Curtis

How do you know if you can use an old Florida license plate if you run accross one for your year? I just move to Florida and was thinking about finding one for my '60. E-bay? Then what?

I searched the achives and didn't find a thread on this, but seem to remember one.

Curt

Tyler Townsley

I think you have to take the tag to the tag office and reregister it. But yes you can run old tags in Florida.

Tyler

careyj1inalamo

This is what I did for a 1956 plate in the state of California. First found the plate on Ebay. Second called the California DMV and asked them is the plate was registered. If the plate was not registed then I bid on the plate. After I received the plates, I had to go down to the DMV and register the plates under year of manufacture plates. Let the DMV know what you want to do or you will waste a lot of time. Now my 62 vette has the correct plates. 1956 plates were used through 1962 in California. Hope this helps. Good luck

62fuelie

I don't think Alabama has a provision for using old plates, but I have the appropriate year plate on the FRONT of both the 62 and the 67. Most single tag states you can put anything you want on the front.

Curtis

Thanks. I will try looking on e-bay for a '60 FL plate and call the DMV to see if the numbers would be ok. I hope that works. I have seen old plates on cars down here, but didn't know what needed to be done. If anyone has any more on it let me know.

Curt

John McGraw

Curtis, you might want to try finding someone who deals in old plates. In Texas I found an old couple who go from swap meet to swap meet selling brand new vintage tags that have never been registered. They let me select my own number from hundreds of 1960 tags. This avoids the possibility of buying a set of tags that would be rejected by the motor veh. dept. for condition or registration status. As a side benefit, I also found an original unused safety inspection sticker from 1960 to put on my windshield. The good news is that they only charged me $50 for the two brand new tags.
:seeya

58Vette65

Not in Kansas and a lot of other states -- they consider it running a expired plate even when the rear plate is not expired. We use to run them in Kansas but here lately they have cracked down on them. In Kansas you can also run the correct year plate but it has be a car plate (not truck) and from the right county, just makes it a little harder to find the correct plate. Another big no no in Kansas is trying to restore a old plate then trying to register it. I was the first in Riley county Kansas to register one -- I was being pulled over atleast once a month till I got all the local cops trained. Also in Kansas the DMV is not setup to handle the old type of numbering, they have to run the vin on the car to see if the tag is expired.

58Mike

Curt-

I agree with John that I'd look for a dealer because they'll guarantee the plates are OK. I'd guess many of the guys selling on E-Bay are actually dealers, so that may work out anyway. Incidently, in California, good plates for '56-'62 run about $250. A few years ago, they were significantly cheaper.

- Mike (nope, it ain't on the road yet)

58Mike

One other thing: when I registered my vintage plates, the DMV was supposed to "verify" that the plates were authentic. I don't know why, but I was expecting some lab where they'd test the paint formulation, and perform conductance tests on the metal to make sure it was authentic. But instead, the verification consisted of the uninterested lady behind the counter (who had never done this before) glancing at it for about two seconds and declaring, "It looks like a license plate to me!" And this was only after I told her she was supposed to do it!

This got me thinking that I may at some point want to see if "VET 958" is an available number, and if so, make a forgery from another plate. If I find two or three numbers that match, then