Buying a car without a title, but how do I get one?

FYI, maybe ask independent vehicle registration businesses as well about your problem. I bought a car in CA that hadn't been registered in roughly 20 years and had changed hands multiple times from the last registered owner to me (so no way of tracking down last owner) and no title Tobe found. I spent about a month going to the DMV and each time the employee told me I had to do something different but none of them could really help me.
I went to a small business vehicle registration company (mom and pop type business) and they took a look at everything and said the DMV employees had no idea what they were doing and he had a title for it in about 2 weeks and it cost about $120 at the time to register it non-op. Once I'm ready to register he said I would need to buy new plates, and them pay the typical registration for that year and that's it. I couldn't be happier with the process after what I had dealt with.