Dear Rescuers of Finlandia...
I'm not an expert here on this topic, but here's what I've learned so far...
California now has a Rescue proceedure for cars which have been junked.
First, determine whether it was sold to the state on the Early Retirement
Program. You can do this by emailing the CARB board in Sacramento and see if
California bought the vehcle to be removed from the road for smog reasons.
If it appears on their list, then they have a proceedure for you to make a
bid on the vehicle. You can get on their mailing list for junked collector
cars, and they will assist in locating the vehicle. but not in any other
way. This policy changed in April...it's new.. because collectors were
losing tons of good parts. On the other hand, the requirement still exists
to smog a "dejunked" vehicle, check lights and brakes, and be roadworthy,
so the vehicle in question needs to be in pretty darn good shape.
It is a bit more complicated with a plain old salvage vehicle. Offer the
junkyard cash for the car, and then get them to fill out a Bill of Sale and
Vehicle Transfer and Reassignment Form. .. the normal one. You can then tow
it away, but getting the title reissued is the trick. I'm still working on
this for the 79 LeWoody Wagon I bought in January. You will be working
through the DMV. www.dmv.ca.gov. I would give you the phone number, but you
get an answering tree to no avail. Best to just pop into your local DMV and
ask for the How To brochure called "How To: Reregister a "junked" vehicle"
You will need an App for Registration, Proof of Ownership- VIN verification
and Inspection Cetifivcation, Brake and Light Certificates and Fees as
Approproate. You may also need a Statement of Facts (Reg 256) Bill of Sale,
Smog Cert, and Weight Cert. None of these is impossible, but as I said, my
car is still not successfully dejunked, so i can't say I'm an expert in
rescuing collector cars. I think the trick is to make friends with someone
at DMV who likes your type of car, and get them to stay on the case for you.
Charm is essential.
Anyone else have gone through this, chime in.. more hints needed!
Rick T
79 LeBaron Wagon
78 LeBaron Wagon
79 Aspen Wagon
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network