Registering an out of state, modified pre 1976 car in CA. Options

[CCSmith58]

Hello 914 World. More specifically 1975 & older California 914-6 conversion Owners.
I have been having a 1975 914 restored / rebuilt/ modified by a Company just outside SLC UT. (hi eric / james...) The build may be done sometime this year (right ??). I'm trying to gather info on Titling & registering in CA. Here's an overview of my situation: I have a Colorado Title. The Title does say *DUPLICATE* on it. The name on the Title is not the person I purchased the car (tub) from. That Gentelman lives in UT.
I have a hand written Bill of Sale from the 1st Owner in CO. dated 07/26/16 to the 2nd Owner in UT. And I have a printed signed "form" Bill of Sale dated 5/22/22 from the UT. Owner to me. The car will (should) have all the correct VIN tags. However, it will have a rebuilt 1995 gen993 3.8 & rebuilt 915 transaxle. Does anyone have any experience with a situation like this ? Registering an out of state, modified pre 1976 car in CA.
What kind of "hoops" will I have to jump thru ?? Has anyone been so lucky as to go to the CA DMV and just register & Title as a regular ol' 1975 auto ?? HeLp !!!!

[fiacra]

Registering an LLC in Montana and then putting the car in the name of the LLC is simply a tax and smog avoidance tactic for top of the market cars. When you buy a $100K+ car nobody is happy to pay the ~10% CA sales tax. Not really germane to your situation. I honestly don't think you're going to have any significant trouble getting it registered here. It would have been nice to have had the inspection done before the registration as you're going to have to declare a value and that will determine what your yearly vehicle license fee will be. Going to be hard to value a shiny new PMB restoration as being worth $1,500. The reason they check to see if there is an engine is they want to see that the car is "complete." If you don't have an engine in the car you have to register it as a car undergoing restoration or as a parts car. A second inspection of the engine is generally required once it has been installed, and you don't want to trigger that. I haven't had them check any further than looking to see if there is an engine in the car, but again it might depend upon who is doing the inspection. Technically you are responsible for CA registration fees from the date of purchase, but I believe this is only if the car has been kept in the state. Generally you are asked to complete a "statement of facts" attesting that the car has not been operated on CA roads and you will not be charged back registration. You could just tell them it has been stored out of state since purchase and it is only now that you've been able to retrieve it (I'm assuming all your paperwork is dated). A DMV encounter is always an exercise in information control. Answer with the minimum amount of information, but don't appear evasive. I don't lie to them, but I don't go out of my way to offer a back story, etc. In most cases they just want to get you finished and out of there so they can go on to the next person. Being concise, polite and professional, without being chatty or confrontational, generally gets you out of there with your task accomplished without any complications. Again, if you are unsure or nervous about this simply have one of the third party DMV partner companies handle it for you.

[infraredcalvin]

Registering an LLC in Montana and then putting the car in the name of the LLC is simply a tax and smog avoidance tactic for top of the market cars. When you buy a $100K+ car nobody is happy to pay the ~10% CA sales tax. Not really germane to your situation. I honestly don't think you're going to have any significant trouble getting it registered here. It would have been nice to have had the inspection done before the registration as you're going to have to declare a value and that will determine what your yearly vehicle license fee will be. Going to be hard to value a shiny new PMB restoration as being worth $1,500. The reason they check to see if there is an engine is they want to see that the car is "complete." If you don't have an engine in the car you have to register it as a car undergoing restoration or as a parts car. A second inspection of the engine is generally required once it has been installed, and you don't want to trigger that. I haven't had them check any further than looking to see if there is an engine in the car, but again it might depend upon who is doing the inspection. Technically you are responsible for CA registration fees from the date of purchase, but I believe this is only if the car has been kept in the state. Generally you are asked to complete a "statement of facts" attesting that the car has not been operated on CA roads and you will not be charged back registration. You could just tell them it has been stored out of state since purchase and it is only now that you've been able to retrieve it (I'm assuming all your paperwork is dated). A DMV encounter is always an exercise in information control. Answer with the minimum amount of information, but don't appear evasive. I don't lie to them, but I don't go out of my way to offer a back story, etc. In most cases they just want to get you finished and out of there so they can go on to the next person. Being concise, polite and professional, without being chatty or confrontational, generally gets you out of there with your task accomplished without any complications. Again, if you are unsure or nervous about this simply have one of the third party DMV partner companies handle it for you.

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