Scooter Guy

Each time that I see one of these I think to myself "if Buck Rogers rode a scooter, it would have been a Salsbury 85."

I do not know for certain what the situation is presently, but strongly suspect that the "experts" do receive some sort of compensation and/or an appearance fee for being on the show.

I don't really disagree with you at all. It's certainly not always about the money, though sometimes one's commitment to not having it be about the money can have real financial implications, just as you pointed out: taking $1000 hit selling a car to your preferred buyer, for example. Some people will eat that $1000 and feel good about what they did, but not everyone can do that. Yes, in that context I meant "better" to mean more money, as the original post indicated that finances dictated he could not finish the car for the foreseeable future and that the offer received was fair. I would not have mentioned money at all except that the original post introduced it as a factor in the situation. Whether it is or isn't...really none of my business. And how long do you hold out? It could take years to find that perfect buyer, I suppose. Selling stuff causes anxiety for me. I tend to drag my feet selling anything. Part of the reason is I don't want to see one of my vintage treasures "abused." I have a really nice, original Vespa scooter that is a rare model, a really, really rare color and configuration. Even though it doesn't completely fit in with the main scope of my collection, I won't sell it to some of the local folks that really want it because of what their intentions are. I don't want to see this bike with a late model engine, newer suspension, disc brakes, or a repaint, so I've kept it. Even though I've been offered fair money for it. So I understand exactly what we're getting at here...it's not all about the money.

I understand the desire to find the best home you can for your car, but you can't have it both ways. If you sell it, it's not your car anymore and what the next owner does with it is their business. You've decided you'd rather have the $$$$ than the car, and that's ok...folks do that all the time. There is no way to ensure that the next owner isn't going to use it as a demolition derby car, for instance. Perhaps that's a bit of a stretch, but I suppose it could happen. And even if you find the "right" buyer, what's to say that person isn't going to flip the car and have to go to a customizer? Seems to me that if money is tight, an offer in hand for the car isn't something to sneeze at. How long would it take for you to get a better offer?

