Vintage and modern cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles and more

Photo Album

Due to recent efforts by the California DMV to license cars that meet all safety and emissions requirements, I can no longer verify grey area vehicles made for foreign markets for registration in Montana under a Montana LLC. All such vehicles must have updated emissions systems to meed California law.

Below are some of the vehicles that I've verified so far and there may be others that I will also post as time permits. All photographs were taken by Richard Nichols and are copyrighted © under federal and international copyright laws. They are posted here only with permission of the vehicle owner and may be used only with express written permission of the vehicle owner and copyright holder.

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Photo of 2016 Delta Tilt-bed Trailer
2016 Delta Tilt-bed Trailer

Just purchased and requiring a verification was this 2016 Reliant tilt-bed 5th wheel trailer in Santa Cruz.
Photo of 2011 Freightliner Daycab
2011 Freightliner Daycab

High mileage Freightliner from Texas used originally for interstate work recently purchased by a local San Jose company that specializes in re-purposing such vehicles, presumably for use in their recycle business.
Photo of 2015 Freightliner Recycling Truck
2015 Freightliner Recycling Truck

This Freightliner trucks has been in use for about a year by a San Jose recycling company as part of their large fleet but when they went to renew the registration, the company was informed that it had to be verified since apparently it never had been done.
Photo of 1983 Ford Bronco
1983 Ford Bronco

This Bronco has sat outdoors for many years under redwood trees and has developed a nice patina! Although registered relatively recently, then non-oped for some years after, it has somehow fallen from the DMV's database so needed a verification in order to obtain a fresh title.
Photo of 2014 Ford Explorer
2014 Ford Explorer

Company vehicle from Colorado was verified in Santa Cruz.
Photo of 1982 Yamaha XS650
1982 Yamaha XS650

This 1982 Yamaha XS650 proved to be quite difficult as the FMVSS label was almost unreadable and the engine number was partially hidden behind the frame. Ultimately it was done and the San Jose got his title and registration.
Photo of 1962 Chevrolet Impala 2 door
1962 Chevrolet Impala 2 door

This nice 1962 Chevrolet Impala 2-door hardtop in East Palo Alto posted some verification issues as there were no official supporting documents and the Texas DMV bill of sale that the new owner had was missing a digit in the VIN. The purpose of a VIN verification is to correct this sort of thing but having supporting documents is crucial in doing so. It was also 111 degrees that day (118 outside our car when returning)!
Photo of 1958 Studebaker Pickup
1958 Studebaker Pickup

This 1958 Studebaker pickup with the long 8' bed was recently purchased and brought to Santa Cruz.
Photo of 1957 Continental Mark II
1957 Continental Mark II

This rare 1957 Continental Mark II, a separate make for 1956 and 1957, which originally cost as much as a Rolls-Royce or two Cadillacs, was recently purchased from the original family and is currently in Boulder Creek but is on its way to Sweden once a California title is obtained as the original title had a typo in the VIN. Otherwise it would have been on its way by now.
Photo of 1985 Lamborghini Jalpa
1985 Lamborghini Jalpa

This beautiful 1985 Lamborghini Jalpa, which apparently was originally sold in Europe, then registered at one point in Canada and another in Virginia, is now in Seaside where the owner has relocated. At the moment it is their desire to obtain only a Non-Op due to issues with the emissions system and the lack of an emissions sticker that the California DMV requires. It was in a tighter area than is really required when doing a verification.
Photo of 2015 Freightliner Recycling Trucks (Three)
2015 Freightliner Recycling Trucks (Three)

These three new Freightliner trucks were just purchased by a San Jose recycling company to add to their already large fleet and put into immediate service with a temporary permit but needed to be verified in order to finalize their registration. Originally all three were to be done together but unfortunately two were out and in use so it required two trips to their site to do all of them but it was only a short distance so it worked out.
Photo of 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 Pickup
2018 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 Pickup

2018 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 Pickup was verified in Watsonville for one of our regular fleet customers.
Photo of 2015 Maserati Ghibli
2015 Maserati Ghibli

The San Francisco owner of this 2015 Maserati Ghibli purchased it from an out of state dealer. However, his son who lives in San Jose had the car when they realized that it had to be immediately verified and, as I was at my Santa Cruz location that day, he drove it over for verification there.
Photo of 1953 Dodge Coronet V-Eight
1953 Dodge Coronet V-Eight

Beautiful 1953 Dodge Coronet V-Eight sedan with Gyro-Matic shifting as just fully restored to factory condition by the brother of the owner whose wife's grandparents bought it originally in Idaho.
Photo of 2019 NJF Mfg Fuel Pro 950S Trailer
2019 NJF Mfg Fuel Pro 950S Trailer

2019 NJF trailer with tanker conversion was verified at the owner's San Jose location. Due to the proprietary nature of the tanker conversion, only the wheels are being shown here.
Photo of 2013 Peterbilt 10-Wheeler
2013 Peterbilt 10-Wheeler

Just purchased, this Peterbuilt 10-wheeler needed to be verified in order to obtain title and registration in California.
Photo of 2004 Acura RSX
2004 Acura RSX

This car was already currently registered in California and was being purchased by the owner's friend. I could not convince them that it did not need to be verified but it turned out that the main reason they wanted it verified was to get me to fill another form from the credit union which is not what I generally like to do but, as it wasn't a legal document, I did it along with the verification.
Photo of 1962 Volkswagen Beetle
1962 Volkswagen Beetle

Several owners previously and before it looked as nice as it does now, had intended on making a dune buggy from this car so never got a title when he bought it and no owner since has gotten one so the new Campbell owner, who got it from his father, will have some work to do but a VIN verification is a required first step.
Photo of 1983 SWM Jumbo TL350 Motorcycle
1983 SWM Jumbo TL350 Motorcycle

This Italian-built 1983 SWM Jumbo TL350 dirt bike was verified where it was more convenient in Milpitas at the office of owner rather than at his Sunnyvale home. It was a little difficult with it inside a van but accessible.
Photo of 2018 RAM 5500 Tank Truck
2018 RAM 5500 Tank Truck

Another 2018 RAM 5500 tanker conversion in San Jose and, due to the proprietary design, only the steering wheel emblem is being shown.