SB100 registration advice (San Francisco area)

[pbar]

HI all,

 

I have a new car arriving in a few weeks and will need to register via SB100...  so I'm looking for advice/recommendations about which DMVs in the SF area are Caterham-friendly.

Has anybody gone through this process recently?  If so, which DMV did you use, and how was the experience?   

[KnifeySpoony]

I did Los Gatos and it worked out for me. I think the DMV office is less the issue and the BAR inspector is your bigger hurdle. What year/model is the car?

[pbar]

1 hour ago, KnifeySpoony said:

I did Los Gatos and it worked out for me. I think the DMV office is less the issue and the BAR inspector is your bigger hurdle. What year/model is the car?

 

It's a 2026 420 Cup

[ralph]

+1 for Los Gatos DMV; they are one of the more clueful ones.

 

I got  mine done through Santa Cruz DMV,  and lucked out.  The main thing is make sure the person on the other side of the counter is familiar with sb100/spcns.  If they aren't you can end up with unrecoverable errors.  The agent I started with thought I was talking about a customized car, not spcns, and he was intercepted by another agent who happened overhear our convo and took over.  There are many ways to screw this up, and some of the screwups can't be fixed (e.g. BAR Ref told me about someone with a 620R who hadn't paid his use tax (didn't have a temp op permit), got pulled over on his way from BAR ref to DMV and his car was impounded and the VIN blackballed (can never be registered in CA). 

 

BAR Ref scrutiny is mostly remote (via pictures you take); this seems backwards, but you don't get an appt until you pass visual which is the remote part. my actual on-site with the BAR ref (in monterey) was mostly paperwork (vin verification, etc.).  I did have to take quite a few pics to show evidence of a properly connect PCV, so make sure that's all sorted.  5min install of a $6 part; assuming you have a stock plenum -- if you have rollers, dunno how you clear that...

 

 

[TorqueSpec]

Another +1 for Los Gatos, based on feedback from this forum and others. I’m working my way through it now - have done the brake and lights and CHP inspection. BAR is next, but the DMV systems were down Friday when I went with the CHP paperwork. Best advice: keep a ziplock bag with all your paperwork, as for a 90 day temp registration so you can drive your car while working through it all, and get it insured (I did Hagerty’s). And finally, just be patient. 

[TSnuggs42069]

P

On 7/4/2026 at 8:46 AM, pbar said:

HI all,

 

I have a new car arriving in a few weeks and will need to register via SB100...  so I'm looking for advice/recommendations about which DMVs in the SF area are Caterham-friendly.

Has anybody gone through this process recently?  If so, which DMV did you use, and how was the experience?   

Is it a new car that hasn't been titled before?  Who assembled it?  Just curious as I am about to go through a similar process in Sacramento.

[Doug7L]

Just FYI.

 

The term 'SB100' is the unofficial term for SPCNS.  SB100 stands for Senate Bill 100 which was the number of the California Senate Bill that created the SPCNS in 2001 or 2002.  The term SB100 does not appear anywhere in the DMV's official registration instructions, only SPCNS.

 

I was one of the first to get an SPCNS number in 2002 and it doesn't say anything about SB100 on the sticker.  BAT gave me grief about the lack of 'SB100' on the sticker when I listed my car about 3 years ago.   Not really their fault as they do hundreds of cars per day and SB100 has been what everyone has called it since the beginning. 

 

When you get to the DMV, tell them it's a Specially Constructed Vehicle, SPCNS.   They may or may not know the term SB100.

 

Note:  On more recent SPCNS stickers I have seen SB100 listed only in the comment line. 

 

Mine from 2002

 

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