question on US licence plates.

[roym]

Hi all, forgive the ignorance of a non US national!

Say I have a model of a 1964 Mustang, and the kit supplies a Michigan licence plate decal with a small 64 in the corner. Does this mean the car's registration was recorded in 64, or is it displaying the current up to date reg?

Put another way, if I want to display the 64 model in a dio with a 78 Trans AM, an 86 pickup and a 2010 Charger, as if they were all parked together, do I need to change the older plates to something more modern style, or just the year in the corner, or nothing at all?

Our number plate system displays the car's year of first registration, area of first registration, and individual number based on sequence of reg. This stays the same, with the car until the car is scrapped.

So 10-C-1234 equals 10 for 2010, C for Cork, and it's the one thousanth, two hundred and thirty-fourth vehicle registered in Cork in 2010.

Cheers,

Roy

[Edsel-Dan]

It depends by state

Some allow Older plates to be used With a Current stick (Year & month in opposite corners)

others do not allow that, so Current plates Must be used.

the year on the sticker is when your registration expires here in the US.

Most plates are good for 2 years now. it use to be you had to renew every year.

Some states require inspections of cars. Every year, or every 2. again, all this depends on the state.

So for your display, for all to be road ready they should all show an 11, 12,13 or 14 on their rear.

license plate

[Harry P.]

In the US, a new set of plates used to be issued for your care very year; the design and/or color changed every year, and the year on the plate corresponded to the calendar year, not the year the car was registered. These days, the plates themselves stay on the car year to year, only the dated sticker in the corner is changed every year. But in either case, any date on the plates corresponds to the current calendar year, not the year the car was registered.

[mnwildpunk]

Not sure about michigan law but in MN on classic cars if you can find a plate and year tab the same year as the car you are able to use it no problem as long as the car is over 25 years old

[Jordan White]

The sticker is the year that the current registration expires (at least currently). Dunno if it is the same in the past, but if so, then a '64 stickered plate on a '64 (technically '65) Mustang would be wrong.

Different states have different regulations as far as what plates can be used. Some states (like Minnesota) require you to get a new plate every 7 years or so, whereas other states (like Michigan) allow you to keep the same plate as long as it's still legible. There's also the matter of new owners. Michigan has the plate follow the vehicle while Minnesota makes you buy a new plate when you purchase a vehicle.

[1930fordpickup]

In the state of Michigan and Ohio, we get new tags every year ( lately the tags are just a sticker). Are plates go for a long time anymore. The State gets a whim every now an than and we get new metal plates. As said before they used to be different every year.

The tags in Michigan DO NOT follow the car.

If you have an older car and find an older plate of the year of your car it can be you can get that registered if nobody has that number , but you will have to pay for a new plate and keep it in your car while driving it ( I have been told this is how it works).

In 1976 Michigan had the red white and blue plates . They went to a black plate in 79 . then a few years later ( 82-84) they went with a blue plate that we used past 1990 .

[jas1957]

Here in Ohio there used to be new plates every year. Since maybe the mid '80s or so it's the same as Michigan you can keep the plate as long as it's legible with a new color sticker every year. The state changes the design every few years, so right now you regularly see three different ones. Also here the plate belongs with the owner not the car, so whenever a car is sold it gets new plates & you can transfer the plates from your old car to your new car. Ohio has historical vehicle plates if the car is over 25 years & not used as daily transportation .

Just to make it a bit more complicated on a vintage car if you can find an old set of plates from the year of the vehicle you can register & display them on the car. Example, find a set of 1966 plates for your '66 Mustang & you can use them. In any case each of the 50 states have their own regulations. I'm sure many are similar to my state of Ohio, I'm also sure there are many differences.

[Harry P.]

Fifty states... fifty different sets of regulations.

[Daddyfink]

In California you can run your original plates indefinitely, if the car does not leave the state, otherwise new ones must be obtained when returning to CA. They have two tags, one is month of registration, that never changes unless there is a title change, and the year is on the other corner and that is renewed every year.

My Xterra has current white reflective plates with blue text and my 72 Datsun 510 is running its original blue plates with yellow text.

[martinfan5]

Just put current plates on the old cars, since you are going to display them all together, its as simple as that

[Tom Geiger]

^{Ah, but remember that we have 50 states and all of them have their own ideas. Some states have stickers on the plates, others do not. For instance I'm in Pennsylvania and just got a new sticker to put on my plate. They did this a while in New Jersey but stopped sending them to save money, so you'll see cars on the road that appear to have expired tags. Some states have two plates like NJ and others have one plate like PA. PA doesn't care what you put on the front bracket, so I have a US Virgin Islands plate on my Geo Tracker. Many plates have fund raiser plates with pictures on them, In NJ you can get a Wildlife Protection plate, a USS New Jersey ship plate, a Fight Cancer plate and a few more last I looked.}

^{Best course of action is to ask the board about any specific state you wish to use a plate for. You can print plates at the Acme Plate Maker on line also.}

[Danno]

Fifty states... fifty different sets of regulations.

Says it best.

But just to muddy the water a little more, most of those 50 states also issue many different styles of license plates. Currently Arizona has more than 60 styles available to motorists to choose from. I've heard but do not know conclusively that Colorado now has more that 100 different license plate styles available for registration!

[Edsel-Dan]

Here in Maryland, they just came out with a new design on the metal plate. "War of 1812"

It shows where the National Anthem was written and fire works.

I have the design previous. reflective white back ground with black letters/numbers

and the state shield in center.

You can get several different styles here too.

Save the Bay is the most popular

Local Firefighters can also get special plates.

Ours have a small P over a V then 4 numbers starting from 0001

There is also a Pocomoke City Volunteer Fire Department Shield on the left side.

They are available in Almost EVERY city/county department in the state!!!

