[Brobrian]

I live in CA, and had exactly the same experience. It took a while. The first step was to get the CHP to install a vin plate on the door jam. Then head back to the DMV. Clear sailing after that.

In my case there was an additional step because the supervisor at the DMV didn't know the rules for old cars. She said that since mine was a pickup it had to be registered as a commercial vehicle and thus have a tare established. So, I had to go to the local dump and have them give me a tare certificate before the DMV would register the pickup. Shouldn't be an issue with coupes and sedans.

I have to agree with the post about using another agency rather that the DMV. My neighbor uses AAA. I'm not insure with them, but after getting the runaround from the DMV, I'll go another route next time.