Texas "Street Rod" Title information - How to & what you need!

Last September the State of Texas p***ed House Bill 890 which set(s) rules and procedures for obtaining ***le and registering "Street Rods" and "Customs".

Many of you are familiar with the bill, so I'll skip over the details. If you'd like to read more, please see "***le & Registration Bulletin 004-12" here: http://www.txdmv.gov/publications/bulletins/2012/004-12.htm be sure to read BOTH attachments.

I am in the process of ***embling a 1946-1947 era-correct "modified" (a-la **** 'Magoo' Megugorac) consisting of a 1927 T Touring body (front half) on a shortened A ch***is with a warmed over "A" Banger for 'motorvation'. I have spent almost 2 weeks and upwards of 20 hours bouncing from my local tax office to regional DMV in Houston, calling Austin, Corpus, & Fort Worth Regional DMV offices, TexDot, consulting with a lawyer, pouring over the Texas ***le Manual, and finally working up the 'chain of command' in the Texas DMV to get the straight poop on how to ***le this thing (integrity is important to me, so the reuse of "historical do***ents" or stamping numbers is a no-no and the bonded route really won't work because the vehicle is being ***embled from various components across a range of years - each purchased separately.)

Hope this helps someone...

Here's how it works - you ***emble a vehicle (pre-1949 is called a 'Street Rod', post-48 is a 'Custom' in Texas legal parlance).

To ***le the vehicle you must:

1. Submit evidence of ownership for each major component part (Frame, Motor, Body)

*The State of Texas recognizes a Bill of Sale for the two component parts not bearing the VIN. Valid evidence of ownership for the component part bearing the VIN consists of the following: ***le, Out of State Registration Receipt (for non-***le states), or Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin (MCO) in the case of a prefabricated body or frame. If those do***ents cannot be obtained, or the original manufacturer's VIN has been removed or obliterated, you must secure a Court Order or Tax ***essor-Collector hearing establishing rightful ownership of said component part.*

2. Complete Form VTR-130U (application for Texas ***le).

*Note the following when filling out the VTR-130U:
- a. Make/Body Style/Year dictated by the body used or what the body resembles

- b. VIN or Serial Number - The State of Texas recognizes the following as valid VIN numbers -

Motor Number - applies to ALL vehicles produced before 1956 EXCEPT Ford vehicles produced after March 30, 1932.
Frame Number - applies to Fords produced from March 31, 1932 - 1948 model year AND Caddilacs from 1956-1967 model year.
*All other vehicles are identified by the Body Number. See TxDMV ***le Manual, Chapter 13 for questions/clarification ​

3. Complete Form VTR-61, rebuilt vehicle statement - this form is where you'll indicate any other pertinent numbers stamped on motor, frame, or body. If body or frame are home built, written explanation and list(s)/receipts of materials used are attached.

4. Make Pencil tracing of the VIN or Motor Number (if the ***embled vehicle does not have a VIN, law enforcement must fill out Form VTR-68A - Application for ***igned or Re***igned VIN)

5. Certified Weight Certificate

If also applying for registration, you'll need to show proof of financial responsibility and submit a VTR-852 (completed and signed by an ASE Master Technician - after the vehicle is inspected).



In my case, I'll need the following to obtain a ***le:

-a bill of sale for the body. Body number is not the 'number of record' on Ford bodies manufactured prior to 1948 (besides, most model T's do not have body numbers anyway).

-a bill of sale for the ch***is. (Frame number does not matter on Fords produced prior to March 31, 1932...any number on the frame will be entered on the VTR-61 and will be added to the electronic ***le record)

-Since I have no valid ***le/out of state registration receipt or MCO for my motor, I'll have to obtain a court order or tax ***essor-collector hearing to establish ownership. I have contacted my Justice of the Peace and have drafted a pe***ion. Essentially, I'm suing TxDMV and asking the judge to order the TxDMV to recognize me as the 'rightful and legal owner' of the motor. 10 business days prior to the hearing, I'll need to send a copy of the pe***ion to the DMV's legal office and if the VIN in question is not in the system, (I have already checked, and it is not) they will not contest it. The hearing with the JP is pretty much just a formality at that point.

