First let me acknowledge that we are talking about automotive license plates here, not some painted ceramic wall hanging by Franklin Mint. We are also not talking about “vanity” license plates, which had their day but now seem passe. Collector plates vary from state to state, but are usually available for cars and trucks between 20 and 30 years old. Said collector cars may not be used for “regular transportation in the manner of a fully licensed vehicle.” And once the plates are in place, there are no tabs (renewal stickers) ever.
In Washington state, your vehicle must be over 30 years old, have a current registration, and be capable of operating on the highway. It must be owned and operated as a collector vehicle, and may only be driven “to and from auto shows, circuses, parades, displays, special excursions, and antique car club meetings.” This all seems rife for abuse, but who am I to judge? I just like old cars. So, let’s check out some more collector plates (and the vehicles they’re attached to).
It looks like this Cutlass was sold by Cornell GM, a Chevy Olds Cadillac dealer in Victoria, B.C. Canada. How this car survived so well on Vancouver Island is a mystery. This example of a 4-gen Cutlass Supreme went through a few more changes before GM could finally say “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile” (1988). But this was definitely someone’s father’s Olds. Nice job, eh!
This Dodge Ram 250 is probably an ’86 or ’87, so it’s plenty old enough for collector plates. But this truck isn’t heading to the circus.
With its headache rack and makeshift sideboards, I’d say this collector truck is heading to the dump, not a parade.
Or maybe, with the matte-black hood and front-mounted spare, this rig is getting ready for the AlCan 5000. No, I mean Gambler 500.
Let’s sneak in at least one import model collector car. This ’87 or ’88 Volkswagen Fox wagon looks like a fun, practical rig for VW car meets.
This little Fox still has its original front plate, which must not be a problem as long as there’s a collector plate in back. It’s still a cool car and that’s all that counts here.
In Washington, restored plates may be displayed on the front and rear of the vehicle. They must be from the same year the car was manufactured, which makes life easier for car-spotters. This comes into play with older vehicles like the Studebaker above.
There was a time when you could tell what city a car was from by the first letter on the license plate. In this case the sixth letter in the alphabet corresponded with Bellingham, the sixth most populated city in Washington. This practice continued into at least the ’60s or ’70s. Back in the day, my ’50 Buick was FAB 099 and my ’66 Chevelle was FBU 099.
This Commander looks like an older refresh that’s ready for a parade. It’s usually parked in front of an automotive services store as eye candy.
Let’s bookend this post with another Olds. This ’85 or ’86 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme has sustained some damage to the rear flank, presumably after the collector plates were added. I couldn’t see if it had the velour Brougham interior, and this example was also missing the hood ornament. Sad to see it like this, but definitely not ready for prime time.
Compared to the white beauty at the top, this ’85 Cutlass sports a more bloated profile. It was closer to the end of the 4-gen models, and to the subsequent ad campaign for “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” Maybe this one was Dad’s.
What are “tabs” ?
Tabs are the annual small labels pasted onto the permanent license to show you’ve paid your annual licensing fee.
You jogged my memory! Now I remember them when I was a kid.
Interesting article, thanks.
We use them in Az. You keep the same plates from new, unless you sell the car.
There are several different license plate things that can be called tabs.
Early tabs are actually metal corners with a year date. Instead of issuing whole new plates each year, the owner would keep the plate on the vehicle and add this metal corner over the original year corner, by unscrewing the plate from the bumper and placing the corner on it, then reaffixing the combo with the original screw so it could not be (easily) stolen, or fall off.
Those evolved into adhesive stickers instead of stamped metal. Those can also be called, tabs, tags, year stickers, etc.
A third meaning of tab is a pair of flat boxes that are affixed next to a vintage license plate. They are plastic or metal, and use the screws that hold the plate to the car, to hold them on, but extend, wing style, outside the area of the original plate. Current registration stickers are put in theses side boxes to show that the vehicle, which has vintage plates, from the year it was manufactured, has current registration too. You would not put a modern sticker actually on the vintage plate. So those plates get this kind of tab in states using this system.
