Honestly I don't know what would have happened if I had gone to a regular inspection station and asked them to inspect the car. The prior owner lived in Texas (Collin County) and had the car inspected in 3/21. The vehicle inspection report list the inspection as "Safety Only Inspection" and Vehicle Year/Type as 1965/Passenger Car. I'm not sure if it is one of those "Hey I know a guy that will pass the car inspection" or not.

Old thread, thought I would add a recent data point for those about to go through this process. I just completed my registration on my new UCC build, it was a long arduous process but the Custom Vehicle plates are definitely worth it. As many have posted, the ASE inspection is one of the biggest hurdles as few ASE Master techs keep up their certifications as most dealers don’t pay them to do it. There is a complete list of requirements on the Texas DMV website under assembled vehicles, follow it to a T, leave nothing to interpretation. You will also need an approval letter from the Regional Service Center, basically turn in your information and they verify everything with Austin, about a week later they will hopefully call and tell you to get your packet and letter.
The next step should be very easy and straightforward. Take your approval letter down to the local tax office and get your tags…..not so fast. I took my packet to the big downtown tax office in Houston, the first clerk freaked out “ what is all this!?!” as she rifled through my organized packet, papers flying everywhere. Thankfully she called her Supervisor and the Lead Clerk, they were awesome and knew just what to do. The visit still took 2 hours as they had to call Austin to verify my sales tax exemption. Lesson here, when you go to the tax office, politely explain this is a complex transaction please give it your lead clerk or the supervisor. Also make sure they click the Custom Vehicle box and not the Street Rod box, it’s the same exact form and easy to do , though I doubt it would make a difference but you don’t want to go through this again!

RUFdriver, thanks for your up-to-date and accurate report on your experience titling/registering an Assembled Vehicle (ASVE) :) I am the OP of this thread and I agree it is old, but the posts in the last couple years are pretty accurate. We keep adding to this to provide a guide in one place that can be cited when we get repetitious calls here and on Facebook for help.

Some things have not changed over all these years: The title/reg process for ASVE cars varies greatly from county to county. The title clerks just don't do these cars often enough to get familiar with the regulations. One is best prepared who goes to the title office knowing the regulations better than the title office clerks. So our replica Cobra owners do frequently come out of the tax office with something other than a title for a ASVE. The RSC appointment, being lately put ahead of the tax office, is the state's attempt to rationalize the process. I hate it, but I understand it.

If you are able to join us in 10 days in San Marcos, we'd be happy to meet you. You'll get a kick out of walking around the parking lot with 100+ replica Cobras and seeing the variety of ways they are registered ;)


Sam

ASE Master Inspection in Mansfield, TX
 

Had my Superformance MK III inspected at Firestone Auto Center in Mansfield, 1698 U.S. 287 Frontage Rd. this month. Timothy Kibler is the ASE Certified Master Technician. He provided the printout of his certificate Status, & completed the inspection in 45 minutes. I called the day before to verify he was working that day. (817) 405-7070 He drove the car from where I parked it to the bay, inspected it, then drove it back to the parking slot, & completed form VTR-852. He was familiar with this type car & the process. Store manager was uncertain what to charge, so billed me for one hour at their usual rate: $180. I spent several days researching this forum & called +20 shops before I found this place. Glad to see this in the rear view mirror.