[Alan O'Connell]

I feel your pain. I've had difficulties with the DMV in Massachusetts both with my 1935 and 1936. I bought my 35 in 1997 and didn't know that I was supposed to pay the sales tax within 20 business days of buying the car. So when I went to the registry in 2011 all I had was a bill of sale and the paperwork from my insurance agent. I had to pay the sales tax as well as a penalty for not getting there within 20 business days. they charge a sales tax on the book value, not what you paid for the car. Luckily they couldn't find the book value so they let me pay the sales tax on what I paid for the car. Then the DMV agent handed me a paper and told me to get a police officer to verify the vin and sign the paper. I did that and went back to the registry. You never get the same person twice so I saw a new guy this time. He wanted to know why I bought the car in 1997 and had it for 14 years before registering it. I explained that it took me that long to restore it. He was skeptical. He told me to get a bond just in case I'm at a car show and somebody comes up to me and tells me that my car is actually his and it was stolen years ago. I went to my insurance agent and got a bond. The bond cost me $400. I went back to the registry a fourth time. Once again I got a different person. I handed her all my paper work. As she's going though everything she holds up the bond and says, "What's this for?" I explained why I got the bond. She said, "You don't need a bond!" and puts my paper work through.