[CORSA-NC-email-list] Proposed New Laws on 35 Years or Older Automobiles

[Vairbo at aol.com]

To All:  I received this  message from a local friend in the AACA regarding 
some new potential  problems  for our Corvairs (since they're all 35 years 
old or more) and  some steps to take to help avoid  them.            Paul
............................................................................
..........................................................................
 
Hi,
Please  read this important alert from Jim Lore (following).  It seems  
that DMV is attempting to pass a new law which attacks all your  personal 
vehicles over 35 years old.  It is extremely urgent to click  on the link 
included below  to find out who the committee members are, then  contact them 
regarding DMV's proposed Bill S476 and urge them  to reject that bill in it's 
entirety.   
SEMA has drafted an "old car friendly" bill, S820 for  Senate, and H841 for 
the House, which replaces the awful DMV  Bill  and eliminates the 
ridiculous inspections required in DMV's  Bill.  Please  contact these committee 
members by phone, e-mail, or both, and if possible  attend the hearing next week 
and let your voice be heard!  Please send  this to everyone in your clubs 
and to all your antique, classic, and  specialty vehicle friends, and old 
car/truck enthusiasts and encourage them to  do the same.  

Thanks,

David  Hawks
AACA Old Salem Chapter
4792 Leinbach  Dr.
Winston  Salem, NC  27106

E-mail:_  dth4792 at aol.com_ (mailto:dth4792 at aol.com) 
Tel:  (336)  924-4737

Good Evening Fellow Car Cub  Members:

We need you help asap. Since 2008  the NC Department of Motor Vehicles has 
been operating an illegal inspection  program on cars 35 years and older 
purchased from out of state. As apart of this  program they withhold issuance 
of your car title until you agree to have an  Enforcement and Theft officer 
come to you home to perform this inspection or you  take it to a Regional DMV 
Enforcement and Theft Office. They intend to expand  this program to all 
older cars already in state and finance this program by  charging you a fee 
for every inspection performed by their Enforcement and Theft  officers. 
During these inspections DMV is questioning many things about your  vehicles you 
now take for granted, such as whether your drive train and  suspension are 
original to the car. Once discovered DMV may proceed to brand  your car title 
with words like “modified.” 
DMV’s drafted a bill (S476)  attempting to legalize this inspection process 
and charge you a fee to cover  these time consuming inspections. DMV’s bill 
was introduced in this session of  the Legislature by Senator Don East of 
Pilot Mountain, a retired  law enforcement officer. In conjunction with SEMA 
we have drafted our own car  owner friendly bill to counter and do away with 
DMV’s inspections,  classification of our cars and branding of our car 
titles. In the House our  bill, the text and explanation of which is set out 
below, is H861. In the Senate  our same Bill is S820. Our two bills  (S820 & 
H861) and the awful DMV bill (S476) are set to be heard in the key  
Legislative Committees next week. In the Senate these bills will be heard in the  
Senate Commerce committee. In the House our bill will be heard in the House  
Transportation Committee.  
The chair of the Senate Commerce  committee is going to  set both S476 (the 
DMV Bill) and S 820 (our bill) for simultaneous hearing Tuesday, April  28 
at 11 am. If for some reason  they are not reached,  they will be reset for 
Thursday April 30,  2009. DMV will be there insisting their  bill legalizing 
these inspections of our cars and charging us inspection  fees be enacted 
into law. Links to the  committee members and their respective email 
addresses and phone numbers  are: 
_http://www.ncga.s
tate.nc.us/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee&sActionDetails=Senate%20Standing_67_ 
(http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee&sActionDetails=Se
nate%20Standing_67)   
We need emails sent to the Senate  Commerce Committee members in support of 
S820 and in opposition to S476. Can your club  members help?  
On the House side H861, the House  version of our bill, is scheduled to be 
heard in the House Transportation  committee Wednesday,  April 29 at 11 am. 
Here is the link to  the committee membership and their respective email 
addresses and phone  numbers: 
_http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=Vie
wCommittee&sActionDetails=House%20Standing_45_ 
(http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee&sActionDetails=Hou
se%20Standing_45)   
We need emails sent to the House  Transportation Committee members in 
support of S861 and in opposition to S476.  Can your club members help? 
Attached is our proposed committee  substitute and an explanation of the 
committee substitute we intend to offer for  both of our bills:  

