[johnpro]

I came across a deal yesterday, where I can have (yes, have as in free) a '65 coupe if I haul it away. It was in a storage unit, that the owner didn't pay for, and was siezed by the storage unit company. I haven't seen the car, but if nothing else, sounds (from descriptions I gotten) that it at least has lots of good parts on it.

How hard is it to re-title this car, assumming the storage unit company has done all the propper paper work. Am I getting into something I don't want to here?

All opinions and advice welcome. I'll be going to check out the car this afternoon.

If you always do what you've always done,
You'll always get what you've always got
http://www.classic-mustang.net/johnpro

 

[Guest]

In oregon if money is owed on the car a lein can be put on the car and the new title
can be given. Drag the car across the border and regester it here then move it back?
jimbo

M.C.A.# 50000
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1575692&a=11979474&p=43366578.jpg

 

[camachinist]

oh...you're missing the ".jpg" at the end of your sig photo url...

check out the reduced size photo I did for you in another thread...

Pat
http://www.jps.net/binay/webdocs/strtmstng002_sml.JPG

 

[KeenBean]

Why do you have all the luck finding these deals.......You'll have to move in with midlife so you can store all your Mustangs in his Garage-mahal.....
I don't Know about CA. but down here in Florida the owner of the storage company would have to file a lien on the car and wait a few months (I think 3) before they would reissue a title. I think. I did that a few years ago with a towing company that had towed an abandon car that nobody claimed.
The storage company probably has it written in thier contracts about them siezing property due to non-payment. This may speed the process with the DMV. If not you can part it out on Ebay. I see Junk on there all the time going for big bucks....

AKA "Fastbackpimp"
[color:blue]65 Fastback</font color=blue>
http://hometown.aol.com//dasbus73/Index.html
[color:blue]VMF Member Since Nov. 99</font color=blue>

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/dasbus73/stangtoon.gif

 

[abn]

I looked into a similar deal with an abandoned motorcycle in my motorcycle mechanics class...From what I remember there were certain requirements for a lien or abandonment sale including making the vehicle available for purchase to the public and advertising the sale. That may be why the storage company is not going through the trouble of actually putting the car in its name. After trying to locate the owner, I went to the DMV and stated that the motorcycle was given to me and that the title had been lost and that I could not find the registered owner (a creative interpretation of the facts, but not totally untrue). I was required to send a sealed certified letter (return receipt requested) to the registered owner requesting the owner's signature on the transfer of ownership forms. When the letter was returned to me undeliverable I had to bring it to the DMV and open it in their presence, at which point they processed a new title in my name. This works well if the registered owner is not around anymore and avoids the red tape of a real sale. I would try this method before taking possession of the vehicle and if everything works out and you can get the vehicle in your name then take it from the storage yard. If not, then suggestions to part it out seem best.

 

[johnpro]

Thanks for the response. I'm so leary of getting stuck in the middle here. Mostly I want it for the doors for my son's project (they're suppossedly perfect). Assuming it can't be titled correctly, and I part it out, what do I do with the remaining shell? Can I just take it off to a junk yard? Wouldn't I need a title to even haul it off to them?

If you always do what you've always done,
You'll always get what you've always got
http://www.classic-mustang.net/johnpro

 

[whizco]

Be very careful here! As abn stated, there is some red tape that has to be followed up on.

I had a friend a few years back that did the same thing your doing. The 66 Mustang was givin to him, and he foolishly went out and purchased a couple thousand in parts to restore the car. The original owner got wind of this and caused some headaches. Last time I checked with him the car was still being held up in the courts. He should have taken care of clearing the title before anything else.

I'm not certain if the owner or who ever might have a lean on the car would be able to keep you from parting the car, but they may be able to make you liable(if they won in court)for cost to bring the car back to it's original form.

If it was me, I would get the car(so not to loose out on it) and sit on it while you went through the process of legalizing the deal.

