Barn find

[Blazin]

My buddy that owns a junk / scrap metal yard picked this up last week! been sitting in a barn since the mid 60's! 
1957 Buick rag top.

[choptop]

Lucky dog!!

[82k5diesel]

Sweet! Barn finds like that are getting pretty rare these days!

[Lt.Del]

Nice.  Throw a battery in it pour some gas in the carb and fire her up!
Oh, and give it a car wash.   

[The dream]

what needs to be done when you are lucky to "find" one of these treasures, but who ever is selling it doesn't have any paper work to it, doesn't have keys, no way of telling who is the owner?  Is there some way of "legalize" the car? and of course I'm talking about a project fixerupper like the picture, not a fully restored vehicle.

[Lt.Del]

Every state in the U.S. has a procedure which allows re titling of old vehicles.  They look at them as abandoned vehicles.  What the DMV does is mail the last known registered owner, no matter how long ago that was, and see if they, or their descendants, state any claim to the car, if they find them.  They must make due diligence to locate previous owners.  After something like 90 days goes by, a brand spanking new title will be printed in the new owners name. 

[The dream]

Thanks Sgt., very good info.

[Blazin]

He got the title with a bill of sale from the woman. She was going into a home she called him, he went right over and got it. He wouldn't say what he paid.

[fitz]

what needs to be done when you are lucky to "find" one of these treasures, but who ever is selling it doesn't have any paper work to it, doesn't have keys, no way of telling who is the owner?  Is there some way of "legalize" the car? and of course I'm talking about a project fixerupper like the picture, not a fully restored vehicle.

  Personally I would stay away from any car that you say there is no way of knowing who the owner is. Aren't you buying it from the owner? If not how can they sell/give you the car that they don't own?. Remember that that car belonged to someone at some point, and legally it still does.
 Every state is different but in Mass. you can't just walk into the registry and say "I found this car, can I get a title".
  I always get some form of paperwork from the seller. Even when the person claims to have no paper work the sight of a some $$ is usually enough to get them to find it. To cover yourself try to get something with the cars VIN and the sellers name on it. Ideally you want the title, but if not get an old registration,insurance bill, excise tax bill, exc. and have the seller sign it.
 If all else fails and there is no paperwork both you and the seller can go to a Notary Public and fill out a bill of sale with them as a witness. Then before you take possession of the car ask the local police to run the VIN to make sure everything is legit with it. 
 

[Lt.Del]

yeah, but Fitz, that's the whole point about having the DMV work for you to follow their procedures to get a new title.  You are covered regardless if the DMV follows the state law in getting a new title.  No worries.

There are many abandoned vehicles out there.  Some break down and are abandoned, some have been stripped for parts but the frame is still fine, and therefore needs a title, etc...

A buddy of mine got a title to a motorcycle the way I described.  A guy had the bike and didn't have a title. Sounds fishy, but, my buddy followed the law to get a new title in his name and it is legal.   You can get some good deals by doing some legwork and initiating this procedure through the DMV. 

[The dream]

My question was more toward the Sgt's example, because theres always stories about good old classic cars in the wood's or a lake, or like this post in a barn. Cars that are left there by someone to dispose of them, and people find a perfectly good project but, the person who disposed of the car is no longer around.

[fitz]

 Like I said, every state is different.
 The RMV in Mass. will not do the leg work for you to find the last documented owner.
 Many old cars with missing titles have been shipped off to New Hampshire or Rhode Island (neighboring states to Mass.) where titles are not required on older vehicles.
 

[Lt.Del]

The RMV in Mass. will not do the leg work for you to find the last documented owner.

You have to get the info somehow, and only the DMV keeps addresses/names of previous owners when tracking via VIN number.  That's why the DMV will do it (with a fee of course). That info is not public info.  It's like me running a 10-28 (reigistration check) and giving that info to Joe Citizen.  Can't do it due to privacy issues.

so what happens in Massachusetts to the older vehicles that have lapsed in registration, no choice but the crusher?   They can't retitle if an owner years later kicks the bucket? That's ridiculous, but, hey, what do you expect from a commonwealth that is known for people like John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, and Michael Dukakis (i guess he can't get a title to that Army tank he drove way back when as he wore that dorky helmet)? What will they do next, allow gays to marry?  Oh yeah, they already did that.

You know, the longer I live, the more and more reasons I find to run for some kind of public office.  I hear of the most stupid laws around and the politicians that sponsor these laws.  I sometimes wanna just open my door and yell at the top of my voice.


I just heard today that many Americans think that the Gov't should pay for all higher education.  What?  The gov't, my tax money (that is borrowed from China) should pay for college tuition?   Yeah, we'll have 100 million additional college grads--and the value of a college education will decrease substantially to the point where someone with a Master's Degree (because it was free) will be working the drive thru at Mickey Dee's--because everyone will have college degrees, so what's the point?   Soon, it would just be 4 more years tacked on to High School, can't get a job 'til you finish grade 16.
What next, gov't paying for your new car?  Oh, yeah, Washington owns GM now, so why not?  Since "we" own GM, we should get "our" new cars for free.
We should also get all of our houses paid for by the gov't.  Oh, yeah, only if you are on the verge of foreclosure will the gov't pay your mortgage off, leaving people who are responsible and living in house "we can afford" to pay our own way.

If Lenin, Marx, Stalin and Castro are so bad, why are we getting extremely close to their views as a Kountry now?

Sorry, I get like this sometimes.  I think I may go out and drive a tank or something.  Oh wait, that's already been done.
 

[Skunksmash]

I feel ya. For 6 years i maintained a Texas state used car dealer's license. I never really did much with it, in terms of starting a dealership and all that. But, i did a fair amount of trading and went to a lot of dealer only auctions. I also did a lot of title hunting. One thing i have learned is that most (if not all) of the time, when you need a title and can't get it, you can get the DMV to break the law for you. Like the other guy said, in your state you can get the uh... ahem.. we'll call him the seller to go to a notary public and wind up with a new title. I know that once the title is in your name, ain't no way no how anyone is going to take that car away from you. As far is the law is concerned, all would be said and done at that point. They like to be able to seal stuff (say it's all said and done, and no one can challenge it) with documents. Such as a title.

Sgt. Del we are in agreement about those pansies in the state of mass. I have no respect for them.

[The dream]

SgtDel you got my vote.
Sgt. 4 president.