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We have it pretty good here in Maine. Anyone can buy or sell a vehicle over 25 years old without a title. All you need is a simple bill of sale, which could be written on a McDonald's cheeseburger wrapper, and bam, you have a registered vehicle in your name. Then to register it as an antique for the very cheap annual fee, you have to sign an affadavit that says you will not drive it as a primary vehicle. If you want to drive it as a primary vehicle you simply pay the higher annual 'regular' plate fee.
This state does not get wound up about previous ownership or VIN numbers. They collect the sales tax and let you drive old vehicles freely.
The hard part is that the good, solid low-rust cars and trucks from elsewhere that don't have titles will cost an arm and a leg to ship them here. But we can make room for the ones that do find their way to Maine.
Does the state do an inspection of the vehicle to register it without a title, or just take your word that the vehicle is in your garage?
Wayne, they take your word for it on antique vehicles. I've heard there is a micro-industry of people using Maine to transfer ownership of non-title cars on paper but it isn't anything that our motor vehicle division cracks down on to the best of my knowledge. Instead they concern themselves on annual safety inspections of daily drivers.
Antique vehicles are exempt from safety inspections. This is not a problem since nearly all classic vehicles are cared for and tended to much better than daily drivers.
Oh, I should mention that our climate and use of road salt only permits driving old cars for about 4 months of the year, so they aren't a large portion of the shared road use.
More Craigs List parts
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1950 Ford F-3
no motor , transmission, or rear end
box in rough shape
spare F-5 cab goes with
no title
phone calls only https://missoula.craigslist.org/pts/...606077435.html
1948 Ford F5, it was used in northern Montana with a log bunk until the mid '70s, I believe it did run when it was parked. The radiator was removed before I got it, and it is present, but I do not believe that the coolant ever froze. There have been small items removed from the engine (Generator and carb), but it does look mostly complete, and not in overall terrible condition mechanically. The engine turned a few months ago when it I moved it last fall, but currently does not. The head bolts have been loosened, but they are present, as are both heads. The body itself seems fairly solid, other than the fact that the back of the cab was the stop for the log bunk, but no major rust on any of the bodywork or frame that I've found, but almost all the glass is either fully missing or cracked. The only missing trim are a turn signal bezel and the 'F' and the 'O' from the 'Ford' emblem over the grill, and there is a single bullet hole in one of the grille bars. The odometer reads 00000.9, I don't believe that that's the actual milage. The rear end spins, but I think has mostly water instead of oil. there is minor damage to the rear frame crossbar (Which was added at some point) from where I removed a pintle hitch. https://missoula.craigslist.org/pts/...640907884.html
I've bought quite a few parts cars and truck without paperwork. They tend not to stay in the same complete condition for long. Usually I have them dismantled and either the useable parts stored away and the carcass cut up into a few manageable pieces and hauled away to scrapyard.
One car I bought I decided it might be good enough to not part out so I went on search for paperwork. I called the DMV and started asking around. Here in Wisconsin if you don't have a signed title it's very difficult to impossible to get a car titled in your name. After a few calls I found a DMV worker that gave me the previous titled owner of the car. The car still had it's collector license plate. The person was long dead but I was able to look through online court records and found his sister who was the executor of his estate. I made arrangements for her to get me a new title and I then was able to get a legitimate title in my name. It was a fun piece of investigation.
Kind of to change the subject a little but still related to a CL find and I am really stoked about it and thought I'd share it with my FTE family.
I use Searchtempest to search CL nationwide for parts. I have found some really good deals literally across the country. Usually the stuff I find is in the sunnier, drier parts of the country, very few worthwhile car or truck parts show up around me but the other day while surfing the first item that pops ups was about 40 miles from me, a set of front fenders for a "1937 and 1938 Buick front fenders with pockets", that was all, no further details as to what exact year, 1937 and 1938 fender looks the same but are slightly different and don't interchange, kind of like '48-50 and '51/52 Ford fenders, and the four different models of that vintage have different sized fenders. I called the seller to find out more about them but he only knew they were for a "1937 and 1938 Buick". I make arrangements to come and take a look at the fenders but before leaving my shop I throw one of my original fenders in the back of my truck to use for comparison.
I get to the guy's shop and bring out my fender and compare it to the ones he's selling, exact match. Considering the chances that they were the correct year and the same model was maybe 25% but in add in that they had the pockets for the sidemount spare really lowered the chances, very few of the smaller Specials came with sidemount spares. Also, these fenders are totally dent and rust free except for a minor rust out in the front edge of the driver's fender, an easy fix. You don't find parts like these up here in the rust belt. After some haggling, ala "Reality TV" I got them both for $625.
Hi Bob. When you get the 37 on the road, you'll have to drive up for another visit. We'll go for lunch at the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters. This is the place where John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and their pals from Chicago famously shot it out with the Feds. John escaped--likely in a Ford that probably looked a lot like your Buick. We'll post a pic of your Buick in the parking lot.
Hi Bob. When you get the 37 on the road, you'll have to drive up for another visit. We'll go for lunch at the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters. This is the place where John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and their pals from Chicago famously shot it out with the Feds. John escaped--likely in a Ford that probably looked a lot like your Buick. We'll post a pic of your Buick in the parking lot.
