CA: New criminal cases filed

[joey_hv]

to those of us not in Cali...who is this Morgester fella?

[CNGreen]

Google his name. Interesting reading...

[jdog]

The Honorable Robert Morgester, California District Attorney (DA) read: Prosecutor!

It's like the Great White just letting the school of fish know that he's still out there!

jdog
P.S. Swim faster everybody!

[Excaliber]

I think he's a fair man, just doing his job. And your analogy of a Great White, jdog, is right on target!

[xlr8or]

I know how some of those named in the initial post were registering the cars in question and it is part of why I walked away from them a few years ago.
There is a process to get it done right, if you do it right you have nothing to worry about.

[LMH]

Before I pass final judgment on what I see as the CA government drunk on power and out of control, will someone tell me about "SPCN" and emissions tests. Does a car registered under "SPCN" have to pass emissions tests?
Larry

[xlr8or]

SPCN is just "Specially Constructed" as in Kit Car. In most areas of the state a bi-annual smog test is required for all cars built after 1974 I believe. If you get an SB100 certificate you can choose the method to determine smog requirements to be based on either year of block or the year the car replicates. Most pick the body option for a 65 Cobra.

[RedEsprit]

While we added to this post, 2,000 illegal aliens, (many of them convicted felons) have just creeped over the border once again. With the help of fraudulent lenders and mortgage brokers, California leads the nation in foreclosures. The state is running out of both water and power. Half of it is still smoldering. Somehow, 2 improperly registered Cobras are important to an an Attorney General. Impeach the idiot.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by JohnWorthing848

I am not trying to be a jerk about this but come on! And for all of you folks who are constantly feeling sorry for us poor folks in CA, please save you sympathy for somebody who really needs it.

John,

I think you missed the point several threads ago on this subject. Some state REQUIRE the owner to title it as the year and model it replicates. This is not fraud when the issuing state or county jurisdication states it as a matter of law. The problem starts when another state voids that legally issued title (which then really becomes a Federal offense for tampering with a VIN and title chain) and attempts to rewrite the laws and the title chain for it's own politically motivated purposes.

Bill S.

[LMH]

Well said Bill.
Larry

[Rich A]

The people in california caused this themselfs, if they would have just claimed the correct value of there replicas none of this would have happened.
California government loves two things money and making laws.

[dlang14]

Originally Posted by xlr8or

I know how some of those named in the initial post were registering the cars in question and it is part of why I walked away from them a few years ago.
There is a process to get it done right, if you do it right you have nothing to worry about.

I agree, these folks knew exactly what they were doing, and when I talked to them about a car they pushed this method, and when I said it wasnt legal in CA they blew me off. I quickly deceided not to do business.

In any case, heres to hoping someone can increase the number of SB100 sequence numbers, so that more people can legally title their cars (yes I know SPCNS doesnt require SB100, but most of us have motors that wont pass smog) and the state can collect their taxes.

[JohnWorthing848]

This is not fraud when the issuing state or county jurisdication states it as a matter of law. The problem starts when another state voids that legally issued title (which then really becomes a Federal offense for tampering with a VIN and title chain) and attempts to rewrite the laws and the title chain for it's own politically motivated purposes.

Thanks for helping me make my point. States with weak and antiquated registration laws are part of the problem. These states have been a part of the scam to wash titles on stolen, submerged and yes fake cars. CA DMV estimates a huge number of fake Porches and other classic body types that were in fact registered and titled "legally" in another state. Those same cars were then sold to unwitting CA residents as "real cars", is that OK with you?

The problem starts when any state allows a vehicle to be registered as something it is not.I havent missed anthing on this topic. And please let us not confuse legally with accurately titled vehicles.

When you connect the dots of tax revenue and a clear violation of excisting law something will eventually happen, bet on it!

In some states it's OK to marry your cousin too!

[RodKnock]

I ownder if Mr. Morgester would know if the State will be increasing the 500 limit in the near future? That way, people during the months of February-December could still obtain an exemption for their SPCNS vehicles. Thank you.

[CNGreen]

February through December? Are you kidding?? They were gone by 11am on the 1st calendar day (Jan 2) this year.

[Woodz428]

Originally Posted by JohnWorthing848

The problem starts when any state allows a vehicle to be registered as something it is not.I havent missed anthing on this topic. And please let us not confuse legally with accurately titled vehicles.