There is Antique Archaeology (the store/business) and there is American Pickers (the TV show). I'll be the first to say that the SHOW really blurs the line, but they are two distinctly different things. Antique Archaeology existed before the show came to be. I stopped in there a few times before anyone had heard of these guys and before American Pickers existed and before they opened a Nashville shop. LeClaire, Iowa was great, but the town was dead...nobody really had any reason to stop there and most kept zooming past on I-80. They specialized in motorcycle and transportation items (ie right up my alley) and the motorcycles, bicycles, and transportation memorabilia they had in the place was unbelievable. You just don't see that stuff very often. The retail store sold their "picks" to collectors and decorators. Then there is American Pickers. I'll be up front and say right off the bat that I like the show. I've seen every episode and will keep watching it until they quit airing it. However, one should not forget it is a TV program and what is shown on TV is, at times, not even close to what's actually going on: -With the popularity of the show, they have leads coming to them all the time. People want to show off their stuff, be on TV and maybe make a few bucks. This cuts down tremendously on the nobody-wants-to-see-on-TV element: sitting around at home doing the homework and getting a route together. Danielle definitely isn't coming up with the leads. She might place a token phone call to the location, but she isn't working over the property owners. -They have MANY producers and location scouts. The producers and location scouts go out to the filming sites to scope things out WAY before Mike & Frank get involved. They need to make sure the location in conducive to filming and get all of the legal paperwork and such in order. It isn't all fake though, and they do want to make sure there are some things there that will indeed be for sale. -Picks don't just take 20-30 minutes. They are sometimes on site for days and days. They look at EVERYTHING. The show is (obviously) edited down so that they can fit 3-4 picks into a one hour show. -They buy WAY more than you see on TV. There are multiple support vehicles that are never shown. They put a few token items in the van for TV, but most gets packed and trucked around by the production crew. Ever notice how nothing is every really packed and that they just lay things down in the back of the van? That's because they don't really transport it that way. Also notice how on the early episodes the in-car camera would show the cargo area of the van...well, now they have a drape up behind the driver's seat so that you can't see anything. -Most of the items they buy are essentially pre-sold to clients they are shopping for. Not much of their stuff ends up back in the shops. Episodes air 4-6 months after filming, so if you call when you see something you like, it's probably long since been sold. -It's a TV production...a big one. All of those shots of the van driving through the backroads...it's all done by helicopter. It's not just two guys driving the van around with a video camera. Lots of money is pumped into this show. -Do they fly the stars out to the locations. I don't know, but would say "probably." These guys have grown past the days of driving cross-country and sleeping in the back of the van. -Mike, Frank & Danielle aren't the only people that work for Antique Archaeology. There is a whole staff of people that work there that are never shown on TV. The store is closed for TV filming and the bring in Mike, Frank & Danielle for those dates only. -Frank actually has his own business (Frank Fritz Finds). What he buys on the show is his stuff; only sometimes does he go in with Mike on a deal. -The store in LeClaire is very small (one car service bay and attached small office) and functions mostly as a souvenir shop. They sell tons of t-shirts, hats, stickers, etc. You don't see that on TV. -The stuff in the store is "officially" not for sale. It's a TV set, afterall. They need that stuff to create the right "look" for the show. The things that are for sale are so expensive that most people pass unless they are hardcore collectors. -The experts they bring in on the show usually really know their stuff. Their motorcycle expert runs the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, IA, for example. All of that said, I did buy a scooter from them last July, or what was left of it. It was picked out of the scrapyard in Lewiston, Idaho (not shown in the episode). I was able to deal directly with Mike on it (turns out they call him when you keep bugging them about buying something other than a t-shirt) and he was realistic with the price, so we did the deal. It's a neat place to go visit, but gets VERY crowded and there isn't much to actually buy. It was the first time I'd been back through LeClaire since the show aired and the place was BOOMING. New shops and restaurants everywhere and there were lines at the gas pumps, etc. If nothing else, the show had had a tremendous economic impact on the small Iowa town. Personally, I don't think these guys are vultures or that they're taking advantage of people. They're pickers. The whole point is they buy low and sell high. If the sellers all expect to get top dollar for their stuff (in many cases they don't even know they have), they really should sell it on their own and not to a picker. If prices paid actually are the prices shown on TV, I'd say the guys are paying pretty fair prices for their stuff. In some cases I'd even say they pay too much. And I wouldn't call the show "fake." It is "produced," and the task at hand is to make a TV show. Things are sometimes done for TV that aren't how things really would have happened, but that doesn't mean it's fake. They really are buying stuff. I like to see the sorts of things they encounter and the places they get to pick through. I don't really care if they leave without buying anything. The only honest to goodness fallout from the show has been that it's driven prices up on some pretty rough stuff, especially in the motorcycle/scooter realm. Many people seem to think they're sitting on a gold mine and that condition is irrelevant...certainly not the case in my book.

