Getting a lost title

I'm kind of going through this with a car I OWNED & sold to a good friend 10 years ago & he lost the title. It's a 70 Road Runner I bought from the original owner, & had all the paperwork, including the title, transferred to me in the state of Pa. I had the title & gave it along with a bunch of paperwork that I got when I bought the car including the original window sticker, to my friend when I sold it to him. Because I never registered or insured the car, (I was in the process of doing some resto work on it) & I ended up getting a "Traumatic Brain injury" & sold the car because I wouldn't be able to work on it anymore. When I went to the tag place recently, they told me because I never registered the car, & after a certain number of years, the state of Pennsylvania puts the title in a different file & I will need "proof of ownership" to get another title for it! Ridiculous! I technically still own the car, but they are saying I need proof of ownership? The hoops I have to go through to get a title for (still technically) MY OWN CAR, that I don't even own any more. I hope my rambling makes some sense to you. It just PISSES ME OFF that I have to go through all of this.
Do the vermont title thing, and be done with it.