No John, I believe the problem occurs when other states, as Bill stated, refuse to accept out of state titles that are LEGAL and ACCURATE. I doubt they would look too fondly on another state canceling titles they issued because the other states has a different AGENDA than them. In Illinois, as well as other states, the most recent laws governing these vehicles REQUIRE that they be dated as the year they represent. This is primarily to make it easier for officers in the field that are enforcing regular traffic laws, apparently other states police officers are not as refined in their "knowledge" of vehicles :-). Why should my perfectly titled/registered/taxed SPF Coupe, which is titled according to Illinois law as a 1965 Superformance Cobra Coupe be made illegal just by moving to California. Absurd, ridiculous and asinine as well as a few other not for primetime words. It's just another example of the heavy hand of Govt. appearing to do something when everything they are SUPPOSED to be doing is in shambles. I wish they would secede from the Union and leave the rest of rational civilization alone.

[jwd]

Very well stated Woodz428 but I don't think he'll ever understand.

[WildBill3]

Thats why they call it the left coast dang im glad I dont live ther

[MaSnaka]

Replica Cobras have become a special class of car... SPCN. They are NOT 1965 anything but a replica of car built in 1965. It doesn't matter what state you live in. The only part of the car that assimulates an originally titled 1965 Cobra is basically the body and some engine blocks. Some more so than others. If your out of state title says it's a 1965 Cobra I would say it's part of the sherade. What does your insurance carrier call it?

The original thread by Mr. Morgester used the terms "sale of counterfit VINs, offering false instruments, perjury by declaration,and identity theft". This isn't just you or me with a bad title, but people doing this shady stuff for a profit. The people who unknowingly bought these cars have to then clean up the titles and deal with the mess. Innocent until proven guilty but I don't have a problem with this. This has been going on for some time and I believe the messenger here is being upfront with a warning to all...Clean up your titles. I don't understand why there can't be some sort of amnesty giving folks a fair opportunity to do so...allowing more than 500 SB numbers a year comes to mind or an allocation of special numbers for people who come with older titles already in the system. There is obviously a demand and the shortage forces some to try and beat the system.

Maybe an insurance guy could chime in about the position of their company when the so called 1965 Ford that you have been paying a minimum to insure turns out to be a SPCN built in 1997. Would your coverage become void if your car was misrepresented? I don't know.

John

[Historybuff]

I was told that one method in Calif. allows you to register the car by the year of the block. Which is why those junkyards in Montana with thousands of engines (the rest of the cars rusted away) do good business selling blocks with a i.d. number for that year and a bill of sale verifying the year. Which , unaccountably, California lets you then transfer that same number onto a new replacement block, maybe even one made of aluminum instead of cast iron. So basically you can have a new Cobra built in 2007 but still title it as a 1965 car if you have the receipt for a '65 block. I think this is crazy, in a way, because it flaunts all logic. It probably started innocently enough with dune buggies (yes theee were dune buggies before the VW ones) and other dunes rods where they threw them together of scrap iron but didn't know what year to title it so when the DMV was asked they asked "what car contributed the biggest chunk?" and when the reply was "the engine," that was the year they chose. Where it annoys me most is when auction companies like the ones at Monterey advertise in their catalogs "1965 Cobra" you plow through 1,000 words of copy before they admit it is a Superformance or some other replica. I would say the way to eliminate all this false alarms for car searchers is to title it by the year it was first registered i.e. "2007 Superformance. replica of 1965 Cobra."

The result of letting all those replica owners register their assembled cars as real Cobras was that now the real Cobras are lost among them. Oh, well, at least we have the real CSX numbers to go by. But, guess what, some States lett you arbitrarily pluck a number out of the air for the chassis number too.(as someone I hard of did with a kit GT40, choosing a number that would fall into the real GT40 number range...)

If a car is sold as a 1965 car when in fact not a single part of it was built
in 1965, it sounds like grand larceny to me. I'm no lawyer but isn't that a felony?

As far as California making it rough for fun car owners; I think it shows the bi-polar nature of the state government. Thousands of tourists come here to see car races, visit car shops, buy high performance car parts, shop for exotic cars, yet the State government wastes time and money consistently trying to seek new ways to hobble or kill off the most interesting parts of the car hobby, which is as a whole an industry is one that employs thousands and pays MILLIONS in taxes to the State (couldn't resist the capitalization...sorry, I get carried away)