Hey everyone, Not a DF Goblin Owner but an Exocet owner. I have talked to John a few times but this morning I shot a picture of my Exocet over to him in an e-mail and asked "Is there any reason you won't let this off the trailer to be inspected?". Missed his call but he left a voice mail stating that the Exocet is NOT a replica and therefore will not be registered as a Kit Car. The only mention of this I can find is on the MVA website and not in the Regs.
One thing I have noticed about John is that he will not respond to my e-mail. He does everything over the phone. Wonder why that is.
Reading through the MD Code of Regulations and it seems that vehicles like ours will be registered as an "Unorthodox Vehicle"
B. Terms Defined.
(1) "Constructed vehicle" means any vehicle which has been assembled by anyone other than a manufacturer of vehicles, and the chassis of another vehicle which has been assembled by a bona fide manufacturer was not used during the course of construction.
(2) "Reconstructed vehicle" means any vehicle which has been assembled from the chassis and other parts of vehicles which were originally constructed by bona fide manufacturers of vehicles.
(3) Unorthodox Vehicle.
(a) "Unorthodox vehicle" means a vehicle which is unusual in design and which deviates from the types of vehicles required to be titled and registered under the provisions of Transportation Article, Title 13, Annotated Code of Maryland, regardless if the vehicle was assembled by a bona fide vehicle manufacturer or by any other person.
(b) "Unorthodox vehicle" includes motorized wheel chairs, minibikes, trail machines, beach buggies, dune buggies, and any other similar type of vehicle.
On the other side, I see no reason these vehicles cannot be titled under MD law as a Kit Car. There is no restrictions and they even list out criteria that you can fail under.
The Administration shall refuse to issue a certificate of title if:
(1) The required documents are not furnished or the information is incomplete;
(2) The individual bringing the vehicle to the Administration garage is not the applicant and cannot furnish a power of attorney authorizing the individual to sign for the applicant;
(3) The garage inspection reveals stolen parts;
(4) The application is being processed at a branch office of the Administration, and a statement certifying that the glider kit has been assembled by a Maryland licensed dealer or repair shop is not furnished;
(5) A security interest termination statement has not been furnished for each lien shown on record; or
(6) A title for a vehicle less than 7 years old is being assigned to the applicant and the applicant:
(a) Does not furnish a notarized bill of sale, and
(b) Refuses to pay excise tax on the greater of the book value or the purchase price of the vehicle.
I am going to give John a call on Tuesday and discuss further but I know of 1 Exocet owner that got his VIN through John back in 2016 and I have some of his paper work. None of the regs have changed since then so I don't see why we can't do it again.