Proposed Committee Substitute for HB  861 –FINAL  
SECTION 1. G.S. 20-4.01 (43) reads as rewritten: 
(43) Specially Constructed Vehicles. –  Motor vehicles that may be   
registered under this Chapter and that  fit within one of the following 
categories.  
a. Replica vehicle. – A vehicle, excluding  motorcycles, originally sold 
unassembled and manufactured from a kit,  which when assembled replicates an 
earlier year, make, and model  vehicle. 
b. Street rod vehicle. – A vehicle,  excluding motorcycles, manufactured 
prior to 1949, which has been modernized  from the manufacturer’s original 
design or has a body constructed from  nonoriginal materials and to which the 
owner seeks a street rod registration  classification. 
c. Custom vehicle. – A vehicle, excluding  motorcycles, manufactured on or 
after 1949 which has been modernized  from the manufacturer’s original 
design or has a body constructed from  nonoriginal materials and to which the 
owner seeks a custom vehicle registration  classification. 
For a vehicle registered under this  section, unless the presence of the 
equipment was specifically required by a  statute of this State as a condition 
of sale in the model year listed on the  certificate of title, the presence 
of any specific equipment is not required for  the operation of a vehicle 
registered under this section.  A vehicle  registered under this section is 
exempt from any statute that requires periodic  vehicle inspections and from 
any statute that requires the use and inspection of  emission controls. 
SECTION 2. Part 3 of Article 3  of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is 
amended by adding a new section to  read: 
§ 20-53.1. Specially  constructed vehicle titles. 
(a) Specially constructed vehicles shall be  titled in the following 
manner: 
(1) Replica vehicles shall be titled as the  year, make, and model of the 
vehicle intended to be replicated. A label of  'Replica' shall be applied to 
the title and registration card. All replica  vehicle titles shall be 
branded as 'Specially Constructed  Vehicle.' 
(2) The model year of a street rod vehicle  shall continue to be recognized 
as manufacturer's assigned model year. The  manufacturer's name shall 
continue to be used as the make with a label of  'Street Rod' applied to the 
title and registration card. All street rod vehicle  titles will be branded as 
'Specially Constructed Vehicle.' 
(3) The model year of a custom vehicle  shall continue to be recognized as 
the manufacturer's assigned model year. The  manufacturer's name shall 
continue to be used as the make with the label of  'Custom' applied to the title 
and registration card. All modified vehicle titles  shall be branded as 
'Specially Constructed Vehicle.' 
SECTION 3. G.S. 20-54 is amended by adding a new subdivision to  read: 
"(10) For specially constructed  vehicles or vehicles originally built by a 
generally recognized  manufacturer, certificates of title and registration 
shall not be denied or  delayed on the grounds that the originating title is 
from out-of-state, the  vehicle is of a certain age, or the vehicle has not 
been first inspected by a  representative of the Division unless there is 
some probable cause to believe an  individual vehicle has some issue 
particular to it that justifies an inspection  before title and registration are 
issued." 
SECTION  4. G.S. 20-70 is amended by adding a new  subsection to read: 
"(c) The notification and registration  requirements contained in G.S. 
20-70 (a) and (b) regarding an engine change  shall only be required if the 
motor vehicle into which a new engine is installed  uses an engine number as the 
sole means to identify the  vehicle."  
SECTION  5.  Sections 1  shall become effective October 1, 2009. Section 2, 
Section 3 and Section 4 shall become  effective upon ratification.” 

