Antique tags/plates revisited

[Barn Owl]

It started with this thread when I asked if anyone was running antique tags on their bus:

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=1824.msg15234#msg15234

This is where I went with it:

I finally put antique tags on my bus. I feel that for what and how I use it that I qualified for the privilege. The only quirky thing with the Virginia law is that I am supposed to stay within 250 miles of my house if I am driving it for "occasional pleasure driving." There are exceptions that allows one to travel out of that range:

1.Participation in antique car club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, and similar events.

2.Testing its operation, obtaining repairs or maintenance, transportation to and from events as described in number 1 above and for the occasional pleasure driving not to exceed 250 miles from your residence.

So, if I need to test it at 10,000ft I will have to travel out of the 250 mile range to the Rockies. What about the First Annual GM 4106-1063 Walt Disney Bus Gathering that my family will attend at Walt Disney World next year? (Talk about rare! GM only built one with that particular number!) How am I going to test it at sea level unless I go to the beach? I haven't even touched the exhibit or tour possibilities.

I really don't understand the 250 mile thing, I think it is silly. The abusers of the antique tags here are the ones that use them on vehicles that are used for daily transportation or work. It could possibly be argued that I might be bending the letter of the law, but I am surly keeping the spirit of the law. I enjoy my antique bus, and it is meant to be out there plowing the great highways of America!

I have talked to a few State Troopers, DMV officers etc. as I was studying this, and off the record, they tend to take a more common sense approach to the VA. Law, but they cannot tell someone it's OK to break the Law. The only time I could think that I might have to explain myself is if I got into some type of an accident, and even then I think there are enough loopholes to be OK.

Anyways, here is a photo of one of my tags:

[Happycampersrus]

Would you believe I have seen antique plates on an old tow truck that the guy uses to collect scrap metal? He runs around Galax all the time. LOL.

I really doubt that you will ever be hasseled with antique tags no more than you will drive it. What did you find out about county/city stickers & inspection stickers??

It's my understanding that we don't have to run stickers with antique tags.

Sure is a beautiful morning here in the Blue Ridge Mtns. Supposed to be even warmer next week according to WSLS10

Dale

[gumpy]

I like the way you think.

We are not doing anything different than those who collect and restore old cars. We take them to rallys and show them off. The only difference is that we sleep in ours.

I've been running collector plates on my MC9 for about 3 years now and not one question in somewhere around 30 thousand miles, 22 states, and 3 Provinces.

I'm not skirting the law. I'm using it to my advantage. Everything I'm doing is perfectly legal and I use my RV in accordance with the law, which only says it is to be used for collector purposes. There are no mileage restrictions. I recently traveled to FL for a large collector RV gathering. I find that usually I show my coach to at least one person on every trip we take. Can't recall the last time someone asked for a tour of my Explorer.

I had to convince the state that the law allows me to license my collector RV this way. They wanted to interpret the law differently than it's written, because then they can collect a lot more money. They finally gave in, but have since resumed their denial of collector plates on RVs. What really gets me is that I pay less than $40 a year to licence my pickup and I drive it 20K miles a year, but the RV that I only drive 5K miles was costing me $279 a year. If the fees for the RV were comparable to the pickup, I'd still be paying them on a yearly basis. This state is supposed to be such an outdoor and RV friendly state, but they sure like to screw their citizens out of their hard earned cash.

[Charles Seaton]

I have antique (historic) NY plates on my '67 fishbowl. The insurance company (and they demand photos) say the bus must be as delivered.  If it was a seated coach, it has to still have the seats in it. 

[Happycampersrus]

Charles,

So are you saying, If you convert it you can't use antique (historic) plates in NY??

[edroelle]

You inidicated , "1.Participation in antique car club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, and similar events."

I can assure you, ANYTIME you take a converted coach out, it IS and EXHIBIT !!

Ed Roelle
Flint, MI

[Charles Seaton]

With my historic insurance, registered in New York, no.  Coach must me seated.

[edvanland]

I am in Arizona and on my 1973 MCI 7 with personalized plates it cost me $43.95 per year.  The personalized plate cost me $25 of that so the tags each year are $18.95.  Don't ask ask what I pay for the 2005 Dodge Ram Diesel or the 2006 Jeep Rubicon, the 2001 Dodge van and 1991 Chev van are expensive also.  In Arizona we get to pay a property tax on the orginal value of the vehicle each year untill it reaches a certan age, don't know the age limit. 
ED
MCI 7

[tekebird]

Although your DMV may be lax or lasy it is illegal...antique and historic tags are to be used on such vehicles.......non modified.....

