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Welcome to new members!!!

New member of the 4c's has a youtube channel about traveling around the country to some of the older salvage yards. He meets the people and gets the story of how they run them. Its worth checking out. https://www.youtube.com/c/dennysalvage

Titles for Collector Cars

So Where Are We on ObtainingTitles For Collector Cars??

The Department of Motor Vehicles has a regulationfor issuing titles for our collector cars. That regulation has not been updated to reflect the change made to the State Statutes via Public Act 14-130 which changed the requirement that model year 1981 and older vehicles don’t need titles to vehicles 20years old and older don’t need titles. The current DMV regulation has a couple of provisions in it that make it prohibitive to obtain a title for our collector cars. We believe these provisions are unnecessary and will be looking to work with DMV to change their regulation. The two main problems we see with the current DMV regulation is that if we don’t have a valid out-of-state title for our collectorcar we will need to post a surety bond for our cars inaccordance with Section 14-176 of the state statutes.The process to post a surety bond is cumbersome, cost-prohibitive, and discourages us from obtaining titles for our vehicles. We feel that this provision should not be necessary if our collector vehicle has been registered in the State of Connecticut for a reasonable period of time (say 3 to 5 years). We would like the need to post a bond to be waived if that is the case. The second provision we have difficulty with is the requirement to submit a sworn statement that the vehicle has been maintained or restored to a condition that substantially conforms with the original manufacturer’s specification. We believe we should be able to obtain a title for our motor vehicles,regardless of whether they have modifications. I am drafting a letter to the DMV to request them to revise their regulation to make it easier for auto hobbyists to obtain titles for their motor vehicles, and offer to discuss the issue with them. While our past efforts have not been successful, it is worthy of further pursuit. 

Connecticut Created Cars

Avon Resident Writes Book about Connecticut's Automobile History

Paul Pellerin, an Avon resident of 30 years and lifelong Connecticut resident,has written his first book about Connecticut's car history, in recognition of the 25th Silver Anniversary of the Connecticut Council of Car Clubs and New England Air Museum.

By Colleen Finnegan | Email the author |Patch.com February 26, 2011

Paul Pellerin's book, Connecticut Created Cars Credit Paul Pellerin  

To order this book contact Paul at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

It took Avon resident Paul Pellerin about three years to complete his first book, and now Connecticut Created Cars is published and available to the public.

He spent the first two years doing research, ultimately discovering 184 different automobiles manufactured throughout the state.

"Most people are amazed when you tell them how many cars were built in Connecticut," Pellerin said. "There’s maybe 41 built in Hartford and 21 in Bridgeport."

Pellerin, an Avon resident of 30 years and lifelong Connecticut resident, wrote Connecticut Created Cars, in recognition of the 25th Silver Anniversary of the Connecticut Council of Car Clubs, or 4Cs, and New England Air Museum Car Show & Aircraft Exhibit, which will be held on the first Sunday in June.

Pellerin's book provides a brief history of the 4Cs, a detailed list of automobiles created in Connecticut, sorted by city with over 90 accompanying illustrations, and information on major car shows and cruise nights throughout the state.

Daniel Nichols, a Connecticut Automobile Artist, provided the illustrations.

Read more: Connecticut Created Cars

Legislative Report

February 2020 Legislative Report

The 2021 Legislative Session began on January 6th and will run through June 7th. The Legislative Office Building remains closed to the public. As I understand it, public meetings with be held virtually. In preparation for this upcoming session, we are retaining the services of Hughes and Cronin Public Affairs Strategies to monitor legislation related to the antique auto hobby, as we have done in previous sessions. In this monitoring capacity, Hughes and Cronin informs us of the pending legislation. We report to you on any legislation potentially impacting the hobby, and ask you to contact your legislators and help get favorable legislation passed, and unfavorable legislation defeated (i.e., a "grass roots" approach).