All states have slightly different rules and laws for collector cars. Some issue the vehicle a plate but let it wear anything the owner likes on its bumpers, specifying that you must keep the issued plate with the vehicle (such as on the floor below the front seat) and show it to an officer if you are ever pulled over.
In those states the issued plate sort of becomes a registration card.
Many states issue a plate that says antique (classic, collector, horseless carriage) vehicle on it and looks nothing like the modern vehicle plates.
California actually registers the car to a vintage CA plate that the owner must supply and get approved.
I’ve seen quite a few collector plates on daily drivers. 1990s cars are ordinary here in low-rust land, and 70s and 80s trucks are also common.
In Wisconsin, vehicles must be 20 years old to qualify for Collector license plates. You are assigned a number and any additional collector vehicles get the same license plate number with “A” added, then “B”, and so on. You cannot drive the vehicle(s) in January with Collector license plates and they are a one-time payment with no annual renewal. If you have multiple collector vehicles you may qualify for Vehicle Collector license plates for your daily driver(s) and they use the same number that is used on your Collector plates…kind of cool.
Wonder why you can’t drive with them in January?
It’s a clever stipulation designed to prevent Collector cars from being misused for work and year-round general transportation. And considering what the roads are like in Wisconsin in January, it would be lunacy to drive a cherished vehicle in those conditions anyway!
I recall that Yohai, CC’s contributor from Israel, wrote that Israeli collector license plates come with a stipulation that the car can’t be used during rush hour times (I don’t recall the exact time restrictions… it may be weekdays during normal working hours).
I’ve never heard of a US or Canadian jurisdiction doing that, but it makes sense – it limits misuse as daily drivers, but the owner doesn’t have to twist himself into knots in justifying that every trip on public roads is car-show related.
Don, Andrew: Sounds like pure communism to me – here or abroad.
I paid for the car, and pay taxes on it and upkeep, I can drive it whatever time I want, daily driver, show queen, etc.
I fail to see what Wisconsin’s extremely lenient Collector car policies (which have almost no use restrictions for the entire drivable period of the year) have to do with common ownership of the means of production, but OK.
No one is forced to have Collector plates. If someone absolutely needs to plow their vintage car through January salt and snow, they’re perfectly free to do so…if they pay their dues to society, and buy regular passenger plates.
Interesting topic. Here in Virginia, our cutoff for “Antique Vehicle” plates is 25 years old, and come with similar restrictions as it sounds like Washington has. Lots of people use them on daily-drivers, obviously flouting the rules. Our 1995 Thunderbird would qualify for these plates, but I’m skittish about that since I don’t use the car for shows or parades… let alone exclusively for those purposes. Honestly, I don’t know what the implications are if caught… whether civil implications or with your insurance company, but I’d rather not find out. I just don’t have the luck that some people have with that kind of stuff.
Anyway, I do enjoy looking at various “antique” vehicles. Just last week I saw a late-1990s Camry with antique places. I’m sure it was on its way to a Camry show…
If I’m not mistaken, Maryland’s cutoff is 20 years, so there’s even more amusing antique vehicles there.
Don’t know where you’re at in Va, but here in the Shenandoah Valley, misuse of “farm use” plates and restrictions is horrendous!
Very true – I feel that people take advantage of farm tags similarly to historic tags.
The farm plates are crazy in VA. We have a farm plate rule here in CT but we don;t have a ton of farms and they make you qualify for it so it’s pretty rare to see them (I have a couple of friends that do have them for their poultry farms thou) But I spent a month in the Charlottesville area a while ago and man every other beat up pickup on the road had a farm plate on it.
Farm plates are mostly to avoid state safety inspections, if the vehicle is not registered in Va it’s not subject to Va motor vehicle safety inspection. If you’re over 26k you still have to meet DOT but it becomes a pissin’ contest between you and the cop.
Hi Eric. While you were correct in that in Maryland, 20 years old was the cutoff for Historic Plates as we call them here, no more.
