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Post by Volktales on Dec 30, 2020 19:01:49 GMT -8
Still actively trying to get the correct paperwork for this. ICBC has verified there is no record of this car whatsoever. Because of this situation, they assume it was from outside the province. An thus requires a safety inspection before it can be insured/driven. This is not a problem. What is a problem is that my local insurance provider believes that the inspection must happen BEFORE the car can even be REGISTERED in my name. This is not normally required for out of province cars, and the regulations pertaining to this specific case are not that clear and open to interpretation. I am dealing with a different insurance provider who has processed requests like this before and she believes a safety inspection BEFORE REGISTRATION is not actually necessary. Mind you she was supposed to get back to me today and did not so who knows what is going on... The saga continues...
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Post by PICTUP on Dec 31, 2020 17:49:14 GMT -8
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Post by Volktales on Dec 31, 2020 17:54:22 GMT -8
Again, no phone calls or e-mails from the agent. Maybe dealing with an out of town client is not profitable for her, or just could not be bothered doing the paperwork. Now what???
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Post by owdlvr on Dec 31, 2020 19:06:18 GMT -8
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Post by PICTUP on Dec 31, 2020 22:10:12 GMT -8
I agree. I was able to get my Saab registered before any work was done, and that was at the behest of the agent I was dealing with. That was on one from the US that I did have the paperwork for. I should see what will happen when I try to get the red one in my name......
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Post by Volktales on Dec 31, 2020 23:03:15 GMT -8
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Post by owdlvr on Dec 31, 2020 23:08:42 GMT -8
Weird. Whenever my Westland agent can't figure it out, they call ICBC on the phone while I'm sitting there.
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Post by Volktales on Feb 1, 2021 22:06:38 GMT -8
Sooo, after a lot of trials and tribulations, it finally has happened. This Saturday I was able to get Savannah Beige properly registered in my name, after owning it for only 10 1/2 years! Now that it is done, I can reveal more of this VW's history and why registering it was not easy... It all started a long time ago when I still believed there might be a chance to get my original 1970 Beetle (and first car) back on the road again. About a decade ago after poking the every expanding rust holes in that car, I considered instead building a "replica" of it and what I imagined to do with it. Due to the extensive rust, I envisioned starting with a much better body shell and using that instead, combining it with my original car's nice interior, engine, rims, and drive train. All I needed to do was find a rust free donor (like a California car) of the same year, preferable with the same original colour and trim. And all for a cheap price. And local to me. Sure. The odds of that coming available would be zero, obviously, but I still looked. And there it was... Can't remember where I saw the ad, but a '69 Beetle originally from California for a $1000 obo was too good to not take a look. Except it was even better, and actually a 1970 model, despite what the previous owner believed. The car itself was stored on his buddie's property (in Qualicum), and was surrounded by lots of vintage Porsches. Things got even better when he said "Do you want to push it onto the hoist and have a better look?" Well Duh! Despite some pinholes in the floors, the car appeared to be completely free of any bad rust. Except the roof where the paint was completely gone, and someone brushed on some grey primer to preserve it... It was not running obviously (to be described later), and the interior was absolutely wasted. But who cared, it was NOT rusty! "I'll take it!" I nearly screamed, which surprised the seller as he said "Don't you want to offer less? Showing that I am not good at dealing, my reply was "Nope. It is exactly want I want, lets load it up!" And it was done just like that despite knowing it did not have any paperwork at all. Why? As the story went, the owner before me planned to turn it into an off-road buggy, and he did not get any papers when he bought it. And supposedly the guy before him had the same plans and also had no papers. The story which may or may not have been true was that the VW drove into Canada sometime in the late '80's and it broke down. For whatever reason, the owner didn't bother doing anything with it, and abandoned it and buggered off. This would not be surprising, as the car was not exactly a mint example, and in the '80's decent running "late" Beetles could be bought for a few hundred dollars. A dead beat-up '70 would have been next to worthless back then. So how did the next owner actually gain ownership? Who knows, and maybe the entire story was BS. Regardless, I wanted the car for parts, and didn't care about such things at the time... So as usual, once I got it home I had to start poking around... The dead "B" code single port 1600 just might be the original engine. Modifications over the years included the usual crappy 009, an alternator, and surprisingly an aftermarket fan shroud with no cutouts for the thermostat flaps. The Ford coil laying in there was a nice touch. The engine still turned over OK, but the previous owners never actually got it to run after it quit on the side of the road. So what do you think was the problem? What is the first thing you look at when your air-cooled VW is dead? The points had worn out and were closed up, like they always do eventually. Cleaning these, repairing some hacked wiring, and dumping some gas in the carb had it running perfectly in less then 20 minutes. That was all it took. But there were other issues... A previous owner had destroyed the ignition switch to unlock the steering wheel. Later the original key was found sitting in the trunk! It looks like the car had been dragged behind something to try and start it, and in the process they managed to break the engine and transmission mounts. This moved everything, and it was not possible to select the gears properly. So the car just sat until I planned the next step forward... Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 1, 2021 22:24:38 GMT -8
