By Robert Emslie
There’s just something about going all-in that is commendable. Whether it’s the uninterrupted experience that Disneyland provides, or this guy’s dragster and matching tow unit, when all the pieces fit together seamlessly it just makes everything better, don’t you think?
Last Call indicates the end of Hooniverse’s broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
Image source: Photobucket
Jeff Glucker
It's not easy driving a dragster.
[youtube qlGZ5rr_v6A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlGZ5rr_v6A youtube]
I hate when that happens.
Today I spotted–in the United States–a Polski Fiat Cinquecento. A European brought it along for a contract job in the Bay Area and then abandoned it when he/she went home. The owner of property where it was parked finally got a lien on it and sold it to Joe of Joe's Fiat Service. As of today, it has valid California registration!
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Check out the VISIT group on Facebook to see a few more pictures.
Awesome. But, it's not 25 years old. How can it be DOT and EPA certified?
Right. It's a 1994 model, by the way. It is not federally certified at all, but since it's on the road and not sitting at a port, I don't think the federal government cares about it. The CHP signed off on it, so it satisfies the state regarding safety. I guess there was a hangup on that step because the VIN is not located in the usual spot (it's in the trunk). The vehicle must have a state smog certification–if I encounter Joe again I'll ask how much trouble that was. It's also possible that the previous owner did the certification. I've heard that can be expensive, but it might not be so bad for a pre-OBD-II car.
How much "damage" could that car do? The pollution caused by running an F150 all over town would be a year's worth of the Fiat.
The big problem is insurance. No matter what a state decides to issue by way of paperwork and plates, it's not a legal* car in the US before it turns 25. This will make things awkward if there's ever a claim.
*Yes, it may very well be legal for temporary import by a tourist, diplomat, manufacturer performing tests, and so forth, but not for general use.
Interesting. I actually saw the registration and license plates (they were sitting in the passenger footwell–Joe let me sit in the driver seat), and California requires proof of insurance before issuing the registration.
Do you think this a situation where an insurer wrote a policy on this car without reviewing it, but then will attempt to declare it void if a claim is filed?
This car definitely entered the country on temporary papers, and then it sat abandoned for more than a decade. But now it appears to have fully satisfied the state.
From what I've seen when looking into insuring my own grey-market cars, any competent insurance company would seek to retroactively nullify coverage as soon as their central office took more than a cursory look into its status, which they almost certainly would do when faced with a claim. Satisfying the state does nothing to alleviate the Federal problems. If the owner has found a company that will issue a policy containing the explicit stipulation that the vehicle is known to be in violation of NHTSA standards, more power to him, but that would be astonishing. Either way, I wouldn't want to try justifying its use on public roads in the event of a lawsuit.
If I owned it, I'd either keep it entirely off the street until 25 years plus one day after its date of manufacture or I'd sell it to a Canadian. Their limit is fifteen years.
Do the specialty insurers like Hagerty also have this position?
I didn't approach any of them, as I wanted regular insurance for regular use (and got it, thanks to the ages of my cars). I see no reason why they wouldn't have the same difficulty with it, but that's just speculation on my part.
That was a pretty sophisticated rig for 1960. For comparison, at the time, TV Tommy Ivo used a single-axle lollipop trailer pulled by a car.
<img src="http://www.nhra.com/UserFiles/image/2010/News/July/tv1.jpg" width=500>
But hey, it's being pulled by a Cadillac. And the trailer has matching Cadillac wheelcovers.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/Yuh8Ik9.gif" </img>
What coat hanger?
My wife can't understand why I find this so funny.
These ain't exactly dragsters but I thought they were cool. I can't decide if I like the cars or the transporters better.
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