Licensure in Georgia

[rfmarz@frontiernet]

Well, I just had a conversation with Douglas Hooper (GA Motor Vehicle Director). He informed me that the Atom is a race car and since Brammo has not registered the car with NHTSA it is NOT eligible for a license in the state of Georgia. I spoke about the specially constructed vehicle perspective and he told me that there is no provision in Georgia for this. Now what?

[Karl]

A cursory Google search reveals that Georgia does indeed have provisions in place for registering of kit cars.  However, it seems that you have to meet emissions standards of the year you bought the kit, or the model year that the car most closely resembles.  For now, I'd call up Brammo and insist that they build your car with a catalytic converter.

[rfmarz@frontiernet]

Thanks Karl. I have tried several times already today to talk with Craig. He is a busy guy. Hopefully he'll call me back.

[Karl]

You might also want to talk to other kit car owners (Cobras, etc.), clubs, titling experts, etc. in your state.

[Driver]

Specifically Ultima owners as well I'd suggest. If that car is road legal there then the Atom is very close.

[cjones]

http://www.dmv.org/ga-georgia/custom-built-cars.php

This will cause me headaches too since I was going to order an Atom 300 and register in Georgia.

[bolus]

Here are my thoughts (posting these will probably require we move this to the restricted registration forum though)

1. The DMV worker that you end up with is not going to be knowledgeable like this Doug Hooper guy.  They aren't going to know what the car is.  Since we all know very well that this car is not a purpose build race car I would not have any problems playing dumb when registering the car (that's what I did).  If it was a race car then it would be aerodynamic, lower the the ground, not have turn signals, etc.  this is a collector car that pays homage to the spirit of a true race car. 

2. Register the car as an assembled car.  At very least Brammo will give you a separate invoice for the engine and the drivetrain installation manual. You can opt for the drivetrain installation option too.  The car is officially sold as a kit car with this option.  When you go to the DMV and talk to your clueless DMV worker, you say you are registering as a kit car. 

3. Get ready to pass emissions.  Get the Cat from Brammo. dont drive the car with the Cat in place unless you are going to the DMV. 

I dont have any problem advocating this approach because we all know that this car is streetable, safe, has a lot of typical car safety features.  I admire people like Matt and Terry that have been fighting for months on end to get their cars registered.  I would not have the patience to do that. 

But basically play dumb and it will work. 

[rfmarz@frontiernet]

Thanks for the tips, Bolus! I started with a friend of mine (the local tax commissioner) in my county. He had no idea where to go with this kit car so he asked the person in charge of the territory in S. GA. He, too, didn't know so he referred my friend to the head of the Dept. of Motor Vehicles in GA. I tried very hard to stay local to avoid this all. I looked through more than 30 pages of googled sites to 1.) find a local kit car club and 2.) find a DMV loophole. I found nothing of any perceived value. I spoke with Mr. Hooper about the "dune buggy" and "sandrail" type cars. He didn't know if we even still can license them. He was totally STUCK on the NHTSA (federal) registration listing that Brammo doesn't have.  He went as far as to say "you're trying to license a race car", as this is what he thought he saw on Brammo's web site. I even spoke of the "4 wheel motorcycle" concept where the Atom is a much safer vehicle than a bike. He said "uh huh".  I have found that, at least in this state, NOBODY want to make a true decision that they get paid to make. I have found this out about the state fire marshall office as well. Lets delegate it to someone else so that no one can come back to me with it. What a crock. The government not working in the true spirit of getting things for the benefit of everyone using common sense as a guide. If I did work in my profession like this, I'd justifiably go broke- as would most of my Atom cohorts.

The thing about this NHTSA "safety" issue is that as a 16 Y.O., you can go to the motorcycle shop, find a 150 H.P. crotch rocket that goes 190 mph, 0-100 in 5 seconds and buy it, then  can ride it around all they want. What do most kids know about that exhorbant amount of power? Yet, the gov't. wants to restrict the Atom since it doesn't have a NHTSA label on the frame!!!  WHAT an injustice.

MY big problem with this is that even if the local DMV signs off on it, since GA has a personal property tax on vehicles, I still have to go through the local tax commissioner and also the nearest inspection station.  I'm more than happy to play as dumb as possible (not hard for me ) but, unfortunately there are several people that I will have to go through. I just need to find out how the Georgia kit car guys do this. If anyone knows someone to advise me about this, please let me know! Thanks for the input guys!!!

[bolus]

The GA registration site says kit cars get "assembled" down as the make of the car on the title.  That means once you get registered by the kit car route, no one higher up is going to know its an ariel.

This is what my registration says.  for all intensive purposes, they think I have a cobra kit car. 

Dont worry, you will get it registered.

[Karl]

[quote="bolus"]
[...] for all intensive purposes [...]
[/quote]

What about those purposes that are less intensive?

(it's actually "for all intents and purposes")

[bolus]

Karl, you're not the boss of me, I can do what I want

[Karl]

I used to make the same error too - it was funny when someone pointed it out to me, because I really had not thought of what "intensive purposes" would be.

[rfmarz@frontiernet]

Bolus, I always knew that the Atom is a Cobra kit- gone bad And BTW, Karl, this IS an intensive purpose!

[bolus]

[quote="Karl"]
I used to make the same error too - it was funny when someone pointed it out to me, because I really had not thought of what "intensive purposes" would be.
[/quote]

I think I know that too and my brain still types it out that way.  Silly english language.

[Alec]

. . . . .  He went as far as to say "you're trying to license a race car", as this is what he thought he saw on Brammo's web site. . . . .

He didn't think he saw it, he DID see it, so you won't have an argument against this reason for not getting your Atom licensed in the US unless someone can persuade Brammo to alter their web site to not describe it as a race car.

The US built Atom is designed exclusively for racing and open track days, and performs as a true racecar should!