EXPLANATION OF COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL 861 – DMV TITLING 
CATEGORIES/ INSPECTIONS-  – (REPRESENTATIVE GOODWIN) AND S820 (SENATORS HARTSELL 
AND  BERGER/D) 
History of the DMV Created Title /Vehicle Inspection  Issue 
Prior to January 1, 2008, if you purchased a vehicle manufactured 35 or 
more  years ago with an out-of-state title you could obtain a NC title within 
the  timeframes typical for any other vehicle.  If the title number was not 
in  the DMV computer you simply presented a pencil tracing of the vehicle’s 
Vehicle  Identification Number (VIN) and the title would be issued just as 
any other  title.  This procedure, which was working smoothly, was changed by 
the  issuance of a January  2, 2008 DMV memorandum  to its License and Theft 
Bureau.  Without utilizing the required APA  rule-making procedures and 
without any opportunity for public comment, that memo  changed the rules so 
that all 35 years and older vehicles with out-of-state  titles would be subject 
to a mandatory inspection program prior to title  issuance, registration or 
tags.  These rules were further amended by DMV  Official Bulletin #206 
dated August 13, 2008, once again without going through  the mandatory APA 
ruling making process, to amend their previous rule change and  allow these 
vehicles to qualify for registration and tags, but not a title,  without an 
inspection.  These rules ignore NCGS 20-183.2(a1), passed as SB  1083 in 2004 and 
effective January 1, 2005, which eliminated safety inspections  for 
historic vehicles, defined as vehicles 35 years and older. 
Current Problems Resulting From This Change  in Titling Procedure by DMV 
This unlawfully-initiated DMV inspection program has  resulted in 
unnecessary: 
·        Delays of weeks or  months to obtain NC titles and registration 
after application because of the  time it takes to get an appointment for an 
inspection and the processing of the  paperwork,  
·        Lost time from work by  classic car owners of 1 to 2 days just to 
go through the new DMV onsite  inspection and follow up interview processes 
at DMV License and Theft Bureau  offices, 
·        Inspections of owner’s  paperwork, even including EBay purchase 
papers, 
·        Damage to cars that  sometimes results from the removal of paint 
or even the dismantling of the cars  by inspectors who have no idea how to 
handle these rare cars, 
·        Inspections by DMV  inspectors questioning the legitimacy of cars 
if vehicle part numbers, including  those of engines, do not match, 
·        Questioning of  non-material modification including upgraded 
brakes, suspension modifications,  etc., resulting in threats of vehicle title 
reclassification. 
Explanation of the  Need for the Bill 
This new provision ends the current  unwarranted practice by the DMV of 
making title issuance conditioned on physical  inspections of vehicles simply 
based on age, without any probable cause to  believe there is an issue with 
the particular vehicle in question.  DMV  inspectors do not have the 
expertise to make vehicle title classification  judgments under the current illusory 
standard of “material alteration”.   Moreover, DMV field inspectors do not 
have anywhere close to the manpower  necessary to perform the current 
mandatory inspections on a timely basis.  Finally, the current policy of DMV, of 
implementing these new rules  without complying with the APA, is in 
fundamental conflict with the general  legislative intent and spirit of G.S. 
20-183.2 (a1) and G.S. 20-79.4 (b) (55) which exempt historic vehicles from  DMV 
safety inspection procedures.  
More particularly this  bill: 
·        Clarifies that replica  cars titled in NC can be titled as the 
model year they replicate as opposed to  the year they were built, 
·        For vehicles 35 years  and older purchased from out-of-state, 
restricts and for most cases eliminates  the current NC DMV practice of delaying 
the issuance of a NC car title until an  employee of the NC Enforcement and 
Theft Office personally inspects  them, 
·        Restricts and for the  most part eliminates the current practice 
of the NC DMV of questioning the  legitimacy of cars that have undergone a 
simple engine change and eliminates the  current DMV practice of requiring 
these cars to be  re-registered, 
·        Restricts and for the  most part eliminates the NC DMV branding of 
NC car titles based on an individual  DMV’s inspector’s opinion about 
whether a car has been materially  modified. 
Prepared By: 
R. James Lore
Attorney at Law
102 I Commonwealth  Court 
Cary, N.C. 27511

919 469- 9103  
You are also welcome to personally  come to Raleigh next week  and attend 
the hearings on these bills. 
Jim Lore  
919 349 2606 cell  


 
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