If you’ll allow me to break the rules on politics just a little bit here, The People’s Republic of Maryland has never met a tax it did not like. Recently, the state doubled the registration fees, and raised them again slightly last year, but the worst part was that they took away the historic tags.
My Mustang was SO close…. Sigh…
When I renewed my registration just recently, I wanted to get new plates as the coating was starting to peel off of my [not that] old plates. We’ve been having quality issues lately regarding this. When I asked the nice customer service lady about getting historic plates in the next 2-year cycle, she said my car would no longer be eligible for them. The new cutoff is 1999. Seems a little arbitrary. When I asked why, she said that they were eliminating or limiting historic plates due to abuse of the system. Part of me understands, but this is a sad development. I was really looking forward to displaying them on my Mustang.
I do see this every day on my commute though… hoopties running around with historic plates in daily driver use. What bugs me is many of these are pre-1999 Camrys with the trademark Camry dent in their bumper covers. I actually use my Mustang within the required rules for Historic Plates. We car guys should not be punished for this. Arrest or ticket the abusers!
I know what you mean about Maryland taxes – I lived in Rockville for 3 years. When I moved to Virginia in 2003, it was like getting a raise. Sadly, Virginia has been trying its hardest to catch up with Maryland, so there’s not nearly as much of a difference as their used to be.
I feel your frustration with the Mustang’s tags, and I didn’t know about Maryland limiting Historic plates. Here in Northern VA, the big benefit with an older car is that once past 25 years old, cars don’t need emissions inspections. That makes a lot of sense, because older cars represent a tiny proportion of total miles driven, and since most folks with 25 y/o daily drivers are far from wealthy, emissions repairs on older cars can be catastrophic to people’s finances. I do thank state leaders for having some common sense there.
I believe that there is a similar rule about the emissions test here (unless they changed that too).
I think we also get a break once we are over 70 years old as well. Similarly to your Virginia rule, they probably figure that older folks drive less, as you say, “[this] represent[s] a tiny proportion of total miles driven”.
Here in CT historic plates are 20 years and older. But there are no restrictions on the plates because they cost the same as a regular plate. Which honestly seems fair. What they do get is a lower property tax rate (technically you don’t need the plate but most towns don;t want to do the lower rate without the classic plate). A few years ago someone pointed out that a lot of people were getting the lower tax rate daily driving. There were meetings but the general consensus was if they were giving billionaires (they sighted the example of Ralph Lauren who until recently resided in CT with an estimated 50 million worth of antique cars) a tax break to have cars sit in a garage, the guy driving the 30 year old accord to work every morning could for sure be more deserving of the tax break.
I love the Studebaker .
Sad to see these being mis used (Dodge Ram) as this will possibly lead to them being withdrawn for others .
-Nate
I have had the same plate LTD 5374 for years. LTD stands for several personal reasons, as do the numbers. With no front plate required, when I had Cadillacs, I bought a silver metallic plate with black Cadillac Crest centered from an auto supply shop. Feeling creative, I added adhesive lettering. HILLCREST above with Beverly Hills below. At one time there was HILLCREST Cadillac in Beverly Hills. When I moved to Town Cars, I moved that front plate to The Town Car. It’s still there, drawing a lot of attention since I’m in the Midwest. Never doubt American Enginuity! 😉 🇺🇸
Having had collector / antique plates on my now former ’63 Ford Galaxie, the criteria don’t vary much from those in Washington state.
Missouri says it must be 25 years old or older, used for educational purposes, and one must keep a log of their mileage. Given the lack of definition for “educational purposes” I figured my occasional joyrides were educating bystanders, so all was good. Getting the plates also exempted me from having to have a safety inspection prior to licensure (which worked well for me) and no annual renewal fees and/or stickers. The plates I received were what was on top of the pile at the Department of Revenue office the day I visited.
My Dodge pickup is like the Dodge pictured – still being used as intended but with regular plates. I’m not risking it by getting collector plates for it. And, I just realized, our Econoline now qualifies for them. Same as the Dodge; I’m not getting them although I have put less than 100 miles on that Econoline so far this calendar year.