I actually would highly recommend paypal for transactions happening over the internet between strangers. The key to getting the most protection out of paypal is to pay with your credit card through paypal. This way you get someprotection from paypal as well as the protections offered through your credit card company. Paypal is a sophisticated operation, as are most credit card companies meaning that they can track and trace your transactions with incredible detail. Perhaps I'm paranoid, but I won't even send a personal check to someone I've never met or don't know. It's much easier to preserve my financial anonymity with paypal.The only people that get checks are freinds/family and major organizations with known addresses. For everyone else, it's paypal via credit card. NEVER EVER pay with Western Union or Money Gram. That is probably the #1 sign of a scam. Payments made that way are untraceable and is the equivalent to sending cash to a stranger (and I think we're all smart enough to never mail cash). Genuine postal service money orders are far safer and CAN be replaced if damaged, lost, or stolen. There is now even a number you can call into before accepting a money order to verify that it is in fact a real one. Any funny business with a postal money order = mail fraud = federal crime and can land folks in a lot of trouble. For high dollar transactions, I'd urge everyone to be careful with wire transfers, too. I highly recommend asking your bank to setup a temporary account for one time use to send or receive a wire. In the event of a scam, this prevents the scammer/hacker from having your real bank account information. Most banks are happy to help you do this once you explain to them what you have in mind and why. It always pays to carefully document your transactions regardless of how you decide to pay. And for those of you that sell stuff, it's ALWAYS worth it to get tracking and delivery confirmation on your packages in case things go bad. Personally, I've always thought it was pretty easy to figure out the legitimacy of a deal. I always ask specific questions, ask for specific photos, and keep at it until I'm satisfied. ALWAYS get a mailing address BEFORE you fire off that payment (even with paypal) and google the address to see if it makes sense. If google maps takes me to an empty lot, to a post office building, or a high rise office tower in the middle of NYC, chances are I'm not going to end up with my stuff. If it seems to good to be true or the elements of the deal just don't add up, run away. But don't blame the email addresses. I have several email addresses, including yahoo, gmail (more than one of those, too), and corporate (employer) emails. In fact, I've used a gmail address since 2004 when they were still beta testing. I use a gmail address for all of my personal business, yahoo only for ebay business, and corporate only for work related matters and don't give that one out. Gmail is by far the easiest to use and offers the most features such as web access (meaning look at it from anywhere with an internet connection), virtually unlimited storage, and near universal/widespread usage. A scammer could just as easily be using a comcast, sbcglobal, aol, etc. email address. There are over 400 MILLION active gmail accounts. If you refuse to correspond with someone just because of that, you're missing out on connecting with a lot of folks. Scammers are an unfortunate part of any hobby. We've just all got to keep our eyes open and actively take steps to not be victimized.

This is absolutely right. I would all that a lot of it depends on what you are starting with and what you want to end up with. Generally speaking... The vehicle of choice is essentially irrelevant, at least in principle. With extremely rare exceptions (and yes, I do mean extremely rare) folks will always end up upside down on a restoration; meaning that the vehicle will never be worth what was invested in it to restore it if all costs were truly accounted for: cash outlay for car/parts, outside services (ie shops), and even your own time. Coming up with a value for your own time is where cost starts to get a bit more subjective...do you value your time at $0.00 or something else? It's all part of the true cost of a restoration. If you are paying someone else to do the work, restoration can get very expensive very quickly. I'd say paying for labor is probably the #1 reason why restoration is expensive and why it's so easy to get underwater on a vehicle. It just depends if you care about being underwater or not. As to being underwater on a vehicle, some people just don't really care...it's a hobby and a labor of love and the cash outlay just doesn't really matter. Perhaps that's the situation here? That certainly applies to me. I am absolutely positive that I've got more money, time, and effort invested in my little motor scooters than most people would think is sane and certainly more than the open market would currently bear if I were to attempt to sell them. Oh well. But that doesn't matter to me at all. It's my passion/hobby and the value/worth of them to someone else when they're finished just isn't considered. I could have bought finished examples of some of my scooters and come out way ahead, but that's not the point for me. I like the thrill of the hunt, the acquisition, and the restoration...and I pay more for the experience. So be it. I know that the only people making money on my stuff are the people I've paid to do some of the work. Again, oh well. As to the $100k figure that's been tossed around here, my opinion is that it isn't that out-there. When you do farm out the work, just as others have said, you get what you pay for and it's very easy for one thing to lead to another which leads to another and so on. Before you know it you spend tens of thousands of dollars and your truck still needs the last 1%. High level restorations easily take 1000 hours or more (and that's just the labor)...if a shop's doing it at $60/hr., that's $60,000 right there and you haven't bought any parts. If you've got a complicated vehicle, lots of rust or lots of missing parts, or you REALLY want it "perfect," expect to spend even more. There's the $100k. If we were all worried about what our cars were worth after restoration, none of us would restore anything, even if we did all the work ourselves. Almost anything can be restored with enough time and money. Me...looking in the mirror, I'm sure not going to say it's foolish to restore what you've got. Just make sure you're making an educated decision. And remember it will ALWAYS cost more than you think!

