Been a While!!!!

Well, it's hard to believe it's really been nearly two years since I posted something here. Having said that, it's been a very busy two years.

A short re-cap....completed a full strip and respray on my 84 1C SVO "Blackie". Driven to Kentucky for the SVOCA Reunion, twice!! Driven it to L.A. for Knotts, drove it to Missoula, MT for the International Mustang Meet, driven up to Seattle for the Bellevue Roundup a couple of times. Like I said, it's been a busy few years especially when you intermingle all that in with working 60 hours a week in the film biz!!!

It has it's advantages though. Last year I had the opportunity to travel to Detroit, MI for work and got to spend some time with my friend Mark Haas. SVO collector and owner of the "MAC Tools" SVO race car. I've also had the oportuntiy to meet other owners with some special cars and had the privilidge of them allowing me to take pictures for reference use. It's been very handy in trying to verify how these cars came of the assembly line and what is supposed to go where.

Well, now back to our original topic!!!! As all of the above has been happening work on the t-top hasn't stopped. I haven't really done much to the car itself apart from clean it and move it a few times but progress has been made. I have a title!!!

One of the problems that people often face with a project like this is a title. Getting one for this car was a pain but it does prove it is possible. As previously noted, the car sat in the FResno desert for 15 years and was last tagged in 1994. I did get one of the original license plates with the car but that was it apart from a bill of sale. The CA DMV expunges it's records every 5 years so there was no title on record so getting a new title issued was not possible.

What makes that complicated is that in order to get an OR title I needed a CA title. Hmm?? As it turns out I was able to get a title through an arbitration process. I had to prove that there was no OR title on record, no CA title on record and that i was able to prove ownership. I had the bill of sale, a check with OR DMV showed no records and I was able to get a certificate from the CA DMV saying there were no files on record for the car's vin. After some research I was able to find a smog check record from 1994 that matched the license plate I had, conducted in the Fresno area, and I included that with my submission.

Lastly, I had to tow the car to the local OR DMV for them to do a vin inspection. You should have seen the look on the lady's face when she walked out of the office to look at the car. Classic!!!

As it was, with all the i's dotted and all the t's crossed, and having payed the money for my title application, 4 weeks later I got a letter from the OR DMV with a new clear, unbranded title in my name. Suffice to say, work has started in earnest and some decisions have been made, but I'll fill you in more next time and it promise it won't take two years!!!!

In the meantime, here's a picture of "Blackie" from the IMM in Montana. 1st in SVO Modified. NICE!!!!!!