Several years ago I would regularly see a W115 Mercedes 220D on the commute in the Seattle area. I once struck up a conversation with the driver when we’d stopped at a gas station. I don’t think he was on his way to a classic car event.
Coincidentally, Maryland has just started to crack down on abuse of collector plates:
https://youtu.be/9oyMPdPqgs0?si=IZ–V2e8G6i5hx9b
When I moved to Seattle from out of state in 1981, the system of the license plate prefix reflecting your county was starting to break down. All possible plates with prefixes originally assigned to King County (Seattle) had been issued, so I got KRE 541. If I were less lazy at the moment, I could look up what county the KRE prefix was originally assigned to.
I thought King County (Seattle) had plates starting with vowels. The cars my parents drove (1970s) had license plates starting with vowels (O,I). If I’m remembering correctly Spokane County ad “C” for their plates.
They did, until the series of numbers was exhausted.
https://dannyslicenseplates.com/county-codes/
Interesting article. Here in British Columbia one can get collector plates for a vehicle 25 years old or older. The provision is you must have another vehicle registered in your name, and the only restriction is the car cannot be driven to work. In my area there are many retirees and many cars and motorcycles with collector plates being used as their daily driver.
No restrictions on old car use in the free world, once a vehicle reaches 40 years old the rego fee drops to $50 per year and you can an I am daily driving a 59 year old car.
Life is more enjoyable in a free state! Too bad more people don’t know this.
Yeah that Dodge is definitely breaking the rules. One of the other restrictions in WA is that the vehicle “can’t be used to carry a load”. A friend had a F-250 with a flat bed that he registered on the historic plates. He got pulled over because he had something strapped to the bed. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it wasn’t much.
Many people do seem to use them on daily drivers. Years ago I’d always see the same woman in her 65-66 Mustang in the school pickup line when the weather was nice.
While I have and have had a number of vehicles that would qualify I haven’t pulled the trigger because of those restrictions.
I remember back in the day when the personalized plates had a Lemon Yellow background instead of the standard white. I guess that was so people know you have a personalized plate and that you were supposed to read it. I remember a woman in our neighborhood who had one of the yellow plates with GURAQT. This was back in the late 70’s/early 80’s before text language had existed so my thought was what the heck is a guraquat the first time I saw it. I did eventually figure out what it meant. (Gee you are a cutie).
Here’s a link to a story from a decade ago of a senior citizen (a former drag racer) who had a Washington collector’s plate on his 1962 impala. Unfortunately, Nevada state troopers incorrectly entered his plate number and it came back as stolen. He was subsequently treated as a dangerous criminal, hauled off to jail for the day, and later released when the error was discovered.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2972240/How-simple-Highway-Patrol-error-classic-car-s-license-plate-ended-sobbing-elderly-driver-stripped-shirt-cuffed-hauled-jail.html
I also have Virginia 1966 vintage plates on my 1966 T-Bird. They are black w/white fonts and also don’t need annual tags. Bought them in never before issued which is kind of neat so they are in as new condition. I should also get some kind of $ break next time I renew them but forgot the steps I need to take.
I had to look it up as special plates are rarely seen here in California. The rules are complicated but what surprised me is that a vehicle can be self-classified as a collector car as long as it’s “used primarily in shows, parades, charitable functions, and historical exhibitions for display, maintenance, and preservation. It cannot be a vehicle used primarily for transportation.”
But that doesn’t require or necessarily even allow “historical vehicle’ plates which have different (though overlapping) criteria. And collector vehicles if 1976 or newer require smog inspections but they are simplified and must be done by a state referee, not a regular smog station. Bureaucracy at its least useful …
That Stude has such modern tail lights. Could those possibly be original?
Most states’ antique/collector plate laws were written in an era when a 25-year-old car was either a carefully-babied survivor or a restored car. Very few people would have tried to daily drive a 1960 Impala in 1985, for example.
Nowadays, there are all manner of MY2000 cars that can be viable daily drivers. Many states are struggling with this. Nevada used to be pretty simple: over 25 years old and not driven over (a self-reported) 5000 miles per year. People were abusing the rules and the government recently changed the law so you can only get a “classic” plate if your car has a classic vehicle insurance policy.