Note, a bunch more pictures were added earlier in this thread via editing. These pics were sent to ICBC, to be described later...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 1, 2021 23:27:07 GMT -8
So given that getting registration for this car would be virtually impossible, its fate would be used as a parts car for my original '70. But you just know I have a problem "parting-out" something that is too good. So enter plan B. I figured that I could save this car (at least the majority of it), if I swapped the body onto a legally registered pan. This was common in the day, and there is nothing illegal about it as the chassis VIN is the important one historically as far as registrations go (again more on this later). Well wouldn't you know it, another 1970 Beetle popped up for sale, again originally Savannah Beige... Now at the time I was not really looking for a complete car. In fact I was most interested in the windshield in this one, as it was in good shape. This car was available for $200, and I went halfers with a "friend" of mine, as he wanted to use the rest of the car for a "project". To make a very long story short, he lost interest after hacking it up (as he always did), and somehow my windshield got broken in the process (he blamed his wife). Later I ended up with the hacked remains of this car, as his original intention was to build yet another VolksRod as was popular at the time... This is what it looked like when he got it after it was washed. Could have been restorable... Garfield had the same expression as I did when I saw it later. Hacked off aprons, crudely gutted, and lots of parts promised to me, that .I could have used thrown away. Lets just say I later realized my "friend" was not much of a friend after-all. He was actually one of the prime reasons our original Nanaimo VW Club website permanently ended but that is another VERY long story. Anyway now that I had the remains of the car and some of the parts, what to do next??? Continued tomorrow...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 4, 2021 21:09:17 GMT -8
So over the years I slowly collected some more parts for this project, and thought about what to do with the second parts car. That one didn't have any paperwork either but I had a plan. Be this stage I was doing some research into what was necessary to legally acquire the registration for a car that you own, but did not get paperwork. Turns out the procedure was involved, but looked doable. Asking my local insurance agents how to proceed took some time, but one employee in particular was helpful, as she wanted to see if the procedure would actually work to completion. So it began...
Basically you have to send a properly worded letter to ICBC stating you want to get registration paperwork for your vintage VW. I didn't have a clue how to ask this, but my contact made an attempt and it was sent away. Then it was returned as I failed to send proof of ownership; in this case some form of bill of sale. My "friend" reluctantly made me one, as technically he was the last "owner" of this pile. Then another letter sent off, and eventually another was returned which listed who ICBC's records indicated was the last known registered owner of this car, and where they lived. This was the interestingly named Tracey Hunka, who lived in Victoria at the time. The car was last on the road in the mid '80's, and had sat in a field for quite some time. It was once owned by Victoria Steve, who had a huge stash of VWs and parts as he used to rebuild and sell them regularly. This particular car was scheduled for that, but he did not receive the paperwork when he bought it, so instead it became a parts car.
The next step was to send yet another properly worded letter off to last known address of the last known owner, requesting transfer forms be filled out to allow me to register the car. Scary stuff this is, but I knew in this case it would be fine, as that address no longer existed, so there was no chance the previous owner could be living there. If no response, the registered letter would be returned to me unopened. Then you had to write yet ANOTHER letter to ICBC explaining that you did what they asked, and you tried to make contact with the previous owner, and you had to get this letter NOTARIZED as well! Then if ICBC approved all this, you could finally register the car in your name. At the time, my agent stated I was the first customer they had who actually went through with the procedure to the bitter end and was successful! Not much fun, but at least now I had good paperwork, and a useable chassis (less rotten floor pans), that I could plop the good body onto. At least that was the plan for some time...
However later an unexpected option came available to me...
Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 4, 2021 21:32:59 GMT -8
If you read what I wrote about my '66 Sunroof Beetle, and its registration issues, then you know I took the much easier method with this car. I hired a specialist who deals specifically in getting registration paperwork for vintage cars and hotrods. Mark Zomar is his name, and he has been offering this service for close to 30 years. I got his number via Darren, who has dealt with him before and was very happy with his service. What Mark does is take away the hassle of all those stupid letters, as he prepares everything you need, deals with the letters and ICBC, and those pesky registered letters. He has done enough of these, to know the ins and outs, especially with regards to exact information and wording. I stewed about my '66 for years, but would have had it registered decades ago if I had dealt with Mark. Obviously there is a set charge for this service, and believe me, it is worth every penny...
