Latest Experience with WA Registration

[Alphamacaroon]

Hello there! I'm over on the east side (Richland/Tri-Cities) and have my recently finished Type 65 Coupe scheduled to be inspected by WASP on Wednesday of next week. I've read all of the guides and have done a bunch of research, but I'm wondering if there is any additional advice anyone could give me? Any surprises or confusion you ran into? Can you give a brief description of the process you went through?

My goal is to have it registered as a "Custom Vehicle" and not as a "Kit Vehicle". Everything I read (including the RCWs) says that the car should be allowed into the Custom category— which means it can be titled as a 1965 Daytona Coupe. Any experience out there with Kit vs. Custom designation? Thanks!

[Alphamacaroon]

Well, I went ahead and did it, so if anyone is curious I can tell you about the process.

First of all, I've seen posts here which refer to other FFR forum site where a lot of people are saying you don't need an inspection— I think things have changed since then. I tried to register at two different licensing offices as a "Custom Vehicle" and both of them said their computer wouldn't even let them continue without putting in a WASP inspection. Plus the RCWs pretty clearly state that a "Custom Vehicle" does require an inspection.

When I got there, I told the inspection officer that I wanted it inspected as a "Custom Vehicle", but he argued that it was a Kit Vehicle according to his rulebook. I wanted to argue, but I figured it probably wouldn't help.

The "inspection" itself seemed like it was only there to make sure none of the expensive parts were stolen. He may have glanced at the turn signals, wiper blades, etc. (I'm not even sure he did that) but he certainly didn't ask me if they worked (let alone tested them). My guess is that maybe if your car looks like a dangerous jalopy then they might be more worried, but he didn't seem to care.

The one part he did care about was the chassis number stamped on the frame. The major problem is that in a Type 65 coupe the number is smack dab in the middle of where you need to drill a hole to mount the dashboard. So not only is it mostly hidden, but there is a hole right in the middle of it. I was sweating bullets, but then I realized that FFR includes a stamped number plaque that you're supposed to attach to the frame. I hadn't attached it yet because for some reason I thought you weren't supposed to do it until you actually had a VIN number assigned. But I showed that to him and he seemed happy with it— he just said that I need to attach it as soon as possible. I'd recommend you just have it attached before you go in (especially with a Coupe).

He spent a lot of time checking over the major receipts. So make sure you have your engine and FFR invoices and receipts with you. Again, I think their main goal here is to make sure you didn't steal anything.

At the end I was pleasantly surprised when he said: "Even though I inspected it as a Kit Vehicle, that doesn't mean the licensing office can't designate it as a Custom Vehicle— that's up to them. So I put in the notes that you wanted it licensed as a Custom Vehicle. Hope that helps." Gave him a big thanks and went my way.

So even though I was worried about the WASP inspection, in the end it was pretty easy.

The hard part is the licensing office... I've seen at least 3 different licensing office people and every time I talk to them, for some reason they can't get their head around the difference between a custom vehicle and a kit vehicle. They end up calling Olympia, and Olympia always says "Hmmm, I guess I need to look into this more", and by that point I give up and go home. I've brought the printed RCWs with me every time, but for some reason they just don't seem to care what they say. It's VERY clear in the RCW that a "Custom Vehicle" is ...manufactured to resemble a car built after 1948 and at least 30 years old and has alterations to the body, engine, etc. It doesn't have to contain a single part from the original, it just has to resemble it. So the Coupe clearly fits into that category. But again, they can't seem to get over the fact that it's built from a kit, and want to call it a kit car.

My reading of the law is that the Coupe certainly IS a kit vehicle, which means it can be registered as a kit vehicle if you choose. But it is ALSO a custom vehicle, which means you should be able to choose between the two. They are not mutually exclusive if your car resembles something > 30 years old, and plenty of people have registered their Cobras as custom vehicles. A kit vehicle has special privileges which allow you to use it as a daily driver, and a custom vehicle has special privileges which allow you to get collectors plates and register it as the year it resembles. So it should be your choice to decide which of those privileges are more important to you because the car technically fits into both categories.

After pleading very nicely for a while, they finally decided it could be processed as a "Custom Vehicle" (even though I still think they had reservations) and issued me a registration for a 1965 Shelby Daytona as an Antique Vehicle (which I think is what a Custom Vehicle is ultimately called).

I think perhaps some of this difficulty could be due to the fact that the licensing offices in the east side of the state don't have a ton of experience with custom vehicle registrations— it seems like people have had a much easier time on the west side. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be impossible to get out of a WASP inspection these days because it clearly states that it's a requirement in multiple places.

