Hopefully the chiropractor will be able to straighten her up ??

I would say it would much cheaper to find one here in California. Any cars from 1967 and earlier are relatively easy to title and register as the safety and smog requirements do not apply to them. Cars made in 1968 and later that were available here in those years are also relatively easy to title and register. Any car that was made in 1968 or later that was not available new here become more difficult to title and register. They are supposed to conform to Federal safety and smog requirements and certificates of that are required by the state... usually. It gets really confused depending on which DMV office you go to. I'm sure many others on this board will chime in with how it can be done. But, unless you have a restored car that you can drive around and enjoy right now, it's most likely going to much easier and cheaper to find a good Mini here that is already titled in state and you can drive it home. I'd recommend buying a restored 1959 to 1967 Mini to be totally safe. They are availble, just bring money.

Car is registered in Quebec Canada and in her name. She moved to California and now wants to bring her Mini... I don't think it's worth transporting and getting it into road worthy shape will cost her a fortune.

If it already has a US title, I would say go ahead and bring it to CA. If it does NOT yet have a US title, it has the potential to cause some headaches. That's not to say that it cannot be registered with a non-US title. Just saying that there may be a few more steps involved including scheduling with CHP a vehicle / VIN inspection and you could be asked to provide evidence of US EPA compliance for the year of manufacture.

Anything 1968-1975 coming into the US via California as it's FIRST location to seek American "citizenship" has been known to POTENTIALLY be put up to California Air Resources Board regulations, which are more strict than Federal EPA requirements. It's not a guarantee, but it has the potential.

A 1968-1975 car coming into California that already has US "citizenship" in the form of a title from another state seems to be pretty ok. If you run into a headache at one DMV, just leave and go to a different DMV. My armchair advice is the first thing you want to get is a VIN verification before you even go inside and get any numbers punched into any electronic "system".

Hi, a former Montrealer now living in California would like to send her Mini to California and license it. It has been sitting outside on a dirt surface for 10 years. I am pretty sure that California laws prohibit her from legally licensing the car in California. Before she pays crazy money to transport it across the country  can someone please confirm the legalities. Thanks