Photo: Ryan Soderlin / Omaha World-Herald
One man from Wahoo, Nebraska, is desperate to get his restored 1930 Ford Model A back on the road, after years spent in the garage. The DMV won’t allow him to because the vehicle was erroneously listed as “junk” back in the ‘60s.
And once a car is considered “junk,” there’s no way to register it again or sell it otherwise than for parts, the Lincoln Journal Star reports. So Lane Nelson, owner of Lane’s Auto Service, wants the law to be changed to include the possibility for experienced professionals like himself to restore old cars and be able to register them, thus making them street-legal.
So far, Nelson has had little luck. He invested $15,000 into the restoration and many years of hard work, thinking that his father would drive the Model A on “trips down memory lane” and at the occasional parade. When he went to register it, he was shocked to find out that he couldn’t, because it was once listed as “junk.”
The Lincoln Journal Star says this happened back in the ‘60s, when Nelson’s dad became of driving age and wanted to take his father’s car out for drives. Because it hadn’t been licensed for years, a “state licensing clerk” friend of the family told him that he could avoid a lot of paper work if he just took out a “junk” title on it. Then, Nelson’s father crashed the car and it was abandoned until he picked up the restoration project.
Once it was restored, Nelson went to get the $14 certificate, only to find out that it wouldn’t be granted to him: the car was “junk” and, as such, it could not be allowed back on the road. The DMV suggested the alternative to take it apart again and incorporate parts from another Ford vehicle, which would get him a title for a reassembled car. Or sell it for parts, because he wouldn’t get a new title.
“I'm not trying to run down anybody who's trying to help me, but this is completely ridiculous,” Nelson tells the publication. “There's a disconnect somewhere. I'm not destroying what was put together again so nicely.”
Nelson is hoping state officials will listen to his plea, especially since he maintains the “junk” title was a clerical mistake. He has the expertise to restore old vehicles, so registering them would pose no safety dangers.
So far, Nelson has had little luck. He invested $15,000 into the restoration and many years of hard work, thinking that his father would drive the Model A on “trips down memory lane” and at the occasional parade. When he went to register it, he was shocked to find out that he couldn’t, because it was once listed as “junk.”
The Lincoln Journal Star says this happened back in the ‘60s, when Nelson’s dad became of driving age and wanted to take his father’s car out for drives. Because it hadn’t been licensed for years, a “state licensing clerk” friend of the family told him that he could avoid a lot of paper work if he just took out a “junk” title on it. Then, Nelson’s father crashed the car and it was abandoned until he picked up the restoration project.
Once it was restored, Nelson went to get the $14 certificate, only to find out that it wouldn’t be granted to him: the car was “junk” and, as such, it could not be allowed back on the road. The DMV suggested the alternative to take it apart again and incorporate parts from another Ford vehicle, which would get him a title for a reassembled car. Or sell it for parts, because he wouldn’t get a new title.
“I'm not trying to run down anybody who's trying to help me, but this is completely ridiculous,” Nelson tells the publication. “There's a disconnect somewhere. I'm not destroying what was put together again so nicely.”
Nelson is hoping state officials will listen to his plea, especially since he maintains the “junk” title was a clerical mistake. He has the expertise to restore old vehicles, so registering them would pose no safety dangers.
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