1948 Jeep (CJ2A I believe) with bad title

[Pat Brown]

I bought a fair to poor condition 1948 several years ago from a man in Kentucky...I admit to being naive...vehicle has no
VIN plate...another person's name from Virginia is on title I was given...any suggestions beside junk it?

[gmwillys]

Welcome Pat Brown,

It isn't unusual to have this problem with a vintage Jeep. Often times a person will purchase a pile of parts with a title, then go on to sell when they lose interest on the project, without transferring the title from the previous owner. Depending on your states DMV rules and non operational status. I don't believe that I would junk it. Add some photos when you get a chance for us to get a better idea of what you are dealing with. If you are planning to go forward with the project the first thing I would do is to have your local Police or Sheriff department do a serial number check. They may or may not charge a small fee for the check. If the serial number comes up clean from the title, then order a new serial number tag from Kaisers or Ebay. You can have your local trophy shop engrave the serial number on the tag. This should satisfy your local DMV for title and registration. The included photo has a reproduction serial number tag that was engraved with the serial number.

[LarrBeard]

I bought a fair to poor condition 1948 several years ago from a man in Kentucky...I admit to being naive...vehicle has no
VIN plate...another person's name from Virginia is on title I was given...any suggestions beside junk it?

Don't junk it! You have a really good starting point that many folks don't have; you have a title and a VIN.

When I was trying to get my '48 2WD truck re-registered, it looked like I was going to need to see a judge to swear that it was my truck since 1965. But, once the DMV figured out that the truck sold for less than $5,000 new, they lost interest and I only had to pay a few dollars for not registering it for 35+ years.

You could just take your title to the DMV and ask what it takes to register the vehicle and go from there. Don't offer any more information than you are asked for - too much information confuses those folks some times.

And, remember the answer that worked for the former director of the FBI, "I don't recall ..." (who I bought it from, some guy in Kentucky or Virginia) .