Registering a JPS or Beck in New York

@DannyP    It's very doable . Danny Piperato lives in NYS ( I just text'd him ) he can best advise you in a PM message or phone .

I live in New York and originally registered my CMC on a VW pan as a "home built."  I went through the vehicle inspection process upon completion of the build.  I had to make an appointment through the DMV office. Then:

Tow the car to the inspection center, have the car weighed on a certified scale, have the receipts for EVERYTHING! (motor, chassis, body, and "major accessories" like seats, steering wheel, radio, etc.   

They forwarded a report to Albany, (state capital) and then I received approval in the mail with a new vin number sticker, to use to get a regular annual inspection and insurance.  Once the inspection and insurance were complete, I could register it at a regular DMV office. 

A few years later, I went to my local DMV and explained that the car did not resemble most hot rods in any way, shape or form. With photos and all the above documents, I was able to convince the manager to allow it to be registered as a 55 Porsche!  That is what is on my current registration sticker and card, which is the proof of ownership in NY. 

As an aside, every time I went to the DMV, I was overly polite and friendly, wore dress clothes, had a file folder with all the info and my driver's license and of course my checkbook! 

I hope this helps. If you need further info feel free to reach out!  

We have a registration service in NY that our clients use, and on our Beck MSO these items are not required, or at least have not been required to date.  

I have dozens of cars in NYC and registration was not an issue for any of my clients.  We also have the ability to ship the car on an Indiana title, as the year of replication, and most states recognize this and grandfather the car based on the year.

That is great as the process was truly a P.I.T.A!  I should have mentioned that this was back around 1985 or so....  The only issue I had on the report was a, "suggestion to increase the size of the tail lights and use a two color lighting for brake tail light and yellow for turn signals."  

When I lived in NJ , I would have to make an appointment with a DMV engineer ( two for the entire State) Wait a few months finally he came out to my home and did a detailed safety inspection then I wait 4 - 6 weeks for a title to arrive in the mail. The third car build, I again called DMV, they transferred me direct to the engineer's line. He told me the wait was now six months but if I could do it tomorrow,  trailer it to his office in Trenton NJ and just park it in the  Bus  Stop out front,  the engineer comes out lights up a cigarette walks around the car and say's come on it I'll get a title for you ...Boom 15 minutes title in hand and on my way home.   He did this for another 4 car builds until I moved out of state.

Similar story here in Massachusetts.  When I re-registered my car as a replica I went directly to the DMV Titling office near Boston - Compared to all of the dumps that they call local DMV offices, this one was like a palace!  Bright, airy, with a pleasant security guy at the front door who actually smiled while directing me to the titling office.

The head of Massachusetts Titling was a really nice guy, too and a car guy to boot!  I walked in at 5 minutes before Ten AM and walked out at 10:16A with a new title and registration.  As he was handing me the new title I thanked him and said that my next stop was to get the registration amended at my local DMV office.  His reply was "I can do that - Give me back the title and I'll have it done in five minutes".  

Sure enough.....Bingo.  Done.  Hands me a brand new title certificate.

I had to get Pearl inspected by a State Police Officer to get the new VIN, and everyone told me he would be really tough.  The reason for that reputation was that he deals with shady guys daily who have "bought" wrecked cars with salvage titles at auction, repaired them and need the safety and check for stolen parts inspection before they can sell it.  If I had to deal with some of those guys every day, I might be grumpy, too!

Guys this is great intel thanks.  I will reach out to some of you separately to get a little more info.  You've been terrific thanks.  Have a great 2019.

@Mick Whitaker

SEMA has a great resource for titling and registering special vehicles (historics, kits, home builts etc).

NY's regs are here:

NY Special Vehicle Regs

Home page for all fifty states is here.

I would caution folks registering their replica as say a "1955 PORSCHE".  Please no offense meant - Jim. I would want at least "Replica" or manf of "CMC" added to title.  Maybe even "CMC replica Speedster" (or VS Speedster/Beck Speedster/JPS Speedster as appropriate).  First off it isn't a PORSCHE and second PORSCHE highly enforces their tradmark name.  Porsche has eBay not listing replicas if PORSCHE is mentioned or their is a PORSCHE badge on the replica.  I can see a furture where they would go after the owner or even force crushing of the offending vehicle.  (Extreme but isn't that what Ferarri did to Tom McBurnie and his Ferrarri Dayton replicas used in Miami Vice?)

Not sure how I feel about picking a year - a '55 would have beehive rear lenses for sure but '57 was a transition year with some early ones with beehives or later ones tear drops.  Donor chassis or engine year makes sense when ~50% of vehicle is from donor - but doesn't apply to a custom chassis or aftermarket reproduction engines.  Used to be the year was valuable for use in determining emission and safety features.

I lived in VA and VA DMV would look up "1955 Porsche Speedster" in the NADA Blue Book and you'd be charged 2% sales tax on ~$150k book value of a real speedster - plus every year after that you'd be assessed a personal property tax on 4.5% of that value too (a portion, like first $20k, was exempt) but it would still be a costly bill.  Carl B. had this issue with his ~$30k VS showing up on Connecticut's  records as a "1957 Porsche" and wanting taxes on that antiques car's value. 

That's probably why so many simply stick with the donor's "71 VW" and its titled chassis #.  Plus you can get reduced cost antique registrations, plates and safety/emissions exemptions.

Guess I need to read the recent SEMA documents.

Wolfgang: No offense taken at all. Prior to the World Wide Web there were 0 resources for info regarding these issues. As background, I mentioned that it was registered originally as a home built.  The reason for the change was at the suggestion of a friendly county sheriff who pulled me over with lights flashing yet, just wanted to see the car.  Then my insurance agent who was a bike store customer of mine made the same suggestion and showed me the difference in rates for a collector / antique vs a home built. Both guys said it should be registered as what it appears to be. So, the next spring I brought all my documents including the CMC build certificate of origine to the DMV and they had no issue. Porsche would find my temper even shorter than my stature should they pursue even minor legal action. Lol! Old, grumpy and armed!

I have just purchased a new speedster built by Vintage in California it has a 1969 vw title does anyone see any problem registering it in  New York and what kind of insurance should i be getting 

@CAPTAIN ...Your NY go to guy is Danny Piperato