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>    Well, many thanks to all who responded, you guys have come through
> again, but I still need some more help.  I’ve talked to a number of
> people here in PA and have gotten several different suggestions.  One
> notary public said I could try to get the garage owner the title as the
> car had been apparently abandoned.  Another said that I should just
> apply for a duplicate title, wait till it comes, give the garage guy a
> few bucks, and "try to make it look as legal as possible."  I didn’t
> like this idea, I had visions of the rightful owner crawling out of the
> woodwork after I’d already fixed up the car and legally kicking my ass.
> Both agreed I should go to Harrisburg and try to find the last
> registration so as to know where to find the owner. I’ve already found
> one from 1982 in the glovebox, if everyone’s telling me the truth,
> that’s the latest one and she’s no longer at that address.  I’m going to
> go ahead and go through H’burg, but what do I do after that?  Anybody
> familiar with the way the state of PA works?  I just got off the phone
> with the DMV and they were absolutely no help at all.  The nice lady
> told me I would "probably have to go to court and have them award me the
> title."  HELP!  I really want this car!
>     For those who missed the beginnings of this thread, I found a really
> nice car parked in the back of a gas station and went to investigate.
> Apparently it’s been parked there for years, but the owner of the
> station is hesitant to sell it because it’s not his.  Since then I’ve
> been trying to do a little research into how to find the owner or else
> convince this guy he can legally sell it to me without her.

>         Special thanks to everyone who posted and also these nice people
> who wrote to me personally, and anyone I might have missed:

>                    /PN=BARTON.J.MILBURN/O=A…@sprint.com
>                    CERTIFIED MAIL <DATTA…@VAX1.UMKC.EDU>
>                    copl…@gvsu.edu (1664)
>                    ACSSYS…@ACS.EKU.EDU
>                    tim….@jntsea.gsfc.nasa.gov (Tim Atwell)
>                    Michael C Voorhis <mvoor…@WPI.EDU>

> Nate

> PS- the car is a ’62 Olds Starfire, a neat little 4-seater hardtop.
> It’s got all the hipo shit (except it has a 3-spd auto ).  It’s
> totally thrashed, but I’d still like to try…  Anyone with any info on
> what goes bad on these cars and things I should watch for, please let me
> know.  Also, the tranny shift pattern is P-N-D-S-L-R.  What tranny is
> this?  Is it as reliable as, say, a THM-350?  Could I swap in a THM-350
> (which I have) without changing the crossmember or driveshaft?  I know
> all about bolt patterns, I have one for each.   And yes, I know it’s
> ugly, but I like it anyway.  And the old jet-fighter cockpit is cool.

> PPS- if I actually do get this car, I’ll be selling my ’49 (Chevy).  I’d
> like to keep the motor/tranny, but there’s a body w/ good frame, lots of
> extra parts (most need painting/plating, though), ’55 rearend, disc
> brakes, etc.  If you’re interested, let me know.

You can give the garage owner whatever money will be required for him to file
a mechanic’s lien to take ownership of the vehicle, and then purchase the
vehicle from him. The mechanic’s lien is the legal mechanism throughwhich
mechanics can avoid losing money "storing" a vehicle on which they performed
work while the titled owner "locates" the money they knew would be required
from the onset of the repair/restoration job. The quotation marks are
intentional on my part. This procedure may or may not be what the DMV
bureaucrat had in mind with her response. However, this way does not require
retaining an attorney – probably will require paying for the services of a
notary public.
Regards,                        Bri

>PS- the car is a ’62 Olds Starfire, a neat little 4-seater hardtop.
>It’s got all the hipo shit (except it has a 3-spd auto ).  It’s
>totally thrashed, but I’d still like to try…  Anyone with any info on
>what goes bad on these cars and things I should watch for, please let me
>know.  Also, the tranny shift pattern is P-N-D-S-L-R.  What tranny is
>this?  Is it as reliable as, say, a THM-350?  Could I swap in a THM-350
>(which I have) without changing the crossmember or driveshaft?  I know
>all about bolt patterns, I have one for each.   And yes, I know it’s
>ugly, but I like it anyway.  And the old jet-fighter cockpit is cool.

Good afternoon: A good friend of mine had two 62 Starfire’s, and both were nice
though boulevard-like in the handling department.  I believe all came with 394
325-345(?)hp, emblazoned with ULTRA HIGH COMPRESSION on the air cleaner.  Many
(all?) had leather interiors and all(?) were Hydro equipped.  The shift pattern
for forward gears is drive, super and low.  I remember low as having two speeds
but may be confusing this with Ron’s 60 98 convert.  The tranny is a super-smoo
th shifter but is no racing tranny.  The shifts take forever.  It is two
decades shy of technology compared to the THM.  It was fast (to us) but no
match, we found out, as we went up against a 65 Bonne w/421 w/3-2′s.  Wow.  
Now there was a gaudy car, red w/white vinyl top, chrome from mid-door down,
but the 421 made up for it.  Ron’s "fire" was black w/oxblood leather.  I liked
it!!!  Good luck if you do get it.  I haven’t seen one in years.  Am Dennis
Johnson, Vermillion, South Dakota, aka DWJOH…@charlie.usd.edu                    

        I’m going through the same thing with the RD350 in my .sig right now.
You have to make an attempt to contact the owner of record.  You can get a
trace on the VIN from Harrisburg that will net you a dump of whatever info
they have on the vehicle, including if it was reported stolen, the last
legal owner (including mailing address), the last plate it was registered
with, if there’s a lien against it, etc.

        Send the owner of record a letter by registered mail.  If you do not
get a reply in some arbitrary period (30 days seems reasonable, include it
in your letter), then you have to go to court and show that you tried to
contact the owner, but failed.  You can then get a court order to get the
title.

        In my case, I got hold of the owner and he’s very cooperative, but
I lost the forms I need.  :-(.  I need a MV-38.  Amounts to driving over the
border and getting one.  I should get off my lazy duff and do it.

        Form MV-38 gets a replacement title, which then gets assigned to you
if you found the original owner.  There are lots of complications if the
owner died as to who has ownership of the car, but hopefully you won’t have
to worry about them.

–
Chris BeHanna  DoD# 114  KotSTA   Ed Green         1975 CB360T – Baby Bike
beha…@syl.nj.nec.com            Fan Club #004    1991 ZX-11 – needs a name
kore ha en-ii-shi no iken dewa arimasen.           1973 RD350A
I was raised by a pack of wild corn dogs.          1987 EX500 – the RaceBike