Antique vehicle registration
Encyclopedia
Antique car
In the United States, an antique car is generally defined as a car over 45 years of age, this being the definition used by the Antique Automobile Club of America. However, the legal definition for the purpose of antique vehicle registration varies widely. The antique car era includes the veteran...
, classic
Classic car
A classic car is an older car; the exact meaning is variable. The Classic Car Club of America maintains that a car must be between 20 and 40 years old to be a classic, while cars over 45 years fall into the Antique Class.- Classic Car Club of America :...
, vintage
Vintage car
A vintage car is commonly defined as a car built between the start of 1919 and the end of 1930 known as the "Vintage era". There is little debate about the start date of the vintage period—the end of World War I is a nicely defined marker there—but the end date is a matter of a little...
, or historic. Both the specific term used and the definition of a qualifying vehicle vary from country to country, as well as within a country if it is a federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
.
Typically, an antique vehicle is defined by its age at the time at which antique vehicle registration is sought. As examples, this age is 20 years in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, 25 years in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, 30 years in the Australian state
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, and 35 years in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and 30 years in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
requires that the vehicle was built before 1 January 1973 although the assumption is made that a vehicle first registered before 7 January 1973 was actually manufactured in 1972 and is therefore exempt from tax.
Antique vehicle registration may provide certain benefits, such as a reduced or waived registration fee, exemption from vehicle inspection
Vehicle inspection
Vehicle inspection is a procedure mandated by national or subnational governments in many countries, in which a vehicle is inspected to ensure that it conforms to regulations governing safety, emissions, or both. Inspection can be required at various times, e.g., periodically or on transfer of...
, and/or distinctive vehicle registration plate
Vehicle registration plate
A vehicle registration plate is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies the vehicle within the issuing region's database...
s. However, the owner's privilege of driving the vehicle may be significantly curtailed. For example, in Virginia, the use of a car registered as an antique is limited to participation in car club activities, parades, and the like, driving to and from such events, testing, obtaining maintenance and repairs, and occasional pleasure driving within 250 miles (402.3 km) of one's residence. Commuting to and from work is specifically forbidden in Virginia. While having similar rules to the Virginia example above, Tennessee does not allow transfer of antique license plates between owners when a vehicle is sold so the original owner must surrender the antique plate and the new owner must apply for a new one. As of 2009, Tennessee allows transfer of an existing antique tag from a sold vehicle by the selling owner to another antique vehicle owned by the same owner. Connecticut has no driving or registration restrictions on autos so registered. Also as of 2009 Tennessee now requires special verification by a law enforcement agency person (police officer or state trooper) to the fact that the vehicle is antique and non-modified but does require owner affidafit of same and continues prior restrictions on vehicle use by the owner. In Sweden there are no specific limits and the requirement for a yearly vehicle inspection is reduced to a bi-annual.
The special license plate may take the form of a newly manufactured license plate with a legend such as "Antique", "Historic", "Early American", or "Horseless Carriage." The license plate has a separate number sequence from ordinary license plates and may have a distinctive color scheme (for example, in Brazil, plates do have a reversed color scheme: normal plates are black on gray and antique plates are gray on black). Virginia has two series of such plates, one of which is designed to look old. Alternatively, under certain circumstances, the special license plate may be an authentic license plate from the same year as the model year of the car (called various terms such as "Year of Manufacture" or "Vintage," depending on the jurisdiction). Virginia allows the use of such plates if they are embossed (not stickered) with the appropriate year. Tennessee allows the use of antique model year license plates for antique cars provided the car is specially registered as an antique vehicle and the state issued antique tag and registration are kept inside the vehicle for inspection upon demand by law enforcement personnel. As of 2009 Tennessee allows the registration of an antique vehicle with age appropriate antique tag(s)(either one or two plates depending on vehicle production year) within certain guidelines and with use restrictions as above. While the YOM law allows vehicle owners to display the vehicles as they were when first produced, it may not be legal for road use in other states.