New (Old) Seven Owner - Trouble Registering in CA

[hrcrc45]

Hi All,

 

I thought I might make a post here about some struggles I'm going through with a recent purchase of 1968 Lotus Seven, and see if anyone might have advice. 

 

Recently, I purchased a 1968 Lotus Seven from a private party in Colorado. I live in West Sacramento, CA.

 

I did some research before purchasing the car, and it had a clean Colorado Title, plus it pre dated 1975, so it would be smog exempt. That's unfortunately where my research stopped - I had no idea to even check for "Grey Market" regulations.

 

I took the car to the DMV with my bill of sale, insurance paperwork, and clean Colorado title - (I expected with the car being from out of state they would have to perform a VIN verification.) They told me that they couldn't verify the VIN, and that I would have to take it to CHP.

 

I immediately made an appointment with CHP, and gave the officer all of the information. He then emailed back with the following:

 

Good afternoon,

I did some research, and your 1968 Lotus 7 from England does qualify as a Grey Market vehicle.

For Grey Market import vehicles 1968 to 1975, they need to have full USEPA compliance which has been in effect since 11/15/1972.

You can check the attachments and here for further information:

Importing a Vehicle | NHTSA

A VIN inspection / assignment will not be completed until proper documentation verifying USEPA compliance have been presented to me.

Respectfully,

Officer Castle

 

When I reviewed the link and the information he sent, its all about actually importing a vehicle. The car I have has been registered in the US for (literally) decades. It had been in Colorado for the past 25 years, and was in Washington state before that.

 

The other thing I can't understand is how could it be possible to provide documentation that a car was manufactured to specifications that went into effect four years after it was built?

 

I was hoping that perhaps other owners of vintage Sevens might have some advise for me, (especially if they have managed to get their cars registered in CA.) 

 

Thanks in Advance,

Mitch

 

   

[m2711c]

Try going to a different office and see how it goes with a different officer. It is amazing how many different answers I get to the same questions asked at multiple locations. DMV roulette, I call it...

[TheDingo8MyBaby]

Hi Mitch,

 

I'm sorry to hear about the challenge you're having. 

 

This is a weird rule california has associated with importing 1968-1974 cars. https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/es/frequently-asked-questions?keywords=grey market. I think others have been trying to register out of state first and then later bring them in to avoid this issue. That may be why they've flagged you.

 

I agree your easiest course of action is to try to find someone else to do your inspection. There are tons of european and japanese cars purchased out of state all into this category (bmw 2002's, Porsche 911's, etc) and I have never heard of this issue coming up with them. It generally only comes up with imported cars. Hopefully you do not run into issue with the DMV either.

 

A few other ideas: 

-Find someone who offers registration services/vin inspections with the california DMV. These people generally have connections with DMV offices and can make things simple.  I reached out to a friend who has used the following companies (in Contra Costa): Teresa at 510 757 9029 or Nancy at nancysliensales.com 

-Do you have evidence that the car was originally sold in the US? That would make it clear that this isn't a grey market car.

-As a worst-case scenario, I have a friend that imported a 1972 MK1 ford escort. He was able to obtain a note from the CARB's lab stating that they are not able to test his car since it was a 1972 and they do not have the testing equipment available to test it. If you get to that point, let me know and I can try to find more information for you.

-You can probably find via google search of various forums others that have run into similar issues. I know I've seen similar threads for 1968-74 Porsches, Alfa's and BMW's, but generally these were for imported cars. 

 

 

 

[hrcrc45]

@m2711c, Thank You - I was thinking along those lines, but I was hesitant because I'm not sure now how many notes are transferred between branches, etc. I haven't reached back out to officer Castle, as clearly I need to be careful here. I believe they could do something along the lines of 'red tagging' the VIN, and it would be impossible to register from that point forward.

 

@TheDingo8MyBaby - Thanks so much for your response! I will reach out to the folks you have listed. On your other questions:

 

Unfortunately I don't have evidence that the car was originally sold in the US. That's where my mind went too, in that I didn't believe it was actually a gray market car to begin with. 

 

Fascinating on the note from CARB! Obviously I hope it doesn't come to that, but its nice to know there might be a Hail Mary option, when all others have been exhausted...

 

I can imagine there would be other folks with similar cars that have run into this bureaucratic trap, for sure! Reading your post, I realized I actually have an acquaintance that did a lot with Alfa's - I should reach out to him as well, just in case.

 

Thanks Again and Take Care,

Mitch

Edited August 3 by hrcrc45

[toldfield]

If it is not a Lotus you may be able to go through the SB-100 process and register it that way.  

[TSnuggs42069]

Is this the South Sac office?  Those guys make up their own rules.  It felt kinda like they were fishing for bribes.

[pethier]

On 8/1/2026 at 7:43 PM, hrcrc45 said:

Hi All,

 

I thought I might make a post here about some struggles I'm going through with a recent purchase of 1968 Lotus Seven,

 

On 8/1/2026 at 7:43 PM, hrcrc45 said:

 

I immediately made an appointment with CHP, and gave the officer all of the information. He then emailed back with the following:

 

Good afternoon,

I did some research, and your 1968 Lotus 7 from England does qualify as a Grey Market vehicle.

For Grey Market import vehicles 1968 to 1975, they need to have full USEPA compliance which has been in effect since 11/15/1972.

Your car is a model 1968 Lotus.  Here is something for you to check.  Technically the grey market does not begin with cars designated as model-year 1968.  The grey market does not apply to cars MANUFACTURED prior to January 1, 1968.

 

I was alive and paying attention when the federal safety law came in.  If your 1968 car was built in late 1967, it's not a grey market car.  After the law change, you were still allowed to import any car you wanted as long as it was built before January 1, 1968.

 

Sorry if I missed it, if this already having been addressed.

 

Also, that big law change had a loophole that excluded cars weighing less than 1000 pounds.  At the time, we were hoping Lotus dealers would stock versions of the Seven that would have made this bar.  It was this loophole that allowed Subaru 360 cars to be sold here in the USA.  I test-drove a brand-new Subaru 360 from a dealer in Minneapolis.  It was the worst new car I had been in, and may be the worst new car I have been in since.  White Bear Dodge got ahold of a batch of them and was selling them brand-new for 800 bucks, about half of what a VW bug costs.  An auto journalist wrote in the Minneapolis Star or Tribune (don't recall if it was the Star-Tribune yet) that I would be difficult to find an 800-dollar used car in the Twin Cities that would not be a better car than a new Subaru.  I swear the steering looked like it is was built out of curtain rods and cotter pins.

 

It was shortly after some member of Congress actually SAW a Subaru 360 that the 1000-pound loophole was closed. 

[hrcrc45]

Hi @pethier, Thank You, and that's a wild Subaru story!

That's a really interesting point, and something I have been trying hard to figure out, is the states exact definition of a grey market car. The catch, I'm afraid, is that I don't have a frame number I can take to John Watson, and hopefully have him link the chassis serial + frame number to any original factory documentation. Without that, I can't technically prove it was built in late 1967.  

[Slonie]

Is the car you purchased by any chance, the one Josh at RMC was selling? If so, have you told him about your situation? He might be able to provide more documentation. If not, then sorry I don't have anything to help you with, but I am sorry you're going through it.