1973 And California Registration Story Options

[Cjllong]

This may be a longer story, but I promise it's good.

So I bought my 3rd 914 several years ago. It's a 1973, 2.0, with the factory sway bar, marathon blue original color, etc. It was the unicorn I was looking for. Only thing about it was that it was completely taken apart to a shell only. I put it on the trailer and proudly brought it home. Over the years I took parts off of two other junked 914's. Now I have a shed outside dedicated to 914 parts. Well the time came to either sell it or start the build. Problem was that it had over $800 in California DMV back fees that I just didn't want to pay and more importantly, my wife thought was a total waste of money. So I listed it for sale on FB and watched all the comments come in from Souther Ca. all the way to the east coast. I was upfront and honest about the late fees which put everyone off. But I made contact with a guy north of me and he suggested I try to get some of the fees waived at the DMV. Slight chance but it may work. So I set off on my journey to screw over the Ca. DMV....

I did a little research and I spoke to a guy who owns a tow company. He's well versed in the Ca. DMV and basically said I was screwed, but I had one option. Plead my case to a DMV in a small town just 1/2 hour away from me instead of my home town because my home town DMV sucks. Also, try to declare the 914 as a "historical vehicle." So I got the proper paperwork and summoned my creative writing skills, of which I have none. Long story short, I wrote about the historical significance of the 914, years manufactured, and its importance in the automotive world. I showed it to the clerk at the Lakeport DMV and told him about how historical it was. He kinda laughed at me and said, "So you want fees waived because you think it's historical?" Then he said it was my responsibility to pay the fees. You could see the defeat in my eyes as he said that. I watched as he took it to his manager and they both had a good chuckle over my declaration. I couldn't watch and went to the bathroom. I came out and we walked up to me with a smile and said he would waive ALL BACK FEES!! I only had to pay current registration of $75 and put it on a PNO. Guy waive $825 in late fees. I can't tell you how happy I was.

So now I've decided to keep the car and start the build. Much to my wife's disappointment. LOL Build thread coming......

Anyway, I know there's a lot of people in same boat I was in and I figured I would put this out there as another option to waive late DMV fees. Plus, how cool is it that there's an official Ca. DMV document declaring the 914 as historical!

Have a great day!!!

[ClayPerrine]

Another reason to live in Texas...

If a car sits and doesn't run for years, then you get it running again, all you pay is the current registration. But they do ask you if you got a ticket for an expired registration while it was inop. If you do, you have to pay the ticket before you can register it.

And if it is over 25 years old, the state inspection costs $7.25, and there is no emissions testing. Emissions testing is only done in the big cities, like Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, or San Antonio. Every place else only gets a safety inspection at $7.25.