Your JP's office may give you the dreaded 'deer in the headlights' look. If you run into this, your best bet is to PM me and I'll send you the # for the General Consul of the DMV...they have a standardized form for these types of hearings that you can 'tweak' to meet the specifics of your situation. My experience with the upper echelon of the TxDMV is that folks really are sympathetic to your situation and will do everything in their power to help guide you through. They find it refreshing that people actually care about doing things legally and will bend over backwards to help. Of course, common courtesy goes a long way.

-Since my paperwork (bill of sale and affidavits of witness) for the lawful purchase of the motor are in good order, the judge should rule in my favor and issue the court order. One obtained, I'll take it plus the bills of sale, certified weight certificate, and Rebuilt vehicle statement (VTR-61) to my tax ***essor-collector's office along with a pencil tracing of the motor number and application for Texas ***le (VTR-130U)

-After appropriate ***le fees are paid, I'll have a regular Texas ***le in my name with the correct make/body style/year and motor number. Information I provide to the DMV on the VTR-61 - rebuilt vehicle statement (frame number, body number, photographs) gets entered into the electronic ***le record - providing the benefit of easier identification if the car is ever stolen.

Prior to registration, I'll need to have the car inspected by an ASE certified Master Technician. The technician will conduct a safety inspection of the car (Street Rods and Customs are exempt by Texas Law from emissions testing AND must p*** safety inspection on the basis of the year model the vehicle represents). No need to worry about seatbelts, reverse lights, etc. if they were not mandatory equipment for the year your car represents.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need help with your process. I'm by no means an expert, but have ready the ***le Manual cover-to-cover and have spoken with those who dictate those policies to the local DMV/Tax ***essors. I'm happy to help!

 

This is awesome!! I've done a fair bit, although not extensive, search on this topic for the state of Texas and some threads lack a little. Maybe there's a thread that has everything I need to know but I hadn't stumbled on it yet.

Regardless, I'm very appreciative of all the trouble you went through to fully understand this process. Thank you for taking the time to type out this, step-by-step and all of the details!

I've got a much better understanding of what I need to do when it comes time to register my Model A. This is my first ground-up build so, reasonably, I'm a little nervous about approaching this situation.

Again, thank you!


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This is extremly helpful, thanks

 

Happy to help! When you fellas get ready to roll with your process let me know, I'll send you contact info so you can refer your county tax folks to the right source. My experience is that even the regional DMV offices don't have the whole scoop.

Detroitboy...I live just south of Katy, have developed a pretty good friendship with the gals that run the Ft. Bend County tax office. If you're in Ft Bend, let me know if I can help.

 

And, that right there, is the secret to painless ***ling in Texas.

 

Too true...I just try to have a little grace in my dealings with people. As the old man always said, "you'll win more flies with honey than with vinegar."

Unfortunately, common courtesy ain't too common these days. For the most part, these people don't want to h***le you, they want to do their job and get home. Smile often, greet them politely, remember your "sirs," "ma'ams," "pleases" and "thank yous" and you'll be in fine shape.

 

I went the ***embled vehicle route a few years ago for a gl*** body on a later ch***is and it was a pain, but essentially went how you described. They accepted my ebay receipts for the engine and though it was a PITA involving numerous visits, I got it done. They even let me run a YOM plate on the truck and nothing on it is that old. The common courtesy and trying to do it legally really seals the deal. Thanks for the information on the new bill, I didn't realize it had gotten through.

 

this thread will be very useful for the future. thanks for the info!

 

Has anybody successfully done this yet?

 

Does anyone have a hint on how an "***embled vehicle" ***le from another state will be treated? I'm looking at a much-modified Model T hot rod that has that type of ***le from the state of Washington.