There is a fine line between collecting and hoarding. Exactly what or where that line is remains open to interpretation and debate. I suspect that someone that doesn't "understand" car collecting could probably point the finger at any number of us and call us hoarders. It all depends on what the criteria is. I sure don't think hoarders are the root of all evil in the automotive hobby. How are they any different than someone like Jay Leno that owns hundreds of fine cars and doesn't sell them? Is it because Leno is a public figure? is it because many of his vehicles are restored? Is it because he shows his vehicles? Is it because of his garage/storage complex? My point being, of course, that what one person sees as a collection another sees as a hoard and I'd bet that nearly 100% of the folks on this message board would call Leno's stuff a collection and not a hoard, right? I've personally always looked at hoarders as sort of "treasure protectors" in the sense that they are assembling collections of cars/motorcycles/antiques in order to keep them from being scrapped/crushed, lost to time/nature, or from ending up in situations where they will not be appreciated, be it hot-rodding, etc. Yep, some of these cars are up to the frame rails in the mud, but they still exist, which is something. I think a lot of people here are too paranoid about things being scrapped and crushed. Yes, some small collections have probably been crushed. Maybe even yards full of stuff, but I'd think that in this day and age (with TV full of car shows, American Pickers, the internet, etc.) that nobody in their right mind would come in to settle a hoarder's estate and immediately start crushing/scrapping cars by the hundreds. Anyone stumbling across a car hoard would have to realize that they are looking at something special that that hoards of hundreds of cars are not just scrap heaps. No...instead I suspect that they would start to see dollar signs and think auction. This "saves" the stuff and allows buyers to come in that need/want the stuff and who usually know what they're looking at. The family auctions a bunch of ratty looking rusty hulks for thousands of dollars (or more) each, realizing that so-and-so's old hoard of stuff really was pretty significant and valuable. Those people will then never look at "junk" that same way again, I guarantee it. No, maybe you will never be able to buy something directly from a hoarder, but that's not really the point, is it? It seems to me that the point is that the hoarder will save stuff and it will EVENTUALLY end up in the hands of another collector rather than being thrown out. All the stuff we buy at flea markets and swap meets (heck, Hershey, anyone?) is all stuff that got saved...maybe by a hoarder at one time. And it was a collector or a picker that brought it there for you to take home. I've been in a few motorcycle hoards that are unbelievable. Hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles, and not just the typical Harley and Indian stuff, either...some pre 1920 motorcycles (mostly American), ex-race bikes, rare foreign bikes, scooters, NOS parts of bikes, and so on. Not one nut and bolt was for sale and probably none of it will be in my life time. I've gotten over being upset/disappointed/angry about nothing being for sale. At least they are being saved for someone in the future. We can't personally have or "save" them all! So...hoarders, pickers, collectors, auctioneers...they're all ok in my book. Without them, many of us would not own what we have today.

I sure hope it has an upside for you guys at Phipps Auto. If nothing else, it's a once in a lifetime experience to have been involved in something like this. I did see Dewaine on channel 8 news a while back (yes, I'm local to you but don't have any old cars...my old stuff all has two wheels). I thought it was great that they came out and had him on.

I am not going to directly answer the original question as I have no experience with restoration shops in MA, but wanted to offer up the following as a general thought: If at all possible, try to find the best shop or person for the job regardless of their location. To me it would be "worth it" to have my car in the "right" shop vs. the "close" shop, keeping in mind the end result. Identify the experts in your make and model; when the stars all align and you stumble upon that magic combination of an expert on your vehicle that has a shop and does superior quality work, you've really found something. It can make the difference between "correct" and "close" on your restoration. That stuff matters to some, to others not at all. There are lots of considerations when selecting a shop: your goals, your budget, logistical challenges (location/transportation), restorer's expertise, time frame and so on. There are shops for every sort of car and for every sort of budget and job from the quick flippers to the one man operations that work slowly and quietly out of the public eye restoring 1 or 2 cars at a time over a period of years. Best of luck to the original poster. I simply encourage you to consider all of your options and go with the best you can for your circumstances.