True you will  probably not have a problem until you get into an accident or get pulled over.

your insurance com-pany may have some issues with it as well....or perhaps they will be OK with it when they don't have to pay your claim.

[Happycampersrus]

"Although your DMV may be lax or lasy it is illegal...antique and historic tags are to be used on such vehicles.......non modified....."


I don't know about that in Va. I had a prostreet (highly modified) 1970  Maverick with antique plates insured with State Farm and they took pictures. State Farm had no problems with it. I am currently building a 57 Chevrolet and will run antique tags on it. The way the law reads, it doesn't  say anything about not being modified.

http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Safety.shtm

This directly from the Code of Va. manual

For a vehicle to be defined as "antique," it must be 25 years old or older. If the vehicle is registered as an antique through the Department of Motor Vehicles, it is exempt from state inspection.

Restrictions: Antique motor vehicles shall not be used for general transportation purposes, including, but not limited to, daily travel to and from the owner's place of employment. Such vehicle may be operated on the highway for participation in club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, and similar events or for the purpose of testing their operation, obtaining repairs or maintenance, transportation to and from the events earlier described, and for occasional pleasure drives, not to exceed 250 miles from the residence of the owner.

[gumpy]

Although your DMV may be lax or lasy it is illegal...antique and historic tags are to be used on such vehicles.......non modified.....

I'm not usually one to blow off steam here, but you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

The collector vehicle tags are regulated by the statutes of the individual states in which they are issued, and in this state, there is no stipulation saying the vehicle must be unmodified. Maybe your state is different, but I don't live there, and you obviously don't have a clue what the statutes of my state say. I, on the other hand, have researched them thoroughly and am in full compliance.

[msheldon]

Although your DMV may be lax or lasy it is illegal...antique and historic tags are to be used on such vehicles.......non modified.....

I'm not usually one to blow off steam here, but you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

The collector vehicle tags are regulated by the statutes of the individual states in which they are issued, and in this state, there is no stipulation saying the vehicle must be unmodified. Maybe your state is different, but I don't live there, and you obviously don't have a clue what the statutes of my state say. I, on the other hand, have researched them thoroughly and am in full compliance.

Yup, as an ex-cop, I can definitely back this up. Every state has different rules on special plates, some radically different. PA had restrictions on the use of vehicles with historic plates, AZ has no restrictions at all.

In AZ, these are the rules for Historic plates (must meet one of these criteria):

1. A vehicle bearing a model year date of original manufacture that is twenty-five years old or older.

2. A vehicle included in a list of historic vehicles filed with the director by a recognized historic or classic vehicle organization during the month of December of each year.

3. A reconstructed vehicle that the director determines, on application by the owner, retains at least the basic original body style as manufactured twenty-five years or more before the date of the application.

Rule 3 would easily cover all but the most radical conversions.

[Barn Owl]

In the state of VA it's real simple. The vehicle has to be 25 years old or older. They don't care what you do to it. Because of some deficiencies with the California title (now I know where the term pink slip originated) I was required to have a State Trooper do a VIN verification. He came to my house, verified the VIN, that it was a bus, and that it had been converted to an RV. And that is how I was going to title it here. Other than the confusion with the pink slip the whole thing was easy. My insurance company also knows the whole story and they didn't even need to inspect it. All they wanted to know was how much I wanted to insure it for. I carry comprehensive over the winter months for ~$65 and full coverage during the summer for ~$130. My insurance company has great service and seems to be very inexpensive.

The tags I have are honest to goodness VA 1962 tags. If you can find them this state will let you use them. There is a man here that bought out an estate from a junk-yard owner and he has boxes and boxes of VA tags that go back to the beginning. The junk-yard owner saved every tag he could get his hands on. The owner of all of these tags now is sitting on a gold mine.


Happycampersru,

After the normal tag/tile DMV fees my county cost were a one-time $5 sticker fee and $3 yearly property tax fee.

Laryn

[Barn Owl]

One more thing I didn't mention, that I can be in any of the four bordering states in less than 250 miles. So, unless another state wants to look up the VA law, and then attempt enforce it, I don't think I will ever need to prove anything. Another reason the 250 mile limit is silly; 250 miles allows anyone to get out of this state no matter where you live. I see the antique plates being abused everyday. Usually old pickups with ladders on top, or not all that collectable POS (Piece of Sh*t) cars running around. Oh, I must be out of the loop, there must be a POS rally they attend everyday!

[WEC4104]

Anybody know the date and location of the POS rally? I'd like to attend it.