> Colorado, where I've been living, requires that vehicles from
> out-of-state have a state authority match up the title to the VIN
> on the car
> before registration, which poses the problem. I could easily just stamp a
> new VIN plate and rivet it to the frame or someplace and say that's where
> they pulled it from in Mass, but to any sort of Triumph enthusiast, this
> won't hold up. Other ethical matters aside!!! (^:
Certainly one option would be to remove the original commission plate and
replace it with the VIN from Mass. Hand the removed plate to the enthusiast
that buys the car ... it's his problem! Maybe my ethics are weak, but I
don't see anything whatsoever wrong with that from a moral standpoint. Of
course, it's probably illegal under CO or even Federal laws ...
There also used to be services that would deal with this problem for a price
... basically they are in states that used to be "bill of sale" states. As
long as your car is older than the date they switched to titles, you can
sell the car to them with a bill of sale, they get a title and then sell the
car back to you with the title. Cost about $200 when I looked into it a few
years back.
But every state has to have some 'proper' method of dealing with orphan cars
... have you tried just applying for a lost title ? If you tell them it was
lost in 1987, they'll likely just issue you a new one after a suitable
amount of hassle.
I discovered my TR3A's title had the wrong commission number on it a few
years back ... the folks at the CA DMV didn't bat an eye, charged me
something like $8 to correct the paperwork to match the car ... all I had to
do was bring the car & wait in line until they inspected it.
Randall
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