I will buying a car from a local racer named Brian Meakings here is his ad....

http://forum.sccbc.net/YaBB.pl?board=for_sale;action=display;num=1297219089

I am wondering if this is a normal thing to not have papers for an old race car that has changed hands a few times?

I am not worried about buying the car as it looks like this 510 has been around for a while and he is openly posting pictures of the car.

What is everyone's thoughts or input on this?

Josh

What kind of papers would you expect to get for a car that has long ago ceased to be registered for street use ? You can ask for a bill of sale and that's about all you could expect.

If the car is registered with either CACC or Conference sanctioning bodies, then it should have a log book and an I.D. plate riveted to it somewhere. Look for both of these! This helps you in several ways - proof of ownership, provenance and history of the vehicle and most importantly, recognition by the border officials that the vehicle officially exists with recognized sanctioning bodies.

Further to this, if the vehicle still has an OEM serial number on it this can be searched with ICBC to confirm ownership. Personally however, I would not us this and would go solely with log book and I.D. plate from CACC.
Ask Brian to provide that for you. If he can't provide it, tell him to get one from the CACC tech department so that you have some kind of recognition.

Do your homework and you should be good to go.

Lorne (Sign Guy)

So here is some more info from Brian...

"It has a ICSCC log book, it used to have a CASC logo book (pre- CACC) but the log book has been lost for some time.

The id tag/number is still on the car."

The ICSCC logbook won't help much as it isn't numbered (and therefore there is not numbered tag to relate to it). It may be possible to derive some info from the old CASC number take (emphasis on MAY).

As for any provincial licensing information, that won't help you much as I think this particular car has been a race car for much too long for the information to be germaine.


Mike (Tech)

What exactly are you worried about? The local authorities or crossing the border to race in the states? Either way, I wouldn't worry too much. It's been a race car for long enough, and is so far from looking like a "normal" car that the local authorities won't care unless you drive it on the road. With a bill of sale, I don't think you'll have any worries about proof of ownership.

I've only crossed into the states with a race car twice - once with the Vee inside an enclosed trailer, which they didn't even ask to look inside.. And once with a Volvo 240 on an open trailer. That car was still street legal and registered/insured in BC. They looked at it and let us through with no problems. We even had to drive it after our truck broke down haha.

How would I ever prove that I own my Formula Vee? Other than photos of me and my dog standing next to it and a bill of sale from the previous owner, it's just a "thing", like any other thing that I own - a guitar, or a radio..

With never buying a "race car" before I am just learning the ways of the race car world. I had no idea if this was normal or not.

Asking these kind of questions here was the first logical place to start my learning process.

Thanks for your help guys, that question in the back of my mind has been put to rest.

---------------------------

Now, I wont be able to compete in any series for the time being as I am a small business owner and have very very little free time. If a person like myself that has already taken/passed the SCCBC race driver training course wanted to just get on the track and do some lapping/timed laps where/which group would be the best place to start? Rivers edge? Pitt Meadows airport?

I do have a VERY competitive side of me and will be getting into racing asap but until then I just need to have some fun.

If you can find the CASC vehicle number plate you should be able to get a replacement log book.

I have a letter from ICBC stating that a Bill of Sale actually takes precedence over the registration papers as far as proof of ownership is concerned.

But a registered lein trumps all. This can be a concern when crossing the border. The US can prevent you from returning your car to Canada if there is a lein registered in the US, for example.

Just something to be aware of.

Richard

My car had no papers, so this is what I did.

If you want to cross into the U.S. this is what I found out is the safest bet. ( 2006 )
1. stop and ask the Canadian Border Services Agency for a Identification of Articles form BEFORE  crossing into the U.S.
Fill it out and get it stamped

2. then cross freely as long as you have that little green paper with the car S/N and the Canada Customs stamp

3. this is valid for anything you want to register such as a camera or what ever