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To those of you that have had problems, as I did registering my replica, I have some information. I purchased my replica from a seller in Illinois. The car was titled incorrectly as a 1984 (year built) Porsche Conv. When I went to register it in California it threw up a red flag. After months of trying to get it titled and registered, I finally wrote  back to Illinois and had the car retitled. I had to contact there ERRORS RESOLUTION dept and send images and information. They retitled it as a 1984 model 1959 Porsche Sp Replica. It then flew through the process in Ca. I wanted to share this, as we have to be careful how these are titled when we transfer them.

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@edsnova posted:

Error Resolution Dept. is something I need to find in the Maryland MVA; been back four times with the Spyder and it's still mistakenly titled as a "1971 PLYM." Thanks for that tip. And good on ya getting to the end of your paper chase.

I am not sure if it will work in Maryland, but it is worth a try. I wrote the regular DMV in Illinois and cited the findings of our Highway Patrol on what the car really and truly was, a replica, and for that reason it was titled incorrectly. I told them it had to be corrected, as it rightly should, to be titled and registered. Their response was quick and helped.

I'm in the middle of CA SB100 process right now.  After 20 years flying as a '69 VW I thought I should "clean-up my act".  I wish I hadn't, what a hassle.

It is a simple process, actually.  But it presumes DMV personnel can do something simple.  They can't, at least not in Santa Rosa CA.  And, it is compounded by covid.

I've been at it since mid Nov.  My last step (maybe) is the BAR.  It takes a call 3 weeks in advance just to schedule a preliminary telephone appointment with with BAR.  That's coming up Monday.  After that, who knows.

Bruce  --  DMV charged me $254 for, I'm not exactly sure what.  But that was after I had to 'negotiate' them down from over $2500 by convincing them I was simply re-registering a 20-year old car that had all sales taxes paid decades ago.  In your case, your builder should know off-hand what it will cost to register your new spyder.

@JR_1979 posted:

How are things going for you now?

So I my "telephone interview" with BAR was a week ago today (actually taking 4 weeks for first available Telephone Interview!)  Nice guy, was helpful, asked a few questions, like:  Do you have your SB-100 Sequence Number certificate?  I told him no, it has been over a month since DMV said I would get it in the mail, but I do know the number.  He said without the actual certificate the process must "hold".

But he emailed me a list of everything I would need to show up with at my eventual BAR inspection and also told me I needed to have a certain PCV  (Positive Crankcase Ventilation system)  --  and sent me pictures of a system they would accept.  It was what early VWs had, a breather hose from the oil filler neck to a carb filter, and a Micky Mouse rubber 'duck bill' valve drain on the stock oil filler condensation drain.  Even though my breather system is much more efficient that a stock VW system, and easily modified to PCV, for $35.00 in parts I simply replaced what I had to a stock VW filler neck an a vent hose to an air filter.

Finally (!!!) on Friday I got the SB-100 Sequence Number certificate from DMV.   So tomorrow I will pick it up again with BAR.

We'll see . . . . .

@aircooled posted:

Ray...What did the SPCNS registration cost you ?.........Bruce

It didn't cost anything over and above the normal transfer fees and registration. The trick is getting the designation of sequence number, as only so many can pass through in a given year. They allot 500 a year and they begin in January.

@JR_1979 posted:

What a process. Hope you'll keep us updated! Best of luck!

Once you get the sequesnce number and the BAR allows it the referee part for me was a breeze. He just prints up a sticker for your door jamb that descibes the vehicle engine, carbs  and year.

@RS-60 mark posted:

So I my "telephone interview" with BAR was a week ago today (actually taking 4 weeks for first available Telephone Interview!)  Nice guy, was helpful, asked a few questions, like:  Do you have your SB-100 Sequence Number certificate?  I told him no, it has been over a month since DMV said I would get it in the mail, but I do know the number.  He said without the actual certificate the process must "hold".

