakota title." On my statement of construction I mentioned in the remarks that it was a private sale from the seller in South Dakota.

I'm still at a loss at why this should be so mysterious? Rolling chassis like Superformance and others should be well known...yet we still seem to be at the mercy of "someone" making a determination.

Soooo...I'll update again as soon as I find out!!!