Slightly OT: super cool wagon found it in a storage locker in SoCal

While I'm all about 128s, I prefer the 124 wagon over the 128 wagon. The 124 styling is great in my eyes (earlier the better), while the rear end of the 128 is a bit awkward. But styling opinions aside the 124 has a few things going for it:

1. It has a real glove box. Swallows up a Haynes manual with ease and even has a light.

2. 4-doors makes the back seat much more useable. I leave the seat folded down 99% of the time anyway, and the doors make access to cargo much better.

3. None if the typical 128 front end structural issues.

4. Nice positive shifting from the 124 trans.

5. RWD. Perfect for drifting! Or not ;)

Downsides? More complicated suspension with all the usual ageing 124 issues (out of the box handling is pretty good though IMO). Sheetmetal is uber-thin (keep people from leaning on it). Seat to floor height is quite low. I find it comfortable (and have had similar feedback from others in my wagon) but it definitely exemplifies the Italian driving position.
 
olerascal said:
Shaggin' isn't on my dance card much either. Especially annoying since my ladyfriend is smokin' hot...former Miss Oregon. Even tho' that was 50 yrs & 60 lbs ago, she's still a hottie at 75....doesn't look a day over 60!
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Now that sounds like love to me :)



olerascal said:
50s-60s era kids have fond memories of youthful adventures in back of mom's wagon.
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Also fond adult memories in the back of a wagon, if you know what I mean. ;)



Fiataccompli said:
I like my backwards state, it affords options.
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Like marrying your sister? :(
 
Where there's a will, there's a way. I find NC to be a bigger pain than CA when it comes to old car registration and I've dealt with no title in both. Just have to figure out which hoops to jump through.
 
I would have loved to have gotten that one and I think I had worked how the title would work out. This one had also been entered in a motor vehicle database as having been scrapped in 2007c but I agree where there's a will there's a way. Hopefully a 124 wagon will come my way.
 
Fiataccompli said:
This one had also been entered in a motor vehicle database as having been scrapped in 2007
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If the buyer is in Calif that is the kiss of death. No way to (legally) title a scrapped vehicle there. So it just might come back up for sale soon.
 
I'm sure a title and vin plates from a spider would have this wagon on the road with no problem. I have heard of people doing blatantly illegal things like this but of course none of us would do such a thing......and besides, I returned the titleless 124 coupe shell back to the guy who gave it to me when I was done with the car a few years later.
 
Well, I was figuring it was the KOD in CA. It was pretty darned simple (cost me $2) to look it up. Kudos to whoever saved it from the crusher though!

Seller was simply a flipper, but refreshingly honest about the deal ("don't know anything about it, was sitting under a shed in someone's yard so I bought it figuring it could flip it & make money, i don't want to send someone across the country a million photos & answer as many questions, etc"). if it doesn't work out for the buyer, I do hope it turns up. I had a fairly good concept it would work out with a bit of time & patience to get a title here in TN, but under the circumstances I did not see the car being worth the asking price. It did have the usual front rocker/floor rust, but certainly not as bad as many (and not as bad as many I've repaired).

I am sure what Carl mentioned was/is an option and one that could be quite viable up to a point of sale & perhaps with the exclusion of it being able to be well-insured once much money & effort were put into making it the uber-cool wagon it's meant to be.
 
carl said:
I'm sure a title and vin plates from a spider would have this wagon on the road with no problem.
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Fiataccompli said:
with the exclusion of it being able to be well-insured
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These are the kind of things that make living in Calif difficult. If you tried to swap VINs from a Spyder, it would be discovered upon the required VIN inspection (being out of the system requires this before anything can be completed). Every VIN has a description (e.g. "wagon" vs "convertible") so the inspector would immediately know it isn't legal and you are done (and might be facing bigger legal issues).

Furthermore, if you managed to title it with a bogus VIN in other states, you might be able to buy insurance without further inspection. But you will have a problem if it is ever involved in a accident. The insurance carrier will then discover the inconsistent title info and your policy will be terminated without coverage (and possibly pursued legally once again). No free lunches in our modern world of technology.

All that being said, some states will allow a new title to be issued on its existing VIN, despite having been scrapped in the past. Then there won't be problems getting proper insurance on it. So it isn't impossible everywhere, just some places.
 
exactly! i would think if you can drag some 1920s/30s/40s car out of a field completely rebuild it into something only vaguely resembling it's original structure or if you can buy salvaged cars & rebuild them (& at least at some point in the past even run the title through another state to "launder" it), then surely something could be done with this one. BUT, I could also imagine a less thoughtful approach with this one, especially in it's last rites (and last titled) state of California, it could be rendered a flagged item on some some sort of national motor vehicle database. Fun fun.
 
In my situation I was able to drive and enjoy a 124 coupe cheaply for a few years on liability only insurance and yes I did worry that if I got in an accident it might get legally ugly. I'm not advocating it, just....never mind.
 
Apparently in MO you can ship in one of these:
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And somehow get an "assigned" ID.
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Maybe it is a military personnel transfer privilege? This car was on Ebay about 5 years ago, maybe more. I was very tempted, but I put the money into another X IIRC.
 
In states like Calif there are different types of vehicle classifications for titling. When you take a 30's Ford and build a hot rod there is a particular process to title that. When you buy a "kit car" and build it yourself, there is a different process. If you rebuild a "totalled" car it has its own process to get re-titled. But for some reason a "scrapped" car cannot be done. It is one is only a couple categories where this is true. My information on this is a few years old; when I closed my Calif business that dealt with related matters, I stopped getting the updated laws from the state regarding title/registration/smog laws. But I seriously doubt it has become less stringent, historically they keep getting stricter with the goal of removing all older vehicles off their roads.

As has been stated, other states are very different. There are some where you can even get a title without living in or having an address in the state. So there are ways (legally). And once you get it legally titled you should be able to get it insured (if that is even required in your state). Although the insurance laws are another funny matter. In most states those rules are governed by a separate department from motor vehicle issues. And they may require the title be issued from the same state in order to cover it, despite the motor vehicle department not requiring it to be titled in the state. Typical governmental stuff, never makes a lot of sense.
 
Having seen how registration happens , how the data is input & the rigor or lack thereof with old/funky stuff....and having been involved in an accident where I was driving a 1972 Fiat and the only registration I had with me was one from my 1970 Chevy truck where i got a ticket that said I was driving a "1970 Chevy Fiat " I think it could work out in TN. BUT, my interest in a 124 wagon is to make a nice enough car & put enough money/effort into stuff I can't transfer to another car (paint, welding, 124 wagon specific trim) that I would want to have the peace of mind of knowing it was properly (i.e., nothing gray) insured as my other Fiats are.

Thanks for the insight on CAs laws. That's a strange thing about "scrapped." I also thought this one might have come in during the cash for clunkers thing and maybe there was some additional legal stipulation there.
 
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