But he emailed me a list of everything I would need to show up with at my eventual BAR inspection and also told me I needed to have a certain PCV  (Positive Crankcase Ventilation system)  --  and sent me pictures of a system they would accept.  It was what early VWs had, a breather hose from the oil filler neck to a carb filter, and a Micky Mouse rubber 'duck bill' valve drain on the stock oil filler condensation drain.  Even though my breather system is much more efficient that a stock VW system, and easily modified to PCV, for $35.00 in parts I simply replaced what I had to a stock VW filler neck an a vent hose to an air filter.

Finally (!!!) on Friday I got the SB-100 Sequence Number certificate from DMV.   So tomorrow I will pick it up again with BAR.

We'll see . . . . .

The easiest part was the actual referee. I had to send images to the BAR and the only critical thing is the closed crankcase set up. If you don't have one you need to run a line from the oil filler to the air filter. Good luck

Thanks Ray.

Yes, I pulled my 2332 appropriate breather-box network of vents/hoses off, and installed a stock 1600 VW oil filler and single breather line to an air filter + plus the rubber duck bill "PCV valve" on the down-tube.  And sent pictures to BAR.

CHP, Brake and Light, and BAR are all pleasure to work with.  They all know what to do and how to do it.  As far as my local DMV, well, they deserve all the bad reputation they earn.  The SB-100 process is actually simple; which by definition exceeds their ability.  One mistake after another, which took one month after another to correct. For example:  Since early February till last Friday to finally figure out how to get a Sequence Number issued (which is Step 1 in SB-100 process).

Finally!!  Today I wrapped it up.  New title, new plates, smog test free forever.

From thread above; I've been doing the CA SB-100 dance since early Nov.  It has been non-stop hurry up and wait; weeks and weeks, month after month, falling into one black hole after another.  For example:  To do the final step, the BAR visit, you first have to schedule a telephone interview.  The first available interview date was a 4-week wait.  Then came two weeks of waiting for responses to emailed information the BAR requested.  Then when they were satisfied they had all the information they needed, two more weeks were required for "review" to approve or deny my application.  After my application was approved, I BEGGED for a quick appointment date with the BAR Referee.  Unbelievably, that was yesterday and I'm all done today.  But think about it: 7 weeks just to get a 30 minute appointment with the BAR Referee, which was basically just to show up and get the SB-100 sticker and smog exempt paperwork.

Anyway, it is done.  My former "1969 Volks sedan" is now a "1960 RS SPY roadster".

I felt it was prudent to stay away from using lawsuit bait like "Porsche" on the Title and Registration.

Congrats! Ridiculous, but still congrats! We're a step behind you, all the info was emailed to the BAR about a week and a half ago. You said you begged for a quick appointment with the BAR once you were cleared, how long did you wait exactly? You said 7 weeks, but I think you're referring to the whole phone/email/physical process combined?

@JR_1979 posted:

You said 7 weeks, but I think you're referring to the whole phone/email/physical process combined?

Yes JR, 7-8 weeks for the "whole" BAR process.  When I got to the point of actually making a face-to-face appointment with the spyder, I did BEG and got an appointment the next day!

However, I did have to drive 120 miles round trip to chase the open appointment.  But after 5 months, that was small potatoes  --  and it was a nice day.

Interestingly, we (my wife and I) got to the BAR Referee about 50 minutes early.  There was nobody in line ahead of us and nobody came in behind us.  We were the ONLY car in the parking lot the whole time we were there.  So stalling around for 7-8 weeks isn't because the Referees are backed up.  In our case the Referee was available on a next-day basis.

In fact every step (VIN inspection at CHP, Brake and Light inspection, and BAR inspection) was done within a few days of making each appointment.  The other 5 months was spent in black holes of time waiting for the "bureaucratic administrative process" to wind its way through the ether.

JR:  If all your info was emailed to the BAR a week and a half ago, you should get notification by email within the next week or two from BAR with a phone number to call and make appointment for final Referee inspection (which in my case I made for the next day).  Also in my case, I was able to barge into the DMV without an appointment on by way home from BAR Referee and complete the final Title changeover, same day.