Let me begin by saying that I do NOT know the law and procedures in North Carolina, however the quote (above) about the car having had a good PA title seems, to me, like a significant tidbit of information. Why can you not take the PA title (which I presume you received when you purchased the car) and go to the DMV in North Carolina to have the title transferred into your name in NC, car registered, etc.? Are you saying that NC does visual inspections of "antique vehicles" and that all of the replacement parts you've mentioned were installed recently, thus causing the issue with the fender tag and such? Nonetheless, it would seem to me that you would have some sort of leg to stand on by virtue of the fact that the car has (had?) a PA title as recently as this past year. On the other hand, if all of the major components (or at least the numbered ones) have all been changed out, I can sure see where the state is coming from. Also- at the end of the day, would a specialty vehicle title really be that bad? At least they aren't saying that you can't title it at all. Perhaps you should just go that route and call it done.

That update was on the Forall, not the Lowther. I didn't think I was unclear, but my update post was getting back to the original topic, the Forall, which has been dated to 1960. Your Lowther was a 1949.

UPDATE: Dave Lewis of Dave Lewis [Car] Restoration in Springfield (davelewisrestoration.com) has confirmed that it is actually a 1960 model and he even sent me a scan of a factory advertisement dated 3/60 to prove it. Dave is something of an expert on Forall Scooters, having lived in Springfield, Illinois growing up and having received a 1958 model from his father for his 8th grade graduation. In 1994 he wrote a multi page response to another enthusiast that had tracked him down that details the origin and production history of the Forall Scooter. That letter ended up posted to the US Scooter Museum website (the website is the museum---there is no physical location or collection of scooters). I managed to locate Dave, nearly 20 years after that letter was written, to see what he might be able to tell me about Forall that I didn't already know. It turns out that it wasn't terribly difficult to find him as he has not moved and has a very nice website he maintains for his collector car restoration business.The ad he sent is actually the first piece of Forall literature I've ever seen that is dated. Thanks, Dave!

This reminded me of one other thing that has not been mentioned that could be a perfectly legal way to buy and title the car that was originally mentioned: bonded title programs. This may absolutely not apply since I don't know the laws in NY or in FL, but I know that Texas has a bonded title program. I will not go into all of the details of how this works in Texas (you can easily find it online if you really want to know), but basically you submit a bill or sale and statement of facts to the county tax assessor that they can either accept or deny. If all is well, they then make you buy a bond for 1.5x the value of the vehicle. They will run VIN checks, inspect the vehicle, etc., and if all works out, you end up with a bonded title for the vehicle for a period of 3 years. During that period potential owners and/or lien holders may come forward and "claim" the vehicle, so going for a bonded title isn't without its risks either. After 3 years and no stakeholders coming forward, the state of TX will issue you a "real" clean title. There is the potential for a the car and lot of money to be lost if you don't have an "honest" car, so you need to be darn sure it was NEVER stolen and doesn't have any sort of liens on it...if it does, you're now the one on the hook. Just like with title services, there are people out there willing to do the work for you for a fee, but you can do it yourself. If you're not the kind of person that is willing to follow detailed instructions and deal with the red tape (including people that say "no" or give you the run around even when you've followed procedure to a "t"), getting a bonded title yourself is probably not for you. I have a friend that went through the process for a Porsche he has. He was careful and took his time and has had no issues. 1 year left on the bond for him and he'll be good to go.

