California: Is your kit car registered as a 1960 vintage vehicle?

[Morgester]

As this forum is aware, a kit car or replica vehicle can only be registered in California as a Specially Constructed Vehicle (SPCN). A kit car or replica vehicle that has been titled as the year that it replicates (i.e. 1965 Ford) is considered to be fraudulently titled and the individual submitting the title documents to DMV has committed fraud and perjury by misrepresenting the year of manufacture.

We are aware of individuals who are reselling fraudulently titled kit car or replica vehicles. This resale to an innocent third party subjects the seller to both civil and criminal liability.

If you own a fraudulently titled vehicle you must surrender your vehicle registration and re-register the vehicle correctly under California law.

Recognizing that some vehicle owners were complicit in the fraudulent registration process and may not wish to come forward due to criminal liability, I have been working on AB 619. AB 619 will grant amnesty from criminal prosecution for those that choose to re-register their vehicle legally. AB 619 has been passed out of the Assembly and has just cleared Senate Transportation. (See http://info.sen.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postq...use=B&site=sen)

Some folks may be of the mind set, you haven’t discovered me yet so why worry. To be candid we were not looking but we are now. We are finishing up another title fraud investigation and I anticipate DMV pulling the registrations on hundreds of vehicles. I encourage you to rely on the experience of this list that was part of the Title Unlimited investigation. Better to be in the front of the pack correcting your registration then in the back.

Additionally, a kit car or replica vehicle that is fraudulently titled is what we call “low hanging fruit.” These vehicles are easy to identify and provide an easy first step in identifying illegal registration services. Once the service is identified, every vehicle that the service processed to date has had its registration pulled.

Law enforcements goal has always been to shut down the illegal registration services. In addition to providing fraudulent registration for kit car or replica vehicles, these services wash title for lemon, salvaged, and stolen vehicles.

Even given the sometimes volatile nature of this forum, I have always tried to be open and candid regarding our investigations and prosecutions. My recommendation today is the same as it was when I first posted to this forum. You are better off correcting the registration sooner rather then later.