The Tragedy of Section 462

[JOE FULTON <piper_pa20@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Section 462 of the CA Vehicle Code requires that a car
which was ordered to be towed by a law enforcement
agency and has low value, be sent directly for
dismantling.   That is if the car cannot be directly
tied to it's present owner or the present owner
doesn't respond to the towing notice.  There is a
loophole which I'll explain in a minute.

There are three cars in a local junkyard which came
from the Santa Cruz, CA area pursuant to Section 462. 
It's sad.

I have been negotiating for these cars since before my
vacation in November.  I had seen them in the stock
lot and asked about them.  The potential loophole is
that if  a car is eligible for historic plates, the
yard does not have to dismantle the car but can sell
it whole.  I pointed this out to the yard manager and
was hoping to be able to buy at least one of the cars
when I returned earlier this month.  The yard manager
gave my proposal to the yard owner and I was turned
down.  The tragedy is that all these cars must be
dismantled.

The yard is making arrangements for me to begin on the
64 Rambler 440 hardtop this Monday.  As it stands they
proposed that I cut the car into three pieces and take
all but the dash/cowl area. I will propose that I cut
off the passenger side inner wheel well with VIN (or
just the VIN tag) and take the remainder of the car.
If they don't accept that proposal, I will have to
dismantle the car because I can't handle the front or
rear as one piece.  I could however, load a "roller"
car onto my car trailer.

We'll see how it comes out.

At any rate, I plan to have most of the parts from
these three cars in the next couple of weeks:

1964 Rambler American 440 hardtop
1963 Rambler Classic 550 (six auto with air)
1964 Rambler Ambassador (V8/auto)  Gwen I'll check for
the trunk mat.  I haven't forgotten.

I plan to use the entire interior and possibly the 440
engine on a 1963 330 2-door I have in storage (again,
if I am forced to dismantle the 440).  

If anyone needs any other parts from these cars,
please send me a personal email and I'll put you on
the list.  

Regards,
Joe Fulton
Salinas, CA