Cars with no paperwork are different than cars with wrong paperwork. If you decide to buy this car and decide to use a title service, my advice to you would be to proceed as if the car has zero paperwork rather than the car has a title with the wrong VIN and the wrong year. The existing tile (in a legal sense anyway) is not title to the car you want to buy, which is likely how the DMV will see it, of course. They won't just take it as a typo and go in and fix the numbers to match. So, for me it would come down to buying the car without a title or not buying it at all. Unless it was strictly (always and forever) going to be a race car, I wouldn't buy it. You might go through a title mill and come out with a title, or you might find out it's stolen. Only you can determine if you want to take that risk. I also know that I would NOT accept the title to the wrong car (wrong VIN and wrong year = wrong title to me) and definitely would not use it to try to get legit paperwork. That could be the beginning of all sorts of trouble. I wouldn't want that piece of paper in my possession at all!

Technical problems just announced on-air. No more fantasy bidding for Thursday. They hope to have it fixed by tomorrow (Friday) night.

They seem to be experiencing massive technical issues. I have played every year and enjoy doing so...never manage to win the prizes even when I'm completely on the money with my fantasy bid, but it's fun to guess anyway. This year has been frustrating: problems registering, problems logging in, problems registering my bid (it did not count my bid for car #1 for some reason...seems like their servers crashed). Oh well...I'll play if it works and have no expectation that I'll win any prizes.

Maybe I'm completely wrong about this, but I think I've seen the YR2 used on Packards from the late 1930s - early 1940s??? I don't know what those Packards are supposed to have, so again, possibly totally wrong. I suppose if they were a replacement carb, it's possible.

I don't have any leads or information for you, but have to say that that thing is very cool! I've never seen one of these before. I'd love to have one myself...hmmmmm

I would back up and say that there has been a resurgence of mainstream interest in "old stuff" (not just cars) driven, at least in part, by several things: Television: Barrett-Jackson auctions on Speed, American Pickers, American Restoration, Chasing Classic Cars, Chop/Cut/Rebuild, Fast n' Loud, Overhaulin' and so on. Many of these shows don't paint a realistic picture of market value and have only caused many people to think that old stuff automatically equals valuable stuff. Internet: It's easy these days to hop online and discover that there are people out there buying, selling, and collecting darn near everything. This creates a perceived desire to the potential seller, as he sees a market rather than having the scrap yard be the only alternative. Condition drives desirability though, and some owners/seller fail to remember that. So, lots of potential sellers have the idea that their old stuff is valuable and that there is a collector out there somewhere willing to pay top dollar for their item. These people are seeing that collectors are paying far more than scrap value in most cases, so they think they're sitting on gold mines. This has absolutely saved some vehicles from the crusher, which I'd say is a good thing, because once they're gone, they're gone. Even if the seller is unwilling to be realistic on the price considering the condition, the vehicle has been spared from the crusher and theoretically becomes available. The pricing problem is nothing new and will probably ALWAYS be an issue. It's simple: not everything old is valuable and condition matters. Some sellers will always believe just the opposite.

I looked through the completed listings on Ebay and think that I found your car (it was sold twice virtually back-to-back out of Colorado Springs). The title thing is kinda sticky...the actual auction narrative description did say "no warranties and sold as is," but didn't mention anything about the title in either of the auctions. However, the description tab (on all ebay car listings) DOES say "title: clear" which would indicate (to me) that the car did in fact have a title as that information is supplied by the seller. So, the buyer does have a leg to stand on, in my opinion, if he wants his money back out of the deal though I would also say that the buyer seems not to have done his due diligence prior to the purchase to determine the existence of the title. I don't know if it's illegal to transport a vehicle without a title or not, but the fact of the matter is that now the car is in NJ (presumably with the buyer) who is unhappy that there is no title. It should have never been transported before any possible issue was resolved, but it was. The buyer should have asked about a title, but apparently didn't. The seller should have completely disclosed that there was no title, but (at least in the ebay listing) didn't. I think the only thing you can do is either give the money back and go get your car or wait and let the Ebay dispute play out knowing that you might lose and have to give the money back and go get the car. Or maybe Ebay will go your way and say that all of that is the buyer's problem. I just think the way the car was listed (assuming that I am looking at the correct ebay car) seems to indicate that the car does, in fact, have a title. Reading through Ebay motors policy makes it known that saying that the title is "clear" is a pretty big deal to them. That might be all the buyer needs to be able to have Ebay get him out of the deal. I don't know how car location/shipping would work out if that's how it played out. Good luck!

