The tickets have been bought...

Last night I bought our tickets for the flight down to San Antonio to pick up the car. I waited too long to buy the tickets so the cheap ones I was looking at on Southwest had doubled in price. Fortunately I was able to find relatively cheap tickets on American that will actually have us arriving an hour and a half earlier than we were planning on, but it comes at a price. We will have to be on the bus to the airport at 4:30AM, ouch!

Rules and Regulations

Chester, the person I am buying the Hornet from, is very concerned we get all of the details right. In the past when I have bought cars I paid, signed the title, drove the car home, and mailed in the title. My deal in TX is becoming a little more complex. In addition to signing over the title and getting a bill of sale I need to complete a Vehicle Transfer notification to release Chester of any liability before I get the title transferred. Second, I need to get a Vehicle Transit Permit to drive it home.

Here is what I dug up and shared with Chester to put him at ease.

#1 Vehicle Transfer Notification https://vision21.txdot.gov/Vehicle/MainTransferNotification.aspx
This form is something that we complete at the time of sale in addition to the tile and bill of sale. Once completed and mailed to the address on the form it transfers liability to me from Chester for the car. The form is designed to be printed and mailed by the seller. I can bring duplicate forms with me with most of the information and a stamped addressed envelope.

#2 Vehicle Transit Permit https://vision21.txdot.gov/Vehicle/VehicleLookupForPermit.aspx
This step is what I need to do to legally drive the car after Chester takes the plates. It is an online form that needs the VIN to generate a printable Vehicle Transit Permit.

An adventure: From TX to MN in a 52 Hornet

I have spoken with the owner and agreed to buy the car. The plan is to fly down to TX and drive it back to MN. It is not much to look at inside but it is a solid car, with Twin-H power ;)

An unexpected call from TX

Russel Chilton sent me an e-mail letting me know that he knew of a 52 Hudson Hornet available in TX. I called the owner and Russel kindly took pictures of the car.

In the begining

In the beginning I wanted a classic car, more specifically a 51-54 Hudson Hornet Sedan. I looked and looked and found either extremely high priced cars or cars that were rotten. I finally decided to cut my teeth on a 1954 Buick Century. It was a good looking and sturdy car. The plan was to enjoy the Buick and learn skills on maintain a classic while taking my time to find the right Hudson.