What about those street rod kits that come with no VIN.....you know the fiberglass ones that we drool over......If you build one by this year it will titled as a 2009
This also depends on the state. In CA a certain # of these cars are allowed to be registered smog exempt as kit cars every year. The permits/registrations are usually all taken on the first day. But, if you know the system, or know someone that does, you can get a smog exempt title for it. I ran into a guy with a kit Cobra that had camped out at the DMV on whatever day it was and managed to be one of the X number of kit cars registered that year as some kind of special build allowing them exemption. I don't know much about it, just that it can be done.
Otherwise, they're registered as a 2009, and have to meet the smog rules of that model year.