Historical license plates in California.

Are there any restrictions on their use ? Are the fees significantly less then regular Ca. Plates ?

 

@ CA. DMV WEBSITE "Issued to a motor vehicle manufactured after 1922, which is at least 25 years old and of historic interest. Vehicle may only be driven in historical exhibitions,parades or historic vehicle club activities."
Now the good part the original fee is $ 25.00 or to substitute for other plates $ 17.00
I assume the Ferrari Club of America would constitute a historical vehical club. I have seen a lot of these plates in use,
Does anyone have any experince with being stopped by Police etc.with these on the car ?
$ 25.00 fee would save a fortune over the normal plate fee.

 

I wonder why there's a restriction on use in California.

Here in Florida you can use year of manufacture (YOM) plates on you old car (not sure of the date cut-offs, but I think it's 25 years old, built before 1984) without restriction as to use. I have one on my 330GTC. The plate must have been issued by Florida DMV in the YOM of the vehicle, must be serviceable, and cannot be a reproduction or restored (who knew the bureaucrats were into authenticity?).

 

I don't live in Ca. but here in Montana I have 4 cars with vintage plates. I have never yet been stopped and I use my 66 Jaguar just about every day over the Summer, but for short trips only. I love a one time 15.00 fee.

 

Par for the course!

 

These days the plate fees are almost wholly usurped by the astronomical registration fees required to drive a car in CA. I've personally never liked the look of historical plates on anything other than a pre-war car. To me they seem too old fashioned - more suitable for a Model-T than a sports car.

Turning the tables a little, if you can find an original plate issued in the year of your car, my understanding is that you can now use it to register your vintage Ferrari. This would be the most expensive option for obtaining plates (as you generally have to buy the plates on eBay prior to paying the DMV fees), but offer a far better look than a historical vehicle plate, IMHO.

Text of vehicle code: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc5004_1.htm

 

We can use YOM plates on cars in CA, but I think it applies to early 1960s and older cars. Obviously check the DMV site. I have a 1950s Porsche in restoration now, and the restorer regularly buys YOM plates for the cars he does.

I agree.

But YOM plates a nice finishing touch and look great, IMHO.

 

(unverified)
I was told by an acquaintance that he was able to obtain CA historic plates for his boxer. A car that never had a BAR sticker and therefore no other way to register here in CA.

 

Just clarifying for the future: PLATES, plural. You need originals. thats why a pair cost so much. On the first day of this law, the prices of pairs on ebay quadrupled immediately.

The good news: If your car is from 1945-46, you only need one plate because of saving steel for the war effort.

 

I realize this is an old post but....

I'm currently trying to register my vehicle with vintage plates. This is in Montana -- The state (where you would get the vintage plates) told me initially that they are not meant for general use but rather to drive to/from car shows. The county (where they issue the general plates) told me they are absolutely *not* for street use and I have to get regular plates...

Did anybody run into any issues since last post on the thread?

Could there be any insurance problems with these plates, i.e. if you had vintage plates and were not really supposed to drive the vehicle could they deny the insurance in case of an accident?

Thanks.

 

Laws vary widely by state. Here in California, "historical plates" (NOT the same as Year of Manufacture AKA YOM plates) have fairly restricted use and heavy fines if you violate the usage restrictions and a cop decides to call you on it. In theory the usage restrictions are shows and parades only. Such plates are modern issue, just in a series different from normal plates. The reason you might want to use historical plates is that the registration fees are fixed and fairly low, especially if you're comparing to standard registration of an expensive car.

In California, YOM plates can be used on cars whose year of manufacture was no later than 1969. YOM plates have no usage restrictions, but registration is more expensive, you need to find a set of original plates from your car's year of manufacture, and those plates cannot be in current use. While in theory you are not allowed to restore such plates, in my experience the DMV doesn't care as long as the plates are correct, not in use, and they get their fees.

 

Exotic30,
I don't think there is any real advantage to registering with a Montana historic plate. As I recall you save a few $$'s. Better option is to register with a Montana "Permanent" plate which is available for any vehicle more than 10 years old. It requires an initial payment of 2x or 3x(?) the first year's registration (still minimal) and then you never deal with them again.
For ever!

 

Thanks everybody -- I was thinking of the Vintage/Antique plates as they are defined:

https://doj.mt.gov/driving/license-plates/

How is insurance affected by driving (minimally) on these types plates? Are they linked together and would it be possible that if 'driving to the show' on these plates if the car got hit the insurance may deny it saying it's not registered for the road?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

They normally want less than 500 miles a year and thats how they track you

 

My insurance rate with the two different companies I am insured with, both state my cars are limited use, garage kept, and under 1000 miles a year. I have no problem with that mileage. I'm closer to 100 to 200 miles a year on these cars.

 

I use California Historical Plates without any issues. I also have 2 other vehicles registered and tagged with out of state plates in my company name in another state.

Don't believe all of the high fines and scare tactics...at least not until you have too.

Until the California government pulls it's head out of it's ass, I will continue to do what is necessary to not be abused by their unfair vehicle laws.

I would rather pay an attorney and fight these tools than give in to their greed and stupidity.