It was Mark who assured me, that even my Savannah Beige Beetle with its interesting background should be able to be registered via its original numbers. And this was true, although the procedure was somewhat different with this car. ICBC had no record whatsoever of its existence, which was not surprising given the history. It was not flagged as a stolen car either, so that was obviously good. In theses situations, ICBC assumes it was previously registered outside the province, so a vehicle inspection is mandatory before it can be licensed and driven. This does not interfere with the actual registration of the vehicle, but unfortunately a lot of insurance agents don't realize this. My usual agents were told incorrect info by ICBC, and stated the car would have to be inspected before registration. Not true at all, actually, but instead of arguing, I took a trip up to Port Alberni and did the procedure there, as the employee knew the correct procedure. A bit of a pain, but at least the car is now registered to me, under its original serial number. Now all I have to do is find time to fix it up enough to pass inspection!
If you have a registration issue you would like taken car of, talk to Mark.. mazing1932@hotmail.com
Mark is a full-on car guy with lots of cool stories. And he used to have old VW's and likes them very much. You won't be disappointed with his service...
Now what is the exact future of Savannah Biege??? Like most of my VWs, I lean towards stock restorations. And not many restore "late" Beetles to stock. BUT, this car would need a full paint job to make it nice, and I don't have the time, skill, or money for that yet. So maybe just maybe, this might be one of those (whisper it) Patina type cars. And I still have those slot mags just waiting to see that light of day again... Maybe...
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Post by Rob Sannes on Feb 4, 2021 22:05:10 GMT -8
Clean it up get it on the road and call it a survivor. Add a couple period correct accessories ( 8 track and a Hurst shifter) to go with those slotted mags, and drive the hell out of it.
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Post by Volktales on Feb 5, 2021 8:55:46 GMT -8
You never know what might happen. I have a nice black interior out of my original '70 that would just pop right in. But this car originally had a red interior (cloth actually), and I prefer the red. I do have some replacement red leatherette seats in my stash and the correct door panels. Actually have a lot of goodies stashed away for this project. Those slot mags will end up on something. Maybe even the Fasty!
Savannah Beige has had an interesting life, and I will describe what I have learned about it later...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 5, 2021 21:42:06 GMT -8
Sooo, here is a little more of the history of Savannah Beige. When I first got it, one of the first things I did was to strip out the remains of the extremely nasty interior. The seats were torn to shreds, and someone had kind of wrapped the springs with filthy old scraps of jeans to replace the upholstery. Tasty. The remains of the original material was actually the much more rare (in this market) cloth instead of the leatherette. Unfortunately the seats were far too far gone to save, and were in fact happily tossed away. So was the remains of the rubber matting as well. The door panels were falling off as well, and the map pocket for the driver's door was torn right out. Much later I discovered the contents of that pocket were actually sitting in the bottom of the door. And that included the car's original warranty booklet!
This revealed not only the name and location of the original selling dealer, but also the original owner's name. Turns out this VW had gotten around. The original owner was one Joseph O'Donnell of Dothan Alabama, and the original dealership that sold it was Hamac Corporation, also located in Dothan. And was delivered December 8th, 1969. It is interesting to note that all three of my '70 Beetles were all originally Savannah Beige, and all of them were built in late 1969... According to the internet, Joseph was a lifelong Dothan resident, and passed in 2007.
The internet implies that a person who is likely Joseph's son, lives in California, and that is possibly how the VW went to that state at sometime in it's life. The next owner thoughtfully crossed out Joseph's name in the warranty book and added his own. Not much info on the next owner, but he lived at 651 Midrock Corners in Mountain View California. What is interesting about that is, the car has the remains of a broken license place frame with Mountain View stamped on it. It looks like a VW dealer frame, yet no VW dealers existed there at the time (at least that I could find). If you wanted to, you could rent the condo at 651 Midrock Corners last year. A tidy three bedroom unit for only $3695 per month!!!
Amazingly enough, a subsequent owner of the VW, crossed out the previous two names and added his. Lee Carpenter of Orland California was the last name in the warranty book. He might have been a minister in a church, since his original address was at one (who else lives in a church?) Someone of that name still lives in Orland at a different address, but can't be certain it was him. But who knows how many, if any, owners the car had after that. A churchy type person does not seem the type to drive a ratty VW up to Canada and leave it there when it breaks down... We will probably never know...
Now do I have to find some "Hamac" VW license plate frames for this car? There are not even any pictures of them on TheSamba, so that does not sound likely...
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