I"m looking for help with a Colorado title problem from the Forum members in Colorado. I recently posted on here that I bought a project car (1973 914-4) for a winter time project. It was effectively abandoned at a garage years ago. There are no ownership records, no plates,and the car is mostly disassembled, so easy to say that it's a pile of parts, with body/paint/rust elimination all done. It appears I can get a rebuilder's title with fairly minor pain and hoops to jump through. Correct me if I'm wrong there. But once I rebuild the car, it appears I can get that changed to a regular title with some additional pain and hoops to jump through. I've been studying the checklists from the Colorado DMV, but it always seems that the actual process is not necessarily the same. This isn't really a "garage" issue, but I would welcome advice from someone who has done this before, or refer me to a service that handles such things (for a price, of course!) in case that makes sense.

Ask the shop you got it from to see about a mechanics lien.
With that, they may be able to obtain a title.

Rich

The time limit to file a mechanic's lien is long past.

I know a guy who supposedly has a guy in Vermont that can title cars with lost titles. I have no experience and haven't looked into the legalities of it since it seems to be in a pretty gray area but something like that might be an option (then transfer title back to CO)...

It is my understanding that, once you complete the checklist and obtain a Rebuilder's Title, that you can re-title the vehicle once it is complete. Pretty much the same as if you had purchased it.
The Rebuilder's Title is essentially proof that you own the vehicle, so it acts as the bill of sale once you are ready to have a regular title put on the vehicle.

Just be careful NOT to get a Rebuilt From Salvage Title. Once you have Rebuilt from Salvage, you will never get a regular title.


Rebuilder’s Title in CO
Please, don’t be confused about “rebuilt from salvage” title Colorado and rebuilder’s title. The latter is issued to NON-roadworthy collector’s vehicles with early manufacturing date (at at least 25 years old) or having historical value, which are located in Colorado. Such vehicles are not roadworthy, have a rolling chassis and no ownership document as required by the law. However, after all the necessary repair works are done, such vehicles can receive are regular title. ( http://rebuilttitle.org/rebuilt-from-salva...e-colorado.html )

Rebuilder's Title Checklist:

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/defa...iles/DR2187.pdf

Rebuilder's Title to Regular Title Checklist:

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/defa...iles/DR2186.pdf


Rebuilder's Title to Regular Title Declaration of Facts (ie: work performed, parts used and by whom):

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/defa...iles/DR2239.pdf

Concerning the issuance of a rebuilder's certificate of title for motor vehicles for the purposes of restoring such vehicles:

http://tornado.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir...006a/sl_209.htm