In that case, it seems to me that if the car was sold by you (or your designee in Colorado) without a title and was bought and paid for by someone (a broker or not), coming up with the title is now the buyer's problem as they paid and took delivery of the vehicle without a title. The fact that they want to get the car out of the United States also seems like it's the buyer's problem, not yours. The fact that the car was sold on Ebay probably doesn't help, BUT if it was disclosed that the car had no title and the buyer purchased it anyway, I see no reason that you should have to refund the payment unless you want to AND you get the car back. Someone must have come to pick the car up based on the fact that it's now in NJ, right? Was that the buyer or just a shipper? It's starting to all sound like buyer's remorse that came with asking questions after the fact. Now, if the buyer was told the vehicle had a title or that you would be able to produce one for him, that's a different story.

The car cannot be exported from the United States without a valid title. Lots of information on the specifics of which can be found at the Customs and Border Protection website. Attempting to export the car anyway could result in the car being seized and/or legal action against the owner/seller/exporter. IF the car does, in fact, have a title (that is just lost or was not supplied with the car), even the person listed as the legal owner on the title could be implicated if it were exported. Is there a bill-of-sale that was done? Any notarized paperwork stating that the vehicle was sold "as is" or some such thing? I don't really follow how the car is now in NJ, you're in Australia, but it could be taken back to Colorado. That aside, I think getting a title for this might be a real pain and this might be a good opportunity to check into using a title service to get the title. Also look into the laws in a state like Vermont. Probably the most important thing to determine before you do anything else is if the car has ever been titled or not. If it has, it will be very difficult to get a new title in a different state and will be virtually impossible to export. This is where the services of a title service might be valuable to you. You'll have to check with individual title service companies to see how they operate, but I know they won't give you a title without something to go on...you'll need (at least) a bill of sale and possibly some other proof of ownership. I would go back to the FIRST seller in the chain and lean hard on them to produce a title or issue a bill of sale for the car. This is a difficult situation. Best of luck!

I agree with you about the show...the early years were interesting but I grew tired of the drama (real or fabricated) and then it got to be one "theme bike" after another. After some time, they all began to look the same and they seemed to have run out of original design ideas. I just didn't know that the show had been cancelled, so the announcement came as a surprise to me last night.

I watched the two night series they did on the build-off and have watched both Fast 'N Loud and American Chopper off and on since both of them first went on the air. I didn't personally care for any of the bikes very much, but the Gas Monkey bike was my favorite of the bunch...the "old school" nostalgia type of chopper. And it literally was a chopper...born from a '67 Harley Davidson Shovelhead. I have mixed feelings about the nice original being turned into a chopper, but STILL liked it much better than all of the others. I found it rather annoying that more than once it was mentioned that nobody had ever done a Harley based sport bike. This isn't accurate at all. Harley has factory built some sport bikes AND the entire Buell motorcycle line was exactly that...Harley powered sport bikes. I didn't think the results were surprising at all. Of course Paul Jr. was going to win. He could have built virtually anything and still pulled it off. He is the guy that's come up roses on TV and has the backing of the fans. His dad, Paul Sr., in my opinion, has always been portrayed as the 'bad guy' on the show, thus no way he could win; Jesse James builds neat stuff but doesn't have the fan base without West Coast Choppers and Monster Garage on TV (not to mention that his bad-boy image is getting old), and the Gas Monkey garage guys were (again, in my opinion) thrown in as the underdogs because the Jr.-Sr.-Jesse thing was already played out from last year. I wanted to see them win it, but didn't think they stood a chance with Jr. The most surprising thing to me was to hear that American Chopper is done for. The last episode was last night (the build off show). I don't know if they'll be back doing individual shows or if this is the end of the road for them in terms of tv shows, but I sure didn't realize the show as we know it is over. There was no sort of wrap-up or retrospective aired prior to the build off show last night in which it was announced.