NBC 10 I-Team: Red tape prevents Rhode Island man from legally driving antique replica
CRANSTON, R.I. (WJAR) — A Cranston man is at a loss after he spent tens of thousands of dollars on a replica of an antique car that can’t be legally driven in Rhode Island due to a vague law enacted one decade ago.
Chris Landolfi purchased a replica of a 1932 Ford Roadster in 2020 through a consignment dealership in Minnesota.
“I saw it online, I spoke to the salesman, told him where I lived. He said it was registered and inspected in Kansas, so we made the arrangements to purchase it,” Landolfi said.
Little did he know at the time the laws in Kansas are very different than the laws in Rhode Island.
The car was built in 2019 to duplicate the original 1932 version, which means no fenders.
Fenders wouldn’t be an issue if the car was built in 1932, but since it wasn’t, the state of Rhode Island refuses to register it.
“If it was titled a ‘32, I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you,” Landolfi said.
Landolfi said the Division of Motor Vehicles didn’t tell him fenders would be an issue until he paid the state sales tax and made $10,000 worth of other safety changes, including adding windshield wipers and an emergency brake.
About $60,000 later, he learned his new car would have to remain in park.
“I explained to the chief inspector that a ‘32 Ford originally never came with fenders,” Landolfi said. “He had me do some research, I sent him an email on it, he said he would make a decision that was a year ago and I haven’t heard anything back.”
According to a state law in Rhode Island, all vehicles in Rhode Island must have fenders, but the I-Team discovered that vague law has some gray areas.
Peter Sacchetti is the owner of Sacchetti Classic Auto Insurance in Warwick.
“This is the first time in 30 years that I’ve come across this issue,” he said.
Sacchetti insures Chris's car along with dozens of antiques across the state, about two dozen of which don’t have fenders yet can legally be driven in Rhode Island.
The I-Team took the issue to the Division of Motor Vehicles.
“The law requires all cars to have fenders,” spokesman Paul Grimaldi said.
When asked why there are currently cars on the roads without fenders, Grimaldi responded, “That depends on whether the car qualifies as an antique. If it’s a 1925 Ford that didn’t come with fenders at the beginning, it wouldn’t be required to have fenders now.”
However, that isn’t specified anywhere in the language of the law, which reads:
“No person shall operate any motor vehicle on any public highway of this state unless the vehicle is equipped with fenders covering the front wheels of the motor vehicle, or operate any passenger motor vehicle on any public highway equipped with tires which extend beyond the fenders or body of the vehicle unless it is also equipped with flaps or suitable guards to reduce spray or splash to the rear and sides. Violations of this section are subject to fines enumerated in 31-41.1-4.”
We asked Grimaldi whether that law needs to change.
“The language in laws is not always all inclusive and sometimes it takes issues to crop up for legislators and agencies to understand that oh, there’s something that’s not clear,” he said.
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Under the state’s interpretation of the law, that also means if Landolfi purchased the same exact car it wouldn’t need fenders, as long as it was built decades earlier.
“I don’t understand how they can use that law when if this car was titled a ‘32, I would be able to register it with open wheels,” Landolfi said.
Grimaldi calls it a matter of safety.
“It’s pretty simple that you don’t want rocks and gravel and pieces of metal being kicked up from your tires and either hitting the driver or passenger in an open vehicle or smashing somebody else’s windshield,” he said.
For Landolfi, it's unnecessary red tape that could force him to put this prized possession back on the market.
“I really don’t know what choice I have other than to put the car back up for sale, I mean that’s really where I’m at," he said.
Fenders would cost an additional $10,000.
“It wouldn’t be worth my money and my investment to do that because I can’t turn around and sell this for 70 (thousand dollars),” Landolfi said.
Because the Minnesota dealership reportedly never warned him registration could be an issue, Landolfi hopes his story can help other antique car lovers in Rhode Island avoid similar mistakes.
“I really don’t think that they did any of that research,” he said. “All they did say to me was that it was registered and inspected in the state of Kansas. Obviously, Kansas has different rules than Rhode Island does.”
I contacted the dealership, which denied they never warned him about potential registration issues, then backtracked and said they couldn’t possibly know the laws in all 50 states.
Meanwhile, the direct salesman told me his attorney advised him not to comment.