Doug,
California won't recognize another states title in this case and you have to use the SB-1578 which is a slight variation of SB-100 but was added just for that reason. It still uses the same 500 numbers per year that SB-100 allows so you would be competing against all the new owners who are trying to get a number. California requires that the title show the year the car was built also. For example I bought my coupe in 2007 and my title shows Yr Model 0000 Make SPCN Yr 2007. If it didn't have the SB-100 number I would have to meet emissions for 2007.
Ron