Anyway, I hope this helps any future builders who are registering in WA state!

[marshc56]

Jim,

Thanks for the explanation. I've often wondered, and read lots of licensing stories here, although not many for our state (WA). This gives me hope, and puts my mind at ease.

I'm currently in the very early stages of a Mk IV. Still a ways to the end, but journey has begun. Congratulations on the graduation and the successful inspection!

See you down the road!
Marshall

[jeremustang]

I'm still in the planning phase of my build in WA, but this is great info. Thanks!

[D Stand]

Thanks for the write up Jim. I am getting close on first start on my mk4. When you say bring all of your receipts does this mean down to the nuts and bolts from the hardware store or just major components like engine, tranny, chassis? I am a bit nervous as I am not the original purchaser from FFR but have a bill of sale from the guy I bought from. I am also curious how the licensing office determined the value, is this where all of the receipts come in?

Thanks much Dale

[Alphamacaroon]

Thanks for the write up Jim. I am getting close on first start on my mk4. When you say bring all of your receipts does this mean down to the nuts and bolts from the hardware store or just major components like engine, tranny, chassis? I am a bit nervous as I am not the original purchaser from FFR but have a bill of sale from the guy I bought from. I am also curious how the licensing office determined the value, is this where all of the receipts come in?

Thanks much Dale

Great questions. So both people need to see receipts/invoices but for different reasons.

WASP Inspection: my impression is that they just want to see a clear ownership trail of expensive items, and be able to verify the serial numbers on the big ones. They don't care about nuts and bolts. The parts he seemed to care about were chassis/frame, engine, transmission, and rear axle. And he needs to be able to visibly verify the serial number on the engine and on the frame. My engine receipt didn't have the serial number on it, so he didn't seem concerned about connecting the receipt with the actual engine. I think he just wanted to see a) that I paid for an engine and b) that the engine serial number doesn't show up in some database as being stolen. Same with the frame. He didn't check serials on the transmission or rear axle, but asked where they were on the receipts. Individual results may vary, but I think as long as you have documentation of some form to prove ownership of major items and those items serial numbers don't show up in a database— then I think you should be good to go. But again, individual results may vary, so make sure everything does at least work in case they do decide to ask you to prove it works.

Licensing: they only care about you proving you paid tax on items, and getting you to write a check for things you didn't. So pretty much all the smaller stuff you ordered online or bought at your local hardware store isn't going to matter to them. But if you live outside of MA, then most likely you did not get taxed on your original kit. Same with the engine, trans, etc if you purchased out of state. Then what they do is add everything up (that you didn't pay taxes on) and you write a big check for the taxes on it. My check was about (cough, cough) $4,000. I'm sure there are ways you could cheat and show them a lower value by removing all the small parts you ordered from FFR and only show the expensive ones, but it's still technically cheating and could land you into trouble. But I also wouldn't worry about including a receipt for stuff like a shifter knob you bought online from a store that doesn't charge tax (technically I think it's the online retailers burden to collect that). Also, if you HAVE paid taxes on big items, then bring those receipts as well to prove you did. Those won't count towards your bill. And BTW, the taxes can be considered paid in any state where you bought the item— so for example if you paid California taxes for something you bought in California, then they can't ask for additional taxes on top of that. The simple answer to this question in my case was: I brought my original FFR invoice with the complete kit and all options, plus my invoice for the engine and transmission package I bought from Mike Forte.

Hope that helps!

[D Stand]

Thanks Jim go enjoy your coupe!

[Chadillac]

Thank you! This is very valuable information. I'm in West Richland.

[Alphamacaroon]

Thank you! This is very valuable information. I'm in West Richland.

Excellent! Hope to see you around town. What are you building? Are you finished?

[Chadillac]

Excellent! Hope to see you around town. What are you building? Are you finished?

I'm building a Mk4. I'm not too far into the build. I've got the rear axle in, front suspension done and currently working on the aluminum and fuel system. And I just ordered a 347 from Mike Forte!

I'd love to come check out your Coupe some time. I'll PM you.

[th2244]

Much the same experience with my Mk 3, a few years ago. I had to get Olympia DOL involved to tell local office that it was a "Custom" and titled as a 65 Shelby Cobra. One point not mentioned is when titled as a 65, you can get collector plates, and never have an expiration or further payment for registration

Congrats on your success..

[BeePea]

This is really good information, thank you. I'm about to start building mine and was wondering about the registration process, however I have a lot of time left still for that.

Enjoy your ride!