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68 camaro lost title

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Gotsoup

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I have the opportunity to buy a 68 that is pretty straight, but essentially a rolling chassis. The owner does not have plates or a title. DMV in CA. Ran the VIN and did not have a record of the car. They said that there is a process to register the vehicle as a historical car and apply for a new title.

Is this predicament pretty standard?

Should I be worried the title may be salvaged?

I believe I am getting a good price so I do not want to Miss out, but I am worried about getting screwed. The car is in my area so I was able to meet the seller and view the car, it is not an online website or ebay car.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
Jesse, list your VIN here and then look for a partial VIN near the heater box opening and also in the cowl area below the wiper post...they should match your primary VIN. That will help confirm the car belongs to the VIN. If the partial's do NOT match the Primary VIN, then there could be an issue. Clear close-up photos of the VIN and partials would help alot too. :)
 
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#3 ·
In Idaho no Title no sale. You have to restore the car completely then get a bonded title for three years then apply for a standard title. The whole three years waiting for someone to walk up and say "hey that is my old car and I have the title" when that happens they get the car. You get the amount of the bond. Not worth it here. I have a 1967 Firebird that has no title and it is a lawn ornament. I need to part it out.
 
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#8 ·
Gotsoup said:
The vehicle VIN is 124378L07668. I know it is a V8 coupe produced in Los Angeles. My main question is how do I know if the title is clear? DMV did not have a record of the vehicle.
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I would have someone in Law Enforcement run it against the NCIC database and National Insurance Crime Bureau Data Base (NICB) to make sure its not on a hot-sheet in another state. It would be a real drag to buy it , restore it & have someone who lost it 20 years ago claim it. Its happened before!

If its clean I think you can still file a Bill of Sale, Statement of Facts, and Lost Title form in CA and get it transferred to your name. The fact that its not in their DB may actually work to your advantage.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
yes the missing number was a 3, I was using my dumb phone and must have missed it. So perhaps the lost title is more common than I thought. The owner said it had ben sitting in storage for at least 10 years, maybe it fell out of DMV's data base. When I spoke to DMV they said there was a verification process and then a title and "Historical Car" registration could occur. I also did not know if there was any way to tell if it was a RS/SS/Z28 or if it was a basic V8 model. I will upload the cowl tag later tonight.

The cowl tag and VIN tags all matched as well.
 
#10 ·
You can run the VIN through these guys and it might help. But your still best off having law enforcement run the VIN for you as was mentioned above. If it comes back clear from them then it can take leg work and time but you can get a title.
 
#11 ·
Only thing you can tell on a 68 without engine/tranny/rearend is whether or not it was a V8 (by the VIN); type of tranny (auto or manual by the firewall piercing); when and where it was built (trim tag); what color the exterior was and what type and color the interior was (trim tag). The firewall cutout will determine whether it had AC or not.

68's have the least info and are the easiest to clone because of this...
 
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#12 ·
I'm in the same boat, I've got a 68 RS/SS I bought when I was 17 in 83. I got it with a title and put it in my name, 4 years later after I stored it I looked and found out it dose not match car. It was once a drag car long ago, still has a swiss cheese front sub frame no motor or 4 speed just 12 bolt with 5.38 in it all has been changed. picked up the parts that were no longer there to make look like it did once. Ive been long been in Texas now and the car is from Illinois. It's still sleeping in the garage. Now what ? It's a nice car

Steve,
 
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#13 ·
steven c said:
I'm in the same boat, I've got a 68 RS/SS I bought when I was 17 in 83. I got it with a title and put it in my name, 4 years later after I stored it I looked and found out it dose not match car. It was once a drag car long ago, still has a swiss cheese front sub frame no motor or 4 speed just 12 bolt with 5.38 in it all has been changed. picked up the parts that were no longer there to make look like it did once. Ive been long been in Texas now and the car is from Illinois. It's still sleeping in the garage. Now what ? It's a nice car

Steve,
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Make it into what you'd like to have then. I bought my current 67 with no engine or tranny because it had beau coup options and dropped a 427 (now 454) and a TH400 into it.
 
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#14 ·
Thanks Jim,

9 months after I got I put a 30 over 327 in it and a Muncie , but it's still dose not have clean title in my name.

BTW I always wanted a 427 then and now, I missed two then and now they are big $$$

Thanks, Steve
 
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#15 ·
Westonz28 said:
In Idaho no Title no sale. You have to restore the car completely then get a bonded title for three years then apply for a standard title. The whole three years waiting for someone to walk up and say "hey that is my old car and I have the title" when that happens they get the car. You get the amount of the bond. Not worth it here. I have a 1967 Firebird that has no title and it is a lawn ornament. I need to part it out.
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What a shame it would be to part out that bird if it's a decent car to rebuild. Some of you guys need to get out more.. There are SEVERAL states where vehicles over a certain age don't need a title. NH is 15 years, RI is 10 just as an example. Guys in those states would have no problem at all buying a car like that. I still have family in NH who could buy it, register it, and then sell it to me and I could have a Tennessee title in my name in less than 2 weeks... Wish I was in a position to make an offer on it.
 
#16 ·
NHBandit said:
What a shame it would be to part out that bird if it's a decent car to rebuild. Some of you guys need to get out more.. There are SEVERAL states where vehicles over a certain age don't need a title. NH is 15 years, RI is 10 just as an example. Guys in those states would have no problem at all buying a car like that. I still have family in NH who could buy it, register it, and then sell it to me and I could have a Tennessee title in my name in less than 2 weeks... Wish I was in a position to make an offer on it.
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That may be true in many states but in Idaho you must have a title before you sell the car. If you do not you are breaking the law. You do not own the car if you do not have a title to it. Bill of sale means nothing. I would love to get something out of this Firebird but I can not sell it without a title.
 
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#17 ·
steven c said:
I'm in the same boat, I've got a 68 RS/SS I bought when I was 17 in 83. I got it with a title and put it in my name, 4 years later after I stored it I looked and found out it dose not match car. It was once a drag car long ago, still has a swiss cheese front sub frame no motor or 4 speed just 12 bolt with 5.38 in it all has been changed. picked up the parts that were no longer there to make look like it did once. Ive been long been in Texas now and the car is from Illinois. It's still sleeping in the garage. Now what ? It's a nice car

Steve,
Click to expand...
Steve
I am curious what you mean by
"4 years later after I stored it I looked and found out it dose not match car
Click to expand...
Do you mean the vin # you see through the windshield in the dash does not match the vin# listed on the title? Please be more specific as to what does not "match".
 
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#18 ·
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#20 ·
first thing I would do is check through the cowl panel to see if the numbers down there match the VIN number tag next to the windshield on the dash. If those two match, I would remove the front clip engine and transmission and maybe a few other parts you added to the car you dont want to lose if the vin inspection goes south and then begin the process to obtain the title for the car from scratch as if you didn't have a title for that car. That way you could obtain a title based on that cars vin # and disregard the old title completely. I will see what I can find on Texas law on how to obtain a title there. I knew someone once that said they're VIN # didn't match and they were looking at the trim tag on the firewall instead of the number on the dash! Lol I had to ask just to make sure.
 
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pokijan
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