So the Legislature has basically put the decision of whether or not a car is a “classic” into the hands of insurance companies like Hagerty. Nice way to pass the buck.
“How this car survived so well on Vancouver Island is a mystery.”
This is a bit of and odd statement. There are loads of classic cars on Vancouver Island. The mild climate and lack of road salt means cars last for decades. Added to that is there really isn’t anywhere to take long trips, so cars tend to have low mileage.
The less Americans know about Canada, probably the better….’the eye of Sauron’, etc. 🙂
In Michigan, the vehicle has to be at least 26 years old. And other than car shows, club activities, and parades, it can only be used for daily driving from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Wasn’t too long ago that it could only be used for one month (August IIRC). Thing is, Memorial Day it’s sometimes still snowing. And after Labor Day is when the bulk of the tourist gridlock is finally over, and we still often have a couple nice months of Indian Summer. IMO the best time to take the car out.
Every vehicle I have will qualify age wise, and I’ve thought about getting one if it weren’t for the restrictions. Something like Wisconsin is more than reasonable. I typically put my 89 Cutlass Cruiser away after Halloween, and it hibernates until the last snow is done, and I can trust that the last of the salt is washed off the roads.
They also just reintroduced the blue plate, which was original for cars of my era. Sounds nice, however it’s $55 plus an additional $10 per year. That would be on top of the yearly tab of $70-$90 for each of my 30+ year old cars. Not a fan of giving the state even more of my money.
The Cutlass sedan is indeed a Brougham, as the callout is visible on the front fender (the small square). I think the loose-pillow seats are visible in that shot too.
As for the Studebaker being one of their last prewar cars built, wasn’t chrome trim banned from the last 1942 models, resulting in black or body-colored trim pieces on late ’42s? Or did only some manufacturers do this?
Also the Center High Mounted Stop Lamp and grille style mark the Cutlass sedan as an ’86 or ’87 model. The coupe is correct on the front, but the tail and backup lamps came from an ’84-’88.
It’s 25 years in Indiana, and you can use a vintage plate that matches the year of the car.
One oddity I learned (in the late 80s) was that a new collector plate required a state police inspection the first time. I went through the hassle with my Model A, but not with a 61 TBird that I was pretty sure would never pass the inspection. Don’t know if that’s still the rule or not.
And I LOVE that 42 Commander. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one other than a photo.
I don’t think there’s any financial advantage for an Indiana collector plate over a regular plate for anything over 25 years old. Unless it’s changed, Indiana stops charging excise tax for the value of the vehicle and it’s just one, low, flat annual registration fee.
Arizona has 3 different kinds of vintage vehicle plates, but they’re really just another vanity option among the over 100 different specialty plates available here, no restrictions on vehicle use or any favored treatment — in fact, they cost more ($25 extra upfront, $10/yr extra for renewals) — but they do have eligibility requirements:
– Historic Vehicle: must be at least 25 years old;
– Classic Car: must be on a list filed by the Classic Car Club of America;
– Horseless Carriage: must have been manufactured in or before 1915.
All 3 are olde-skoole embossed plates with paint on the raised elements — whereas all the other plate styles here are now the modern flat printed type — issued in a shiny copper finish (I reckon just copper-plated rather than made entirely of copper) that eventually tarnishes brown, making them nearly illegible at night or any distance, esp. the Historic Vehicle type that uses maroon paint on the raised elements (Classic Car uses dark green paint, Horseless Carriage uses black).
We also have those plates in California. Only they cost a little extra every year you renew. Now I needed new plates for three of my cars. The 68 had 72 plates, the 72 had 2019 plates and the 73 has 2008 plates. Only I am not interested in those Collector plates but care more for correct YOM plates. I found correct black for the 68 and correct blue for the 72 and 73. Just took time to find them. Now on last Friday I brought my 65 F100 to a informal Cars & Coffee in Danville. First time with the truck and the first thing out of someone’s mouth was “you have the original black plates.”