How to register a Replica Vehicle in Massachusetts

Hey all, future Beck 550 owner here in Mass. Soon enough will need to go through the whole process. Prarit's doc is a real asset and I am will certainly post my experience following it. I am prepared the RMV ...uck things up throughout, I mean it would be silly to expect otherwise.

One question I have though, in mass there is no emissions req. for 15+ year old cars. The Cert of Origin from Beck will likely claim 1955 for the car's year. If RMV to "mistakingly" title the car as a 1955, would I not be in the green for not needing anything else for inspection? Or is the issue in that I cannot have a 1955 car with a cert of origin and that's where I will get flagged.

@noro posted:

The Cert of Origin from Beck will likely claim 1955 for the car's year. If RMV to "mistakingly" title the car as a 1955, would I not be in the green for not needing anything else for inspection? Or is the issue in that I cannot have a 1955 car with a cert of origin and that's where I will get flagged.

You should check with Carey on that. I don’t think that’s the case. VW based Speedsters are sometimes registered with the MY of the pan, but SE 550’s don’t have a pan and AFAIK their MSO is listed as a Special Construction Vehicle by the year of manufacture.

But I think recent legislation even put the Kibosh on registering Speedsters by the MY of the pan. Carey ( @chines1) has posted numerous re: the regulations if you want to do a search.

I was lucky. The UT DMV is pretty easy going and they allowed me to register my Spyder as a 55 Special Construction, so my registration is only $10/yr.

FWIW, if you want to have Carey ship me your car when it’s finished, I’d be happy to title in here in Utah and drive it out to you and “sell” it to you with a ‘55 Utah title.

@noro

Where in Mass are you?  It might make a difference, depending on which RMV office you use, if you need a State Police vehicle inspection and so forth.  Some offices are up on the regs and what needs to be done, but many others are not and mostly wing it.  These offices really don't see many replicas or even Hot Rods to know what to do.

And as you say, if Beck documents it as a 1955 and the RMV titles it as a 1955 then Applus (the company overseeing the inspection process) will just see a 1955 Porsche sitting there, inspect it and probably not batt an eye.

I have heard everything from someone sailing right through with a Speedster replica, and another owner hitting so much flak that they re-sold to someone out of state just to be done with it.  You honestly won't know until you start the process as it has been changing almost yearly.  

@Gordon Nichols posted:

@noro

And as you say, if Beck documents it as a 1955 and the RMV titles it as a 1955 then Applus (the company overseeing the inspection process) will just see a 1955 Porsche sitting there, inspect it and probably not batt an eye.

My only worry would be what happens re: sales tax when someone looks up the value of a 1955 Porsche 550.

BITD, UT DMV used to go off whatever you told them or what was on your BOS. Nowadays they look up everything in either NADA or Edmunds.

Indiana agreed that they wanted the car titled as the year of replication for emissions and FMVSS purposes, so in Indiana the MSO states it is a 1955 Beck Spyder.  If you title in Indiana, they assign a modern VIN to it, so that they know to tax as current year but still afford the benefits of a classic vehicle.  in my mind, this is a win-win situation, they get their proper tax money and we get the exemptions that many of these new laws intended to give before all the gov't BS was inserted.  This does NOT change the fact that we cannot sell or install drivetrains, just governs the process after.

The only state that I have seen calculate tax value based on historical values is Connecticut.  Most states just go off the bill of sale or similar documents.   That doesn't mean other states won't do this, I just haven't seen it previously.

There are still several states that want these cars titled as year of replication and understand they are not ever gong to have current emissions or safety.

The new SEMA laws (small volume) specifically only apply to "turn key" and do not have any bearing on kits and rollers, just FYI.  That was still left up to the state.