You are the proud and all too stubborn owner of a kit car. Your car is more than a status symbol. You poured blood, sweat, more blood, weld sunburn, a few serious cases of DOMS, and some weepy, haggard, chest shaking tears when you SWORE you were missing an essential component to the suspension system. You want to drive the car on the roads, test the handling, and show it off to all your friends as soon as the build is done. In the State of Florida, there are a couple important steps you need to take before you can do this legally. Getting your kit car titled and registered in Florida is your next step.
Why Do I Need to Register My Florida Kit Car?
In Florida, you have 10 days to register your kit car before you will really get in trouble with the law. This is usually a really simple process for standard cars - anything produced by a major manufacturer in the state has passed inspections by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, or the NHTSA, to make sure that it will perform well in the event of a crash and that it meets certain national standards for driving a vehicle legally on the roads in the US. When you work on a customized car or a modified car, however, the rules have to change to keep you, your passengers, and other drivers safe on the road.
What Is a Kit Car?
In Florida, it’s not legal to drive a car that has been not been registered. However, registration for special vehicles can be a very tricky and complex process. For those of you who don’t know, a kit car is a special vehicle you can purchase to build a modern replicate of an older vehicle. In many cases it’s a cheaper and more reliable option than say, buying a rustbucket Datsun and fixing it up. It enables you to own a beautiful, brand new-looking old car. Usually the kit consists of a body kit and internal components that match the old car model you desire, and it’s your or your mechanic’s job to place this kit on top of the suspension and internal frame of a newer vehicle that has similar dimensions to the classic car that has been duplicated.
How Does the State of Florida View Kit Cars?
Luckily for us drivers, car modifications are very common in Florida and car culture is very big here. The state has made it only somewhat more complex than the standard method of registering a vehicle in Florida. This means more paperwork and more fees go to the state. The state has a few options for registering the vehicle: it can be classified as a Street Rod, a Custom Vehicle, a Horseless Carriage, or an Exhibition Vehicle. In the case of a Kit Car, it would usually be classified as a “Custom Vehicle”. You can check out the application at this link: Application for Registration of a Street Rod, Custom Vehicle, Horseless Carriage, or Antique>>
In addition to this process, titling the car and paying the requisite taxes, as well as getting an affidavit to prove that the car is safe to drive are big steps to making the car legal in the state and should be done at the same time as the registration.
Liability in the Event of an Error
It’s important that your car is registered property. If you’re worried about the process or just don’t want to deal with the long hours of research and DMV lines, you can contact our service to get the car registered and titled affordably and quickly in the State of Florida. Visit Auto Tags of Florida to learn more about the process.
