Yeah, states will have different laws. In North Carolina, they just need us to get it inspected to make sure it meets DOT safety standards and is equipped for road use. It's branded as a specially constructed vehicle with the year as the year of assembly, as it should be. It doesn't say specifically about emissions, but a daily driver should have emissions equipment, at least catalytic converters, IMO.
Eddie Hill (former drag racer) sells Atoms at his dealership in Wichita Falls: http://www.eddiehillsfuncycles.com/ They're apparently turnkey cars and apparently can be street licensed (he mentions he has a plate on his personal car.)
Ian F wrote: The simple answer is it varies greatly by state. Each DOT has their own rules regarding what you have to do to title and register a hot rod or home-built car. Most of this info can be found on your state's DOT website.
This^.
People complain all the time about California but it's one of the easiest places to get a one-off car registered thanks to "SB100." That's Senate Bill 100 which got passed maybe 10 years ago. Every year, 500 exemptions are made available for homebuilt cars. Tell the DMV what you're building, get the exemption number, and when you're done, safety and light inspection, pay the taxes on the parts, and presto. The best part is the (slightly odd) ways that it can get registered:
Why #1-2 are needed when there's #3 I don't know, but it works and I have my completely legal homebuilt on the street.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: I can't believe that SEMA hasn't taken this up at a National / Federal level and pushed for some kind of national standard for kits cars. The UK has very clearly defined rules for kits, home built and heavily modified cars or cars that have been imported that aren't sold in the UK such as Mustangs prior tot he new S550. They have to go through a thing called SVA (Single Vehicle Approval). It checks all the safety related stuff, legal compliance for lights, brakes tires, checks for sharp edges etc etc. Once issued you get a licence plate and you're good to go forever. We need something like that over here.
It's a nice thought, but you may as well ask each state to accept a universal Federal safety and emissions testing standards. While I believe that could happen some day, I'm not counting on it during my lifetime. Individual states rights is kind of big thing in the USA if you haven't noticed by now. 150 years ago, we fought a rather bloody war over it. The recent fracas in Texas should be a reminder of that. Keep in mind, there are varying systems of government in the US states. Some mimic the Federal system, others have different systems, often based on their original colonial charters.
Keith Tanner wrote: ... I know that MA (amongst others) has outlawed them due to the sheer number of shenanigans involved in getting plates for them across the country...
Not just that. The day before Christmas, a young Atom owner near here did himself in on a twisty road, bringing the wrong kind of attention to that car in particular. That said, they really aren't any worse than a high-end sportbikes, but they do get more attention, both good and bad.
In reply to kb58:
Kurt-
In CA does the car have to be a replica or "resemble" another car for SB100 to apply? Here in WA it does. If you build a "homemade car" which is defined as one that has been constructed from any combination of new, used, or homemade parts that does not resemble a vehicle that was manufactured under a specific year, make, and model by a manufacturer then it has to meed all current regulations including emissions and airbags.
Good thing Midlana "looks" like a Seven. 
kb58 wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: ... I know that MA (amongst others) has outlawed them due to the sheer number of shenanigans involved in getting plates for them across the country...Not just that. The day before Christmas, a young Atom owner near here did himself in on a twisty road, bringing the wrong kind of attention to that car in particular. That said, they really aren't any worse than a high-end sportbikes, but they do get more attention, both good and bad.
Where is here? What state? Of course, he wouldnt' have died doing the same thing in a hot rod, Miata, sports bike, 1965 MG or Geo Prizm would he!
bgkast wrote: In reply to kb58: Kurt- In CA does the car have to be a replica or "resemble" another car for SB100 to apply? Here in WA it does. If you build a "homemade car" which is defined as one that has been constructed from any combination of new, used, or homemade parts that does not resemble a vehicle that was manufactured under a specific year, make, and model by a manufacturer then it has to meed all current regulations including emissions and airbags. Good thing Midlana "looks" like a Seven.
IIRC, the car does not actually have to look like anything else in order to be registerable as a 1960 vehicle. The vehicle does have to be legitimately home-built, simply taking the motor out of a production car, shipping it to California, and then putting it back in doesn't count. SB100 is a common avenue used to try to register non-US legal cars, there have been a number of cases of things like GTR R32 and R33s getting registered that way, discovered, seized, and then crushed.
SB100 is limited to 500 cars per year, and it seems that there was enough pent-up demand when it first passed that all 500 would be gone by 10AM on January 2nd, so if you wanted one then you needed to have all your paperwork in order and camp out overnight outside the DMV. The last few years that hasn't happened, though, and there have been SB100 numbers available in November.
I have a Locost Seven that is registered under SB100. I bought it from the guy who built it, he did all the SB100 paperwork.
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