texas title issues revisited

[paul cass]

Hey guys
Well here we go again with me trying to change plates on my FIA. Some of you may remember that I had problems back in the 90's when I first tried to register my Cobra. I thought I had it resolved back then. This past summer I decided that I wanted to change from my presonalized plates back to antique. Long story short this process has been a disaster. I'm still trying to get registration and plates. At first I was told that the Cobra Replica could not be registered as a 1965. I was told to change it to Custom. Reluctantly I agreed. I ended up making 5 trips to the Courthouse. And still no plates. When I applied for the Custom plates the state said that I had to change my titile. OK. Then I was told that I had to have the car re inspected. OK. The form I was given was "Registration and Title Bulletin #004-12". It states that the car has to be inspected by an "ASE Certified Mechanic". I was told to download the inspection form. I spent one whole day trying to find as ASE Mechanic to inspect my Cobra. None of the shops had a certified mechanic doing inspections. Finally, in frustration, I contacted a friend of mine at the local Ford dealership to see if he could help out. Told me to bring it in the next day and he would have one of his ASE Mechanics do the inspection. I did and went back to the courthouse and turned in the "new" paperwork. A couple of weeks later I again was contacted by the DMV in Austin to say that they couldn't find the inspection form. Could I send them my copy. Told them that I didn't get a copy form the courthouse but that I did have the receipt for the inspection. He said to send a copy of the receipt and that would suffice. A couple of weeks later I get a call that they found the inpection form and that it was not done by an "ASE Master Tech". I'm confused and ask what a "Master Tech" is. I then ask why the form I was given, #004-12, states ASE Certified and not Master. If I did what the form asks then haven't I met the requirements for registration. Now this arguement has gone back and forth since October. According to the DMV in Austin it doesn't make any difference what that document says, you have to go by the inspection document which does say Master on it. I also asked why I couldn't have the car classified as an antique since in 96 I did everything required to meet the standards for Antique classification. They state that a mistake was made back then and that my Cobra should never have been registered as a 65. My recollection back then was that basically you turned in the title of the vehicle for the year you wanted the car to represent and the engine number. There may have been other things needed, i don't remember now. So I turned in the title for a 1965 Mustang and supplied the number of the 65 289. Now these guys are saying that you can't do that. Of course they now tell me that all I need to do, of course I heard this before, is to find an ASE Master Tech to inspect the Cobra and then they will give me the Custom Plates. Sounds easy but besides the principal of the matter, there is only one Master Tech in Corpus Christi listed. And if he is no longer in business then I would have to go to San Antonio. Seems to me that I have more than met the requirements for keeping the Cobra registered as an Antique or at the least by following the directions of "their" document I did get the Cobra inspected. I did contact SEMA and they agreed that their is a lot of confusion from the DMV on registering Replicas and Street Rods in Texas. But, based on what I've been through then any replica or street rod that is registered from this point on will have to go the "Custom" route. And to add to my anger and frustration was when a friend of mine recently bought a Cobra replica at auction with no paperwork. He went to a neighboring courthouse and they registered it as a 1965 and gave him antique plates!! I hate to involve an attorney in this mess, but does anyone have connections to someone that can help to resolve this matter. I really would like to keep it as an Antique. Good luck AJ on your registration. Looking forward to the Spring Meet in March.
Paul