Many years ago I bought an old dune buggy that was dead in someone's garage. He had taken it in trade for some work and never did anything to it. So, I bought it without a title. Somehow I figured out that the way to get it titled was to take it to the CHP. By appointment, they had a guy in a mechanic's jump suit get the vin off the car (I didn't even know where it was). I guess he checked to make sure it hadn't been reported as stolen. I sat there for about an hour while he checked it out. While I was sitting there I was thinking what if this thing had been stolen? So, I started trying to think who would bail me out of jail for grand theft auto. Finally, he came out and looking kind of mysterious, slowly told me that he couldn't find the vin in the system so we used that number to once again to register the vehicle. Whew! What a relief! I was covered in sweat and he must have heard my heart beating. Fixed that old thing up, drove it around for awhile and had fun with it, sold it and trippled my money! I was 19 years old. And I'm happy to say that while I've never made money on another vehicle, I have managed to stay out of jail.
