Repost: You can get your title corrected

Note: Please scroll by if you have nothing of substance to add. It's OK that you don't care, but knowledge is never a waste of time.

Ford has never issued a single Title. That's a fact. Cars were sold to dealers that had low-paid clerks that filled out paperwork hour after hour, day after day, year after year. Each state had different requirements for titling a car. Some cars couldn't be titled in some states if they didn't meet State requirements. However, Federal laws required that only two things could not be removed or altered under penalty of law, and that's the metal tag often referred to as "maker's plate", "VIN tag" and properly referred to as a Patent Plate that shows the company or division of a company it came from. The other is the stamped serial numbers on the frame.

Not all companies have divisions, but Ford had many. Agriculture, Truck, Industrial, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Continental were all legal divisions of the Ford Motor Company in 1956 and all had their own hierarchy of management within FMC. Cross-selling with Lincoln and Mercury was common at dealerships, eventually becoming the Lincoln-Mercury Division. All of the Divisions had their own specific Patent Plate that clearly shows the division the product came from. This was a legal requirement of all carmakers.

When I got my car I knew it wasn't a Mercury, nor was it a Lincoln, but some clerk at a Lincoln dealer somewhere filled in "Lincoln" where it should have said Continental. I simply met with a branch manager of the local Secretary of State and showed them two photos of a Lincoln and a Continental Patent Plate and the change was authorized. They found it hard to argue when presented with simple facts. Seemingly, facts have less meaning these days. All you have to do is say the same thing three times before fable becomes truth. We should fight for truth at every corner we turn.

How can you argue with such physical and historical facts?

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...CQ&oe=63014976

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...dw&oe=6300357E

As a follow-on to Barry's comments, a little heads up on getting a title for an older car. My state, Connecticut, does not issue titles for cars that are over 25 years old. Many states no longer issue titles for older cars.

No title can become an issue when you try to sell your car out of state or out of the country. Some states will require you to jump over hoops to register a car from out of state without a title. Some overseas shippers will not accept a car for shipment without a title. I assume they are worried that the car is stolen.

I ran into this issue when I wanted to sell my CT Continental to a buyer in Australia. The shipper wanted a CT title or he wanted documentation proving the history of ownership back to the point where the car had a valid title.

To my surprise, when I contacted the CT DMV and explained the issue they told me about a non-advertised way to petition (and pay extra of course) that a title be issued. It required photos of the car, a VIN inspection, prior bills of sale, etc but I was able to get a modern title for a 1956 Continental.


Larry