[1qwikbird]

I have initiated the process with the NJ Motor Vehicle Commision to apply for Collector Status for my 1999 Firebird. (No laughing...) In NJ there are 2 types of antique/collector status. The first is the Historic or QQ tags. Car must be over 25yrs old, with heavy restrictions on when, where you drive.

The second is Collector tags for which the car must be at least 10yrs old but not greater than 25yrs old and you are limited to 3,000 miles annually, but you can drive anywhere, anytime. You then get to skip going through State Inspection (still responsible for self-inspection), but have to provide a letter from a car club or the vehicle manufacturer stating the vehicle has some element of collectibility (is that even a word?) or low production totals. So I call Pontiac and ask them to put together a letter with production numbers based on my VIN. Surprisingly, I got a nice letter from them (after a couple of tries) breaking down the #'s for my car based on engine and tranny. Turns out my car is pretty "rare" (not collectible rare, but not many made type rare). So I'm feeling pretty good about satisfying the NJ MVC requirement, but now I have to secure some type of collector insurance and this is where I am worried. I have no problem meeting the annual mileage requirement and can store the car in my garage, so none of that is a problem.

My hang-up is they all seem to mention racing. Now the only "racing" I do is autox events (SCCA mostly). My car is stock appearing from the outside, but I do have a 4pt bolt in bar, primarily to support the Kirkey Intermediate RR seats. How do I best handle this situation? I have no expectations of coverage while participating in an autox event. Anyone have experience dealing with this? I'd prefer to not lie on the application (that's grounds for fraud). Is autox seen as racing? One of the applications I have seen on line doesn't use the word racing, but instead uses "timed event"?

My main motivation for this is to save a few $, get better coverage (with an a stated value) and skip the whole state inspection crap (in NJ what a PITA it is). This year I failed for a gas cap????? I don't drive the car on a daily basis, don't drive it during the winter months (mid Nov to mid March) so it's not a big deal to comply, except the whole "racing" issue and when they ask for pictures and see the roll-bar......

Anyone been through this in NJ or other states?

Thanks
Chris

[1qwikbird]

You might want to check with Grundy. They'll insure anything of any year as long as it isn't your daily driver, stays in a locked garage on your property. If you're taking it away for the weekend, as long as you call them and let them know, you're covered. My '69 Chevy C-10 is insured with them for 10,000, ( or 12,000, I forget), and it costs about 170.00 a year to cover it.

Last I talked to Grundy they won't insure anything with a bar or cage in it and they require pictures of the car. Unless something has changed that leaves Chris out.

-Tim

Here is what I discovered in talking to a few of the big name players in the Collector/Classic Insurance industry:

Grundy asks is the car used for racing or rally events. I answered YES.....and was promptly denied an application. They say they do not offer insurance for any car that is used in a timed or on track event. They also don't like to see roll bars, which the car has. Elitist snobs, they just about hung up the phone on me.

Haggerty wanted the car to be at least 10 years old to qualify as a what they call a "modern" classic. They did not have a problem with the car being raced (which was promising), but they require that the daily driver vehicle be less than 5 years old when insuring a "modern" classic. Unfortunately my 1997 Dodge Ram (Cummins Powered) doesn't meet that requirement. I tried to talk my way around it, but to no avail. Very nice people to talk to, I just didn't meet the criteria.

Barrett-Jackson didn't ask about racing at all (so I didn't volunteer) and told me they would get back to me in a couple days with a quote. Well a couple days later they got back and said "through various internet sources" it has been determined that the car is currently or has in the past been raced and therefore we cannot offer you a policy at this time. This kind of caught me off guard a little bit. I am sure my name is posted on lots of autox results lists and that is where they sourced it from. Still kinda shocked me. I am an SCCA member, and autox is not W2W and generally below 60-65mph....oh well.

Heacock Classic didn't ask about racing, but I brought it up on purpose. They said no problem. I said the car has a roll bar. They said no problem. I asked both questions a second time just to be sure and no problem. They claim to understand that performance cars are meant to be occassionally driven hard in a controlled atmosphere. They also said that there is no coverage in effect while I am at a racing event as a registered participant and the vehicle is moving under its own power. So if I am motoring through the pits and get T-boned, too bad. If I am pushing the car or towing the car through the pits and get T-boned, they cut the check. So that sounded good enough for me, as I never expected coverage while participating in an autox or at the track. Of course while on public roads I have full coverage. So for $250 a year with full coverage and a $10k agreed upon value I am good to go.

Nothing earth shattering, but just tidbits of info for those that might be in a similar situation. Also, remember that the internet and google can be a double edged sword. Careful what you post on youtube, what shows up on results lists if you are campaigning a street driven car in a race series or event. Lots of information is out there and apparently everyone is watching.

Chris

This post has been edited by 1qwikbird: Jan 27 2010, 02:09 AM