Newbie Needs Advice on Registering etc.

ccicerone · #1 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 02:13 PM

I'm posting as the wife of a man about to fulfill his longtime fantasy of owning a Cobra replica. He's not into doing research, so I joined this forum to learn a little before he takes the plunge tomorrow (07-24-07). I saw a post about a "SB100" and how to get the car registered. What does this mean?

Will he have trouble when he takes the pink slip to the DMV to register the car? Are there any other issues we should know about before handing over the cashier's check? We live in San Mateo County.

Thanks for any tips!

dlang14 · #2 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 02:30 PM

Hello,

There is a lot of material on this site that will explain the process. Start over on the registration forum for details
http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/registration-forum/

Here is a link to the CA DMV site that outlines some of it as well
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/spcnsreg.htm

Since you mention a pink slip I assume this is an existing car thats currently registered to someone else correct? Is it CA registered? If so how? In CA it should be registered as an SPCNS, not as a '65 Cobra or some such

SB100 will make the vehicle lifetime smog exempt, unfortunately there are only 500 SB100 exemption sequence numbers available/year. No SB100 doesnt mean it cannot be registered, but it will need to pass smog. Smog might be based on the year of the engine, or year it was first registered.

Maybe give us a little more information about the vehicle that he's looking at and we can give you a better response. How its registered, what motor its got, etc. Good luck, and assuming you are in the bay area, hope to see you both at a breakfast event.

Daryl

ccicerone · #3 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 02:57 PM

Thanks so much! This is the ad for the car on craiglist http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/car/377157552.html It reads "Registered as a 1966 Ford (smog exempt). Built by Shell Valley." But neither the current owner nor my husband (especially my husband), are very knowledgeable about the specifics. The owner just told us it is smog exempt, but I don't know if that's for it's lifetime, or just until next time it's up for a smog report. It was built I think he said 5 or 6 years ago by Shell Valley Motors. Thanks!!!

ccicerone · #4 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 03:03 PM

p.s. I forgot to mention, it is registered in CA. And we live in San Mateo County.

dlang14 · #5 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 03:44 PM

nice looking car, but I honestly think its overpriced.

Technically if its registered as a 66 Ford that's a fraudulent registration (seach for posts by Morgester, there is an amnesty program being evaluated to correct these vehicles, but there are smog issues). Now you could probably get away with it, the question is for how long and what will be the consequence when it catches up.

All that aside, the chevy motor will kill the resale value on the car. If that's what your husband has his heart set on, great more power to him. Just understand that it will hurt the value, and many buyers will not want it.

Regardless life will be a whole lot simpler to find an existing vehicle that is registered under the SB100 program. There are a few here on clubcobra in the for sale section, just search on SB100. Not sure if this link will work but here is a search I did just a minute ago http://www.clubcobra.com/classifieds/showcat.php?cat=2&stype=1&si=SB100&perpage=12&sort =1&stype=&limit=&cat=2&ppuser=

You can also check on Cobra Country http://www.cobracountry.com/home2.html the ones with SB100 are easily identified

xlr8or · #6 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccicerone

"Registered as a 1966 Ford (smog exempt)"

Not to knock another owners car but that is a big warning sign.

See this post: California: Is your kit car registered as a 1960 vintage vehicle?

The original post is from Robert Morgester who works for the State Attorney's office.

They are coming down on cars that are not registered properly. Don't take what appears to be a good deal now to only get a future of big headaches.

ccicerone · #7 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 03:58 PM

Thanks a million, Daryl, for helping us out so promptly. I've contacted the seller to confirm there is no SB100, and also let my husband know. He doesn't really know enough to know exactly what he wants, all he knows is "cobra." It's my job as "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" to help him make a prudent purchase. Looking forward to meeting club members at an upcoming event to get more educated

Carol

scootter · #8 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 04:06 PM

If you want to see the different car manufactures and get some advise, join the breakfast at the Rock House Saturday mornings. You will see many different makes and colors of cars. My wife and I have a great time in our car. We were not able to register our car after we bought it. I spent about 7 months with DMV in Sac redoing everything and spending some extra money.
Scott

tc_sj · #9 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 05:23 PM

My suggestion to you is buy a car that already has SB100 granted, this will avoid lots of headache and hassle with DMV, like many other folks in this forum feed back, SB100 seem like its a painful process.

I bought my Superformance cobra 2 months ago with SB100 status and I took lots of advice from this group, I love the cobra and I drove my cobra more than my Porsche as of now.

Good luck

SkipB · #10 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 06:24 PM

ccicerone,

You might check the "for sale" section of this website. There is a very nice Backdraft Cobra replica for sale that I believe has the SB100 exemption. It is now registered out of state (Virginia?) so it may not still be active as an exemption in California, but you could check on this.

The car itself is very fairly priced for the equipment it has on it. Freight to bring it to the west coast would add to the cost, but it would still be a good deal. Backdrafts are very well made replicas that are made in South Africa, imported here without an engine/transmission. An engine/transmission is then added to make a complete car. I own one and quite a few other regular visitors to this website do as well. Check the "Backdraft Racing" area of this site and also the corporate site. I am sure any Backdraft owner would be willing to help you with this car or any other.

Good luck with your purchase.

SkipB

Got the Bug · #11 (**permalink**) 07-24-2007, 09:03 PM

Carol,

I applaud you for taking on the task of doing the research, but you should tell your hubby to get off his rear and get involved in the purchase! Yes, this is the ulitimate "toy", but there a lot of pitfalls in buying and registering a car in California. As Scott mentioned, there are also a lot of different flavors of car. It pays to look at all of your options.

Doug

ccicerone · #12 (**permalink**) 07-25-2007, 01:44 PM

LOL, well said, Doug. My husband does do all the cooking, so I can't complain too much about being in charge of all our car purchases since we've been married. But since he will be the one driving the car (I can't even drive a stick), he should be more involved. I'm just a better shopper than he is.

I'm keeping an eye out for the next Mountain View breakfast... I saw a posting on the Events board for the weekly Livermore ones, I haven't seen an upcoming one for MV, unless I'm missing it.

Thanks a million everyone for your great advice, and just in the nick of time.

Carol

scootter · #13 (**permalink**) 07-25-2007, 03:48 PM

Carol,
If you want to see a variety of cars, you need to go to the Livermore breakfast at the Rock House. It is every Saturday from 7:30am to 9:00am or so. There can be 20 to over 30 cars there on Saturday. You will see only 5 or so in Mountain View which is the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month at around 8:00am.
Scott

SCOBRAC · #14 (**permalink**) 08-07-2007, 11:48 PM

My SB-100 car can be had cheap...

http://www.clubcobra.com/classifieds...duct=668&cat=2