new Antique and Classic registration laws
 

i'd been hearing they were going to start letting antique and classic registered vehicles use old plates if they want.

so i went down this saturday to transfer the title of my 52 f-3 and i brought an old PA plate from 1952... Sure enough it cost me an addition $75 but i'm very happy, i'm not a fan of the new plates....

so another thing, the lady doing my paperwork told me she didn't need to see pictures anymore to verify vehicle was still original....

gotta love a registration that says "expires: permanent"..... not yearly dues....

I have a classic plate that I had on my Mustang convertible and I was thinking of using it on my 79 Bronco but I think it is too modified. Also on my 95 Centurion, but I heard if I do it cannot have a hitch on it and I cannot use it to tow. Any thoughts?

I never read anything in the vehicle code about pickups not being able to tow with a classic or antique tag. The only thing remotely related I came across was that a person can register an OTR tractor as a classic or antique, but it cannot be used commercially. When I lived in Cresson, one of my neighbors had a mid-'80s International Eagle with a classic tag...it was pretty neat.

I'm fairly sure an antique or classic tag can be transferred from one rig to another, with the proper photography, but like you said, Pat...the vehicle has to be stock (or at least LOOK stock...PennDOT can't see under the hood! :D) Most, but I'm not sure all, of the Vehicle Code is set up on the state website...it makes for a good read!

Pat

I don't believe any of the "rules" have changed involving registration requirements and driving restriction for antique, classic, custom or street rod.

what i know did change is.

1. you can use an old license plate to regisiter your antique or classic vehicle (they did run a check on the plate i got off ebay, i'm assuming to check that it's not currently in use by someone else)

2. they no longer are requiring pictures for antique or classic registration (the laws didn't change on whats required) so if you car/truck is questionable looking, you will be able to get it registered. this will leave it up to the police to decide if your registered correctly.

couple rules i remember.
you cant drive an antique at night, thats why it never needs a state inpection.

classic, antique and custom cannot be driven alot, restricted to shows and events etc.... says something about once a week. (classic and customs require yearly inspections)

street rod is the only way to register a car/truck that does't have any fenders or hood. they require yearly inspections, including emisions and you can drive them as much as you want.

i've build a couple "specialty construction" titled cars/trailers also,
if anyone has any simple questions, i've been through it a few times.

I have a couple observations/questions, and I promise I'm not trying to pick a fight. The way I read the Vehicle Code, an antique CAN be driven at night, so long as the vehicle meets federal motor vehicle lighting requirements. I interpret that to mean that pretty much anything that has at least sealed beam headlights and two taillights can be driven at night...I'm not sure if that also means the vehicle has to have side marker lights and reflectors.

Now, my question for Fifty Two...did you already have an antique plate on your truck before you applied for the vintage tag, or was it unregistered/had a regular truck registration? The reason I ask is that I just downloaded the MV-11 for my folks' '88 T-bird, and it still says in the directions that four photographs must accompany the application, even though the car already has a classic tag. I'm just wondering that if you already had an antique tag, and applied for a vintage tag with the MV-4V, the Commonwealth would assume your vehicle is already up to antique standards, and would decide to forego the photographs.

Last question...any idea if "25 years" means model year or calendar year? A '88 is 25 model years old, but still not 25 if PennDOT decides that they going to wait to process applications until after the new year. I tend to lean toward model year, but others say calendar year...I just dunno. Maybe a call to an online messenger may be in order, but I have a bad feeling they're not gonna know any more than I do.

PennDOT certainly has a frustrating habit of trying to drive people insane!

Pat

Sorry for butting in as the new guy
Anyhow I heard about some of the changes as well when I went to get my title done the other day. She said I could bring in the current title and have it changed over. Do I still need a mechanic signature or police signature?
As far as the night driving I believe that the current way it is worded is that if you have proper or adequate lighting you can drive at night. I have an old military ambulance that I drive at night.

Thanks
Doc