We forgot to share this earlier. Blame the delay on various reasons.
But the big news: At least as far as the State of Florida is concerned, our Miata is officially an Antique. It crossed the state’s 30-year threshold on January 1, so we picked up the new Antique tag soon after.
Does it make the car any faster? Nope, …
According to the State of Florida, I'm only three years off from also being considered an antique. 
In reply to Colin Wood :
Ah, to be young again. And also a robot.
I was able to put vintage plates on my miata last year. I was extremely excited, as it means I no longer have to pass smog, which is great for...reasons...
Very cool.
These were groundbreaking new cars when I joined the SCCA 33 years ago; how time flys.
In reply to calteg :
We don't have smog or even inspections here, and the nice lady at DMV said that, even without the Antique tag, I’d still pay the lower Antique rate.
If it's 1975 or earlier, I believe, here in Florida you can run a year of manufacturer tag. I did that on our Mini and Pontiac wagon, and it looks way cool.
So in the end, yes, I paid the $31 or whatever for the Antique tag. It made me happy as well.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Thanks for reminding me that I can run YOM plates on my '81.
That I just re-registered. As we say a lot in Browns country, "Next year!"
Actually, I haven't put any of the new stickers on my plates yet... oops
And I have a YOM plate for the Porsche:
And for the windshield, just got this:
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Aaand I just ordered some YOM plates off of eBay for my RX-7. They had KKM in the number, which is amusing to me since Mazda used the KKM style Wankel instead of the early, purely rotational DKM style that Wankel originally designed.
In Ohio its 25 years to get Historical tags so my '90s been wearing them for 7 years now.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Nice.
Oregon has several classifications of plates for, let's call them non-daily-driven vehicles. They come with a few restrictions but several advantages.
The basic choice is SP plates, short for Special Interest. My '84 E24 BMW came with these plates when I bought it -- or more specifically, ONE of these plates. That's one advantage: SP and Antique plates are not required on the front of the vehicle. Whee.
When I went to register my 1951 M.G. TD, the nice lady at the DMV* suggested Antique when I asked for SP plates. Those are only for cars 30+ years old or older. Also only requires a single plate.
The restrictions with both of those plates are the same: you're limited to 5,000 miles a year, which is curiously enough the same limit my Hagerty policy had on those two cars.
The other advantage? You only need to pay for the plate once. No biannual registration fees, no DEQ (that's Oregon for smog-test) requirements.
When my '74 Alfa Romeo Spider comes back into semi-regular use, I'll definitely have one of those put on it. (It's time to fix the rusty rocker panel and reshoot the nose.)
As for my own Miata, it's not eligible for a few more years; I'm currently loving the extra trunk space in my 2006 NC, which is our long-distance driver. With the custom-fitted luggage set from Moss, we can bring enough clothes for Monterey Car Week.
But I suppose I COULD get either an antique or SP plate for the '91 318is (which currently runs Montana plates reading M42B18, courtesy the previous owner). Unfortunately the clear coat on all the horizontal surfaces would back up the "antique" designation...
In reply to sfisher71 :
Oh, I forgot to elaborate on that footnote: the Oregon DMV office in Sherwood genuinely has the nicest staff, friendly, helpful, and polite. Such a pleasant surprise coming from California, where trips to the DMV were more often like a cross between the movie "Brazil" and a KGB interrogation. Case in point: when I went to register the 330GT 2+2 at the Sherwood DMV in 2010, the guy who verified the VIN was amazed that it was only a four-digit number, not the usual 17-digit alphanumeric ID on modern cars.
Classic plates in Colorado is for cars 32 years or older. Still need to get a smog test but only once every 5 years.
In reply to docwyte :
I wonder what is the rational for 32 years and not 30. In Florida, no smog check whether old car or not.
Just renewed my tags the other day. First time doing it through DMV's app. It all felt so hip.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
It used to be 25 years. Then we followed California in that the car had to be older than 1975, period. Which is total garbage. Then for whatever reason they decided on 32 years.
The antique plate feels weird on the 80s and 90s cars, I'd love to run a period correct state plate from the late 90s to early 00s though. Like if I was in NY, I know I would love the old Statue of Liberty plates from the late 80s to late 90s.
In reply to aw614 :
Yeah, I'd also love to run a year-of-manufacturer plate on the Miata.
I do on the Porsche, but just for show. :)
You'll need to log in to post.