Doug

[color:red]VMF Exchange Board</font color=red>
http://members.spree.com/entertainment/whizco/owner/dwhisenant/66tl2.jpg
[color:blue]My Mustang is Camera Shy</font color=blue>/forums/images/icons/blush.gif

 

[abn]

The remaining shell is nothing that a cutting torch and a little ingenuity couldn't handle...(Maybe I've been watching too much gone in sixty seconds)

 

[Dean_T]

Well, I took the pieces of a '65 POS to a metal scrap yard and they took it all in as scrap. Of course I had cut the car apart into chunks no larger than 2'x3'. I kept the roof and the parts with the VIN for welding practice - don't want any chance of the car "reappearing". In my case I had the title and plates but they never asked for them.

The wrecking yards are more picky, they will require title or some form indicating the car is for parts (I can't remember what that form is but I'll need to find the one I have for a '66 T-bird - that car's too big to cut a part with a hack saw and a 3" cut off wheel).

Perhaps you can salvage some body parts off it such as the cowl, rear quarters, shock towers, and roof with C-pillars?

Hm, the neighbors may not like that *G*

Dean T

Shikatta Ga Nai - "It cannot be helped"

 

[Mach1Pilot]

The only thing I'll add to the other posts is that, if you don't go through the process of titling the car, you may still be liable to the original owner since you received the property from the storage company "illegally". I use the quotes because, although the property appears abandoned and the storage company has the right to seize it, they probably do not have sufficient ownership rights to dispose of it until they have completed the specified legal process. If the owner wants to make an issue of it, you could potentially be ordered to pay the owner fair market value for the car as he/she describes it to the court unless you carefully document the true state of the vehicle. Either way, without the storage company processing the lien according to law, you are running a risk of financial liability, it seems.

http://www.ultranet.com/~bpratt/images/Mach1painted.jpg
1969 Mach 1
http://www.ultranet.com/~bpratt/images/65vert.jpg
1965 A-Code Convertible

 

[G1967T]

One thought, while not recomended, comes to mind on disposing of the remaining body: While rooting around in the high desert we came accross one-half of a late model SL Mercedes body. It was the rear half with parts removed. Maybe it was just Arlo Gutherie getting rid of Alice's used car.

Russ

 

[66benchcoupe]

This is how it was 6 years ago. The storage place will give you some paperwork indicating it was a lien sale. You'll go to DMV and pay fees to get a title. They'll give you some paperwork that a cop will need to fil out. You'll have to call the Police Department and they'll have someone come over to check the hidden VIN against what the lien paperwork says. Back to the DMV and then you should get a title.

Then you start tearing it apart. I'd be interested in the right rear quarter panel if its good and a decent drivers door if you have an extra. Maybe a passenger side fender?

Are you going to the swap meet at the Sac State on the 18th? I'll be there.

Black primer 66 coupe, bench seat, 68 302-2V, C-4, 3.55 TSD
879 posts as "66 bench-coupe" on old VMF
robert94928 on Yahoo Messenger

 

[i967mustang]

Hi, if you have to go through the paperwork deal then make sure you document the time you have it and if the owner comes back for it you can charge him storage on it most times the storage is more than the vehicle is worth if after 6 months you can't get the paperwork you can file for abandoned title the police will come and then you sign a summons for abandoned vehicle and they try to serve it but ultimately you will end up with a car that you could title. Hope it goes the easy way with the storage co. giving you a form to take to dmv. John

 

[Hottarod]

As long as its just a parts car and you don't plan to register it you don't need a title. You do need a bill of sale from the last legal title holder(current owner) and that is all. If you don't have either a bill of sale or the title and the car winds up having a lien against it or has been reported stolen by the owner then you are in trouble if the cops ever check up on it.

To check the car out get the vin and go down to DMV and run a check on it. It costs a few bucks to do that.

If its an abandoned car and the title is clear(no other liens) you can file for a mechanics lien on it and get a title that way. Essentially, the storage company commissioned you as a vintage car restorer/mechanic to haul it off. A mechanics lien requires documentation and some paperwork and a judge has to wave their hammer over it. You can keep the car and basically charge for having towed it away and for storing it. Once that cost comes up to about what the car is worth and you get past the paperwork its yours.

The storage company isn't pursuing it because its just not worth it to them. They just want to rent out their storage slot.


You can see my 65 fastback at: http://hottarod.stangnet.com/
http://members.aol.com/macstang/Gifs/macstang3.jpg