At the present time, we are not aware of any legislation planned to be introduced in the 2021 Legislative Session that will adversely impact the antique auto hobby. The table included in this newsletter summarizes the current status of bills related to the hobby and other transportation related matters of interest that have been introduced in the legislative session to date (January 22, 2021).

Senate Bill 159:
In this table I have identified one bill that pertains to the hobby. Senate Bill 159 “AN ACT REDEFINING "ANTIQUE, RARE OR SPECIAL INTEREST MOTOR VEHICLE" TO INCLUDE A REPLICA VEHICLE” proposes to promote the interests of automobile collectors and enthusiasts. Specifically, Senate Bill 159 proposes: “That subdivision (3) of section 14-1 of the general statutes be amended to redefine "antique, rare or special interest motor vehicle" to include a replica vehicle, as defined in the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act of 2015, P. L. 114-94. On the Federal level, Section 24405 of Public Law 114-94 “Fixing  America’s Surface Transportation Act” concerns the treatment of low-volume manufacturers and defines a replica motor vehicle.
REPLICA MOTOR VEHICLE —The term ‘replica motor vehicle’ means a motor vehicle produced by a low-volume manufacturer and that—
‘‘(i) is intended to resemble the body of another motor vehicle that was manufactured not less than 25 years before the manufacture of the replica motor vehicle; and ‘‘(ii) is manufactured under a license for the product configuration, trade dress, trademark, or patent, for the motor vehicle that is intended to be replicated from the original manufacturer, its successors or
assignees, or current owner of such product configuration, trade dress, trademark, or patent rights.

Included in this newsletter (as in previous newsletters) are the Connecticut Statutes that we are looking to protect. As you can see, the current Connecticut Statutes do not use the term replica motor vehicle. As I understand it (recognizing I do not have direct
experience in this matter), the Statutes use the term composite motor vehicle which encompasses vehicles meeting the replica motor vehicle definition above as well as vehicles created by individual hobbyists. I understand that a replica motor vehicle is registered in CT by DMV as a composite motor vehicle. The statutes do not currently define a composite motor vehicle but do use the term. The current statutes have separate definitions for Antique, rare or special interest motor vehicles and modified antique motor vehicles. Based on this, including the definition of a replica motor vehicle as a subpart in the definition of an antique, rare or special interest motor vehicle as opposed to a separate definition of a replica (or composite?) motor vehicle would appear difficult to defend. Also, including the definition of a replica motor vehicle as a subpart in the definition of an antique, rare or special interest motor vehicle could lead to unintended consequences. An example may be the emissions testing requirements.
Currently motor vehicles old 25 years old an older, and composite vehicles are not subject to emissions testing. Would the replica motor vehicle be subject to emissions testing? (If DMV registers the replica vehicle as the year it most closely resembles, then
perhaps not. But with no experience in this area of the hobby, I cannot say if DMV actually identifies the composite vehicle as the model year it most closely resembles on the registration form.) I believe the underlying desire of this bill is to ensure
DMV will issue Classic Vehicle plates (the special number plates under Section 14-20) and then have the maximum $500 property tax limit

[Section 12-71(b)]
applied to the vehicle. I understand DMV currently is not willing to issue classic motor vehicle plates to composite motor vehicles.
Perhaps it would be better if we request Section 14-20 to include composite (replica) motor vehicles, and then include a separate definition of the composite (replica) motor vehicle in Section 14-1.To be successful, this may include discussions with DMV to understand why they are unwilling to issue classic motor vehicle plates to composite vehicles After having this bill introduced, the hobbyist, who is a constituent of Senator Lesser, has been in contact with the 4C’s asking for our support. In the absence of 4C’s Business Meetings due to the pandemic, the 4C’s board is discussing what position we should take on this bill. If you have any feedback you would like to share on this proposed bill, feel free to email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Other issues:
Regarding titles for our antique motor vehicles, we will suspend any contact with DMV until after the pandemic passes. As always, we will remain vigilant, and do our best to immediately report to you on any legislation impacting the antique auto hobby. Stay safe in these unprecedented times.