The department must get an order of so many to get them approved/made though!

Current members were able to get Their FF# on the plate in the first run.

Now they are just first come-first served for remaining plates.

Maryland still issues 2 plates, so they Should both be mounted. Some that issue 2 will

allow you to not have the front one. But it is better to have it than get ticketed!!

I know that North Carolina is another state that only issues the single rear plate.

as you can tell with the replies, it is VERY complicated here!!

Edited January 24, 2014 by Edsel-Dan

[Longbox55]

But just to muddy the water a little more, most of those 50 states also issue many different styles of license plates.

On top of that, some states, like Illinois for example, have different plates for light trucks. Then, to muddy it even more, SUVs in Illinois can be licensed with either type of plate, though most use the Passenger plate.

In addition to the Acme Plate Maker site mentioned above, here's another good site for plate images

http://www.blankplates.com/

Edited January 24, 2014 by Longbox55

[Kit Basher]

VERY complicated is right! West Virginia only requires a rear plate. Virginia requires front and rear. Both states have gone to a "permanent" plate that stays on the car until it is sold. A expiration year sticker is added to the plate every one or two years. Virginia is another state that offers a large variety of specialty plates, including a "classic" plate, that is orange with blue lettering. WV even has a Dale Earnhart memorial plate. From the '50s thru the '70s, (my earliest memories) Virginia alternated each year: black with white lettering one year, white with black lettering the next. Trying to figure out an accurate Virginia plate from 1967 is probably more trouble than it is worth!

[Longbox55]

I do have to make a correction, Illinois went to the annual sticker in '79. '84 was when the plate itself was redesigned.

[Foxer]

This site has some blank MI plates including a 1965 ... which has the year embossed on it. At least you can see what's what. You can add your own letters/numbers and use that for decals to make your own.

[Shardik]

Just to add a little more confusion, in Texas the registration and inspection sticker goes on the windshield, not the plate. Also, Colorado (amongst the plethora of other designs) offers a different plate for collector vehicles. You can also use a vintage plate by itself if it is original to the vehicle, otherwise you must have a current plate as well.

The good news is that with all the conflicting and confusing regulations over here, chances are that no one else will know the difference either.

Edited January 24, 2014 by Shardik

[Kit Basher]

It occurred to me that Roy might benefit by seeing a plate. I suspect this general format is common to all 50 states.

Upper left: Month of registration (generally does not change)

Upper right: Year of expiration (changes every year or two and shows the tag is current)

This would be a specialty plate, for the National Air and Space Museum. Standard Virginia plates are plain white with blue lettering. This would also be a "vanity" plate with custom text (NF4U), instead of random letters and numbers (like ZFT 4793)

Hope that washes away a little of the mud.

[Skydime]

In KY, we have a sticker for the current registration year that we put in any one of the four corners. There is an indent specifically for them. They also give the owner's birth month telling what month they expire. We only change plates when we park the vehicle with no insurance on it, change if title changes hands, or if a new design comes out every few years.

Edited January 24, 2014 by Skydime

[Nxr]

If you need various plates printed this is the site to go: http://www.15q.net/usindex.html it also has every vintage Canadian plate you can think of, i believe the print size is 50x25 for 1/25 plates.

[1972coronet]

California :

1956-1962 : Chrome Yellow background with black characters , 6-digit . Alpha-Numeric order ( Example : AAA 111 )

1963-1969 : Black background with Chrome Yellow characters , 6-digit . Alpha-Numeric order ( EX : AAA 000 )

1970-1979 : Blue with 'Gold' characters , 6-digit ; first year for personalised characters , accommodating up-to 7-characters . Numeric-Alpha order ( EX : 026 BZM )

1980-1986 : Blue with 'gold' characters , 7-digit . Numeric-Alpha-Numeric order ( EX : 1PCE149 )

1987-1993 : Reflective-White with red-coloured "CALIFORNIA" and blue characters , 7-digit .

1993-Present : Reflective-White with a red-coloured , styllised "California" and blue characters , 7-digit .

"Speciality" Plates :

1982-1989 : "Golden State" (colloq. , "Sunburst)

1998-2001 : Same as the "1993-Present" style , but with "Sequecentennial [sp] 150 YEARS" printed across the lower-portion ( often covered-over by plate frames )

There are also Commercial plates in addition to "EXEMPT" plates ( local , state , and federal stature ; these had a 4-point 'diamond' or 5-point 'diamond' , dependant upon which branch's vehicles they were intended for) . 1998 was the final year for these plates .

Note : The first letter indicates the plates' year-of-issue . Typically , a new series / design would begin with an "A" and run-through "X" , "Y" or "Z" .

Example : " 726 HYH " , with the "H" indicating 1973 calendar year issue .

I focused on the "classic" years ; things become obscured from around 1998 & later .

Edited January 24, 2014 by 1972coronet

[slusher]

Just put current plates on the old cars, since you are going to display them all together, its as simple as that

That is how I do it all my cars have newer plates and I started using only 2 states easier to keep up with...

[timc]

A 1967 mustang in Virginia would have white plate with black letters.

Even number years will have a black plate with white letters and odd number years is white plate with black letters.

If the year on the plates match the year of the vehicle and they are still in good condition ,the DMV will register them to the vehicle as antique tags. No inspection sticker or county or town sticker is required with these plates.But here's the kicker,you are limited on the miles that you can drive said vehicle per year,as it is considered an antique vehicle and should only be driven to and from shows or for maintenance purposes.

This information comes from a DOT Trooper that lives nearby.

I used to restore those old tags for the guys at work who own older cars.

Hope this helps,bigtim.

[Greg Myers]

Just a sample from AZ and speci

alty plates :

Edited January 24, 2014 by Greg Myers