Here's another CA registration experience, for anyone it may help:

Purchased an out-of-state Speedster in late August 2020. Due to COVID, not only could we not go to the DMV to register the car, we couldn't even talk to anyone on the phone. CA's rule is any out-of-state vehicle purchase requires an in-person VIN check. CA also has requirements for this: at least 2 VIN tags, emissions stickers, etc. We ran around like crazy people trying to hunt all this down. AAA turned it down. Reached out to a couple smaller VIN check companies who come out to you, all of whom turned it down as well, stating the car no longer looked like a VW, and could not legally be titled as a VW in CA.

We could have continued down this road until we found someone with poor enough eyesight, or some other ailment (physical, moral, or otherwise)  willing to complete the VIN check. I ended up reaching out to Ken Leek, son of Donna Leek, who's been well known for years in here in the CA car scene as the fixer for serious VIN issues. They're both the nicest people one could hope to work with. And the older I get, the more I appreciate the people who are willing to come along and help you with some heavy lifting. If I were them, I would turn people like me away on the spot. There's certainly easier money to be made.

Ken was confident we could get the car through the SB100 (Specially Constructed Vehicle No Smog) process. The problem is this: in order to qualify for this title, you need, at minimum, receipts for all the major components of your build, and most likely pictures of the build process. Which, of course, we have none, and they don't exist. So the danger with this route is, if we abandon the VW title route, and notify the DMV that this is a custom build, we can never again register the car as a VW. So, if they reject our SB100 application due to lack of required documents, we now have a Speedster that can never be titled in CA, and no title to sell the vehicle either.

After a long discussion, we decided to go for it. This is early September, 2020. Ken took us by the hand and walked us through the entire process. After every appointment, the paperwork was mailed back and forth so he could handle the interaction with the DMV. Everything went pretty smooth for the first 6 months, until we had our interaction with the BAR (Bureau of Automotive Repair), who handle the final in-person inspection of the vehicle. Again, due to COVID, this required us to scan and email all of our documents for approval before we could be granted the in-person inspection. We sent everything off, and watched two months go by. At this point, I knew someone wasn't going to let this slide.

Sure enough, after a few phone calls, we were notified they were denying our application due to lack of evidence as to where the major components originated, and who built the car. I can't even describe where I was at at this point. I reached out to Ken, who, as he put it, "talked me down from the ledge". He told me to reach out again and explain our situation. I reached out to the person from the BAR who I had spoke with earlier, and really just laid everything on the table. It was really just a cry for mercy. After a couple days, he came back and told me they had made an exception, and were going to let us move forward. I've since learned this gentleman really went to bat for us.

Two weeks later, we had our in-person inspection. Based off of how things had gone thus far, I knew we still weren't out of the woods. Sure enough, although the technician handling our car was very nice, he got on the phone with someone who was far from happy that they were allowing us to move forward. We sat there listening to this back-and-forth with our stomachs sinking, thinking this was going to be the end of the line. Again, somehow, this kind gentleman stuck up for us, and managed to get the car through and approved.

I really share all this as a warning: if purchasing an out-of-state Speedster for which you do not have receipts for the engine, transmission, pan, and body, at least, don't even think about trying to get it through the SB100 process. It was 100% the grace of God that allowed us to complete this, and there was a 99.999% chance the car was going to be essentially worthless.

Although our story has a happy ending, take caution: yours very well may not.

Troy here is a specialist on the subject; Vintage Speedsters come with the VW donor's title. That's what I got when I bought mine in 2004; I moved to Florida in 2017 and transported it here and registered it in 2020 as a VW Bug. Troy lives in California and he deals with them all the time; his cars are also registered as VW Bugs. Every time you get into one of those "special categories" you're opening a can of worms. Good thing that the story had a nice ending but it's always better to stick with the original title.

Last edited by Impala

I've had my CMC Speedster since 1985.  I had the car bonded by an insurance company before calling to have a State Trooper come and do his inspection.  My title lists my car as a 1956 Porsche Speedster Convertible.  There is no special designation... simply put it's a 1956 Porsche Speedster.

I'll be offering the car for sale next month...STI intercooled turbo Subaru/5 speed Porsche gear box/power steering/power seats/carbon fiber clad Antera wheels.

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