I know we have covered this before but a search only gets me info on THEM,lots o Tejas events and the guy who is looking for plates..! I have a primo set of 1949 farm truck plates (pate swap fodder) that I would like to register in TX for my truck. What is the song and dance to get this done? Modernbeat....?
I did that last week, all you do is go to your local registration office and let them know you want to register the plates. Then they take care of everything. You have 2 options classic or antique, the difference is you can "only" drive antique plates/tab in parades, car shows etc. They give you metal tab to bolt on to your plate, you really can't even tell what it is, this way you use your own plates. I drive my truck everyday. With antique you don't need a registration sticker either. I don't think they even checked if the numbers had been used before, I don;t think on plates that old it even matters. Rey
I registered my set of 59 texas plates with no hassle at all. At first I was trying to use car plates on a el camino but they would not go for it, so i had to locate a set of 59 truck plates. Good thing is I found a set that had never been issued. You can print out the forms and fill them out before going or you can do it there at the office. Peice of cake to do, not complicated at all.
Thanks brothas' I will take em' down there and get her done. I figured I would have to go thru some long process.I drove my truck as a daily but I like the Antique deal. " Why yes Sir I am headed to a parade and car show, why do you ask ?"
Take your plates with you. When I asked about it they told me they have to see the plates and check the condition of them. If they are not up to their standards then they have to send them out to be redone.I never did regiter mine with them but that is the info they gave me.
Texas has two varieties of YOM (year of manufacture) licensing. Antique (restricted) and Classic (fairly unrestricted). From the Texas DOT website Antique Registration and Classic Registration . There is also a special Classic Truck and Classic Motorcycle. FWIW - I've never registered a "Classic Truck" but the DOT was hassle free every time I registered my trucks as Antiques using YOM "automobile" plates. Even registered a '55 VW Delux Station Wagon using "BUS" plates that were intended for a real bus. Anyway, when you go to register the default plates are NEW plates that have the "Antique" or "Classic" text on them. Bring you legal, good condition PAIR of plates with you. They have to represent the same year that the vehicle is titled to, they are supposed to be unrestored and unmodified (you can get away with a lot, usually), and you have to have a pair if they were originally issued as a pair. As far as I know, only Dealer plates were offered as a single plate - that's why they are so expenisve. Another alternative to "normal" plates are to get a good pair of "replacement" plates. These were issued if the vehicle lost it's original plates during the year. They were usually a different color combo from the original issued plates. Don't know when they started though - maybe not 'till the '60s. The breakdown on Antique = only register every five years. Last registration was in 2003, next renewal will be in 2008. You don't have to have the vehicle inspected (and no inspection sticker on your windshield) - although obvious flaws will still get you pulled over - including super loud exaust. Your windshield registration sticker is replaced with a small sticker on a metal tab attached to your rear plate. If you're keeping track, you realise that there are no stickers on the windshield now. You aren't allowed to advertise a real business with the car. You aren't allowed to drive it except to special functions or for repair and service. Beware if you're in a small town - this may bust you. Classic = register it every year - just like a normal car. Get it inspected every year - just like a normal car. You have two small stickers that replace the registration sticker and you still have the inspection sticker on the windshield. Can anyone confirm the two sticker registration? It's been years since I did a "classic". You can drive it when and where you want, legally - just like a normal car. You get to pay normal registration fees plus the added "classic" fee every year. You still need to have a pair of appropiate, good condition plates. For the record, years ago you used to have to ship the plates to Austin to have them approved, then they allowed good photocopied to be mailed, and now they can usually approve them at the courthouse and just fax copies to Austin. My local courthouse says they can now approve them while I wait. Thank goodness for computers! Cops ARE getting smarter about YOM plates. In the old days (only 15 years ago) I rarely met a cop that knew anything about YOM plates and got pulled over regularly about them. It got to the point that I stopped paying for registration and just bluffed the cops - they didn't know anything anyway. These days I've found that the police are much better informed about unusual registrations and I don't think I'd try to run unregistered plates any more - I also haven't been pulled over for odd registration in the last five years or so. I wrote a little piece on registering early cars with appropiate plates - a hot rodded Ford Model A with '47 registration for example. Search for "license" by modernbeat. It bugs me to see a good gow job with a '31 plate on it. In 1931 that heap was a new, pristine and stock vehicle.
Again the power of the HAMB! Viva la HAMB. Modernbeat thanks for the info. I knew you had a post about it but could not find it. I really like the idea of Antique registration. No stickers or inspection but, I will get busted driving when I shouldn't. Classic gets old plates on the truck and I go where I wanna, when I wanna. I guess a 20 on the front seat will get me thru an inspection in the right place.They never have anyone who inspects that knows the law about old cars. I run one tail light, vacuum wipers, sits real low and is kinda loud.But hey its got a high beam indicator !Even though it comes on low beam.
Since we all seem to be a bunch of Texans in this thread and if Brother Bob doesn't mind my doing a tiny, temporary hijack: Y'all know of anyone that sells a lot of good ole Texas plates? I need some for my 1964 T-Bird conv. Thanks to Bob for letting me hijack and thanks to the other guys for clearing up that whole registration process. I too thought it would be a bigger mess than it sounds like it is. Big Daddy Eric
Do a search for old texas plates...someone was looking a few months ago and I gave them some info of a guy who has a shitload for sale. I think he's from houston area...anyways, do a search...cause I can't find his business card
There are lots of guys that collect and sell plates. If you can't find a set from a real license plate collector (that's not associated with automotive swapmeets or hot rods) then go to the one guy that's never gouged me or double dealt on me. Jesse Perez in San Antonio. 210-532-7456 He's found '40s Motorcycle, '69 Replacement, stacks of dealers, specific year-letter combos, and almost every other impossible to find plate. What takes me two years he turns up in two months. And his prices are reasonable. Beats ebay sometimes too. If you've gone to a Texas swap meet you've seen him. Dark skinned hispanic with a dark blue mid-80s Chevy Suburban. Doesn't have a slick display like the Q-tip guys do.
Modernbeat nailed it.I bought mine from Jesse and told him I would spread the word. He seems like a stand up guy , and cut me a deal on the plates.It was raining I love swaps when it rains.Thanks for clearing the air MB I'll buy you a beer sometime.
Thanks for the leads guys. Does Jesse go out to Delmar when they do their thing? I might have seen him there. I have been seeing a lot of original plates cropping up on cars in town over the last few years. Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention but I didn't really see so much of that back in the '80's and early 90's. Was there a certain time that this became legal or is it just more popular to do now? Big Daddy Eric
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