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 2018 Homegrown Trailers HT2
2018 Homegrown Trailers HT2

Lovely new wood 2018 Homegrown Trailers HT2 from the manufacturer in Washington State, the new Saratoga owner needed it verified. We also assisted in adjusting the ventilation fan for better cooling on the very hot day.
Photo of 2014 Ford Explorer
2014 Ford Explorer

Company vehicle from Colorado was verified in Santa Cruz.
Photo of 1999 StarCraft StarLite Travel Trailer
1999 StarCraft StarLite Travel Trailer

This 1999 StarLite 21' travel trailer by StarCraft was recently given to the new owner in Milpitas by a relative in Arizona so needed the VIN verified in order to get the new title. In this case, the federal sticker was missing so we instructed the owner to contact the manufacturer which immediately mailed a new copy to allow the verification to be possible. On trailers of any sort but especially older ones, this label is often missing due to being baked off by the sun but it must be there in order to perform a verification.
Photo of 1974 Triumph Spitfire
1974 Triumph Spitfire

Nice 1974 Triumph Spitfire in Sunnyvale posed some problems due to the replaced hood where the labels are but fortunately the original was still available.
Photo of 2017 Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid
2017 Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid

This 2017 Porsche Cayenne S Plug-in E-Hybrid SUV was verified for the owner in Los Altos who is relocating from Arizona.
Photo of 2008 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640
2008 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640

This 2008 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 was bought out of state and transported to the new owner's garage here in San Jose, which happened to be just a block away from my own location.
Photo of 2016 Ford F-550
2016 Ford F-550

This new Ford F-550 truck had to be verified in order to register it.
Photo of 2011 Ford Fusion SE
2011 Ford Fusion SE

After relocating from another state, this 2011 Ford Fusion SE needed to be verified for registration in California by the Sunnyvale owners.
Photo of 1969 AMC AMX
1969 AMC AMX

This beautiful 1969 American Motors AMX was just purchased out of state in partially restored condition so needed to be verified in order to transfer title to the new Salinas, CA owner.
Photo of 2008 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640
2008 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640

This 2008 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 was bought out of state and transported to the new owner's garage here in San Jose, which happened to be just a block away from my own location.
Photo of 1997 A-Z Mfg PTI Cargo Trailer
1997 A-Z Mfg PTI Cargo Trailer

This 1997 A-Z Mfg PTI Cargo Trailer now located in Vacaville was an example of a trailer manufacturer not knowing that the VIN must be stamped directly onto the chassis as it was not there so had to be properly stamped for the verification. In this case, only the federal certification label was there but that is not sufficient. If you have a trailer of any type, be sure that the VIN is stamped properly.
Photo of 1960 Bentley S2
1960 Bentley S2

Just brought in from out of state to the Watsonville area, this very nice 1960 Bentley S2 sports a fresh two-tone green paint job in the original colors which compliment the dark green leather seats.
Photo of 1966 Mercury Comet Cyclone
1966 Mercury Comet Cyclone

Long out of the DMV system and still bearing the black and yellow plates from the late '60s, this relatively uncommon 1966 Mercury Comet Cyclone is being registered. Located in the East Foothills of San Jose, the owner wishes to sell it.
Photo of 2006 Jeep Commander
2006 Jeep Commander

This 2006 Jeep Commander is now in San Jose at a truck parts salvage yard and due to be scrapped. With a clean Georgia title, it required a California title to be able to do so so a verification was needed.
Photo of 1966 Plymouth Fury III
1966 Plymouth Fury III

This nice 1966 Plymouth Fury III 2-door hardtop in Hollister was purchased locally a while back and is now being transferred to the new owner's name. I was going to try to use the build-sheet as the supporting document but it turned out to be for a different 1966 Plymouth Fury III as the sequence number was not the same! This may make registering it difficult so I'll post here once I learn the outcome.
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 1947 Willys Jeep CJ-2A
1947 Willys Jeep CJ-2A

Beautifully restored and subtlety updated 1947 Willys Jeep CJ-2A was just purchased and verified for its new Santa Cruz owner.
Photo of 1967 Corvette Convertible
1967 Corvette Convertible

Not driven for some years and transferred to the new owner by his daughter who owned it for several decades, needed verification to put it back into the DMV's database and to register it.
Photo of 2017 KJE Tiny Homes
2017 KJE Tiny Homes

This 2017 KJE Tiny Homes built on a Tru-Trailers Inc flatbed utility trailer, both of Fresno, CA, was verified for the new owner high in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Photo of 2012 Peterbilt Dump Trucks (2)
2012 Peterbilt Dump Trucks (2)

This pair of matching 2012 Peterbilt trucks was purchased in Texas, then converted to dump trucks at the owner's facility in Soquel.