NJ Legislation - Title Replica w/Year of Original

[Paul Mossberg]

I received this from SEMA on January 26.

If enacted, this bill would allow us to title our replicas with the model year of the vehicle our cars replicate! Please, take some action and email the committee members considering this bill.

Pro-Hobbyist Street Rod and Custom Vehicle Bill
Introduced in New Jersey

SEMA model legislation (A.B. 448) that would create a vehicle registration classification for street rods and custom vehicles and provide for special license plates for these vehicles was reintroduced in the New Jersey Assembly. Last year, comparable legislation was not enacted into law in New Jersey prior to the legislature’s adjournment. A.B. 448 defines a street rod as an altered vehicle manufactured before 1949 and a custom as an altered vehicle at least 25 years old and manufactured after 1948. The bill allows kit cars and replica vehicles to be assigned a certificate of title bearing the same model year designation the body of the vehicle most closely resembles. Additional, but not identical legislation has been introduced in the New Jersey Senate in the form of S.B. 687.

We Urge You to Contact All Members of the Law and Public Safety Committee (List Attached Below) Immediately to Request Their Support for A.B. 448

• A.B. 448 provides specific registration/titling classes and license plates for street rods and customs.

• A.B. 448 provides that a replica vehicle will be assigned the same model year designation as the production vehicle it most closely resembles.

• A.B. 448 only holds street rods and customs to the equipment standards specified by law during the model year listed on the title of the vehicle.

• A.B. 448 permits street rods and custom vehicles to display blue dot taillights.

• A.B. 448 provides that vehicles titled and registered as street rods and custom vehicles may be used for occasional transportation, exhibitions, club activities, parades, tours, etc. and not for general daily transportation.



New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee

Assemblymember Gordon M. Johnson – Chair
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Assemblymember Nelson T. Albano – Vice-Chair
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Assemblymember Elease Evans
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Assemblymember Paul D. Moriarty
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Assemblymember L. Grace Spencer
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Assemblymember Gilbert Wilson
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Please e-mail a copy of your letters to Steve McDonald at [e-mail]

[Steve Gensheimer]

I think I took a big step towards building a car today. I just spoke with a nice woman at the NJMVC (I know, I was suprised too!) and she is mailing me something called a "reconstruct package". Hopefully this has all the regulations Ill have to meet as well as documentation I'll need. I'll check it out when I get it and maybe try to post a copy on here. I looked long and hard for something official on the web but without success. She said it will be in the mail today!

I guess u guys already have this stuff figured out, but in case somebody else out there is reading this, maybe it will help them.

[Paul Mossberg]

Steve,

I'd like to have a copy of the current reconstructed vehicle requirements for my files.

A PDF would probably be best. If you do not have access to a scanner or copier that creates PDFs, I'd be glad to do that for you. I would just need the originals or a clean copy.

PM me when you get the package from NJ MVC.

[Paul Mossberg]

I just noticed the Florham Park in your signature Steve. We're less than a half hour apart. So forget about mailing me a copy.

[Steve Gensheimer]

So I received the Reconstruct Package from the MVC. I went through it and most of it is pretty straight forward... but one of the things left most up in the air was about the chassis/frame. I have some what settled on building a Lotus seven replica for a few reasons: 1) I have loved the style of this car since I drove it (in a video game) when I was about 11, I think it exemplifies a purpose-built roadster 2) there are quite a few other builders out there ("Locosts" Forum: www.locostusa.com/ ) and 3) because it can be done on a short budget. I have done some reading such as this Haynes Book : www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=40805&langId=-1

and this www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=31260478&listingid=41602319

The Haynes book is about building a car in the UK, but the Motorbooks Workshop one is about a guy who built one in Colorado.

The Haynes book clearly lays out a method to build your own frame, and I think it looks very interesting and like a lot of fun (like a big lego set!), but after reading the MVC document it seems like there is no way to do this in NJ. For documentation you have to have a Manufacturer Certificate of Origin.

I feel like I have more questions than answers after reading it...

Does anyone know anything about building your own frame in nj?

Anyway... if you want to bother reading the "NJMVC Instructions for Reconstructed/Specially Constructed Vehicles"... here is a link to my Google documents... it was too big to attach to this message.
docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B3Oh_bhwkCGtYzQxMmJiNTYtNmE4YS00ZDU0LTg4NjctM2MxY2ExMjhhM2Y5&hl=en

Paul, I made you a hard copy while I was at work today, and I was hoping maybe I could drop it off for you sometime? I guess since I just posted a link to the digital copy that was a pretty poor attempt to ask if I could come check out your car sometime and maybe pick your brain!

[Paul Mossberg]

Hi Steve,

No excuses necessary! I send you a pm

[snakebit]

How can we get together and get these bills passed? A kit car is not a reconstructed vehicle! The days of slapping a fiberglass body on a VW Bug floor pan are long gone. These 2 bills have been floating in limbo for over 2 years. What does it take to get these bills in front of the transportation committee and get them signed into law?

I have my 64 Cobra replica insured as a collector car not to be driven more than 3000 miles a year. I only use it for car shows, club activities and the occasional Sunday drive. So why do we need to go through emissions inspection???

I have written letters to the congressmen and women and the state senators and no one seems to care, not even the sponsors of the bills.

[Paul Mossberg]

Phone calls, letters, emails to the sponsors and to your representatives are stil the best way to make our voices heard.

And of all those, I have heard from my own representatives and others that I have met, that a letter still carries the most weight. It means someone took the time to sit down, draft a good old-fashioned letter instead of just firing off an email. That effort still carries its own weight.

And even better, a personal visit! They all have local offices.

But one letter from one person won't do it.

We all have a vested interest in this. Thirty or forty letters on the same subject, with similar opinions carry far more weight thatn a single letter or email.