It's getting a little clearer for me, at least. Shasta County taxes to register my ERA will be less than $400 in my case. I've owned the car for years.
Based on this web site:
https://mv.dmv.ca.gov/FeeCalculatorWeb/index.jsp
The hang up is indeed the REQUIRED inspection of any new resident car (new, old, don't matter). It's a virtual guarentee I will fail on a number of issues. Gross polluter and "kit" car being the killer issues. However, the taxes look pretty straight forward in my case. Simply transfering exisiting clean and 100% legal title from Hawaii to California.
However, I will NOT be a California resident any time in the near future. Perhaps as much as a couple of months. I won't be working or looking for work, won't be renting, leasing or buying and won't be going to school. Just basically do what I'm doing now, be a flake.
So, I'll keep my Hawaii plates, drivers license, etc. for the time being. By January I should know and if it looks like long term I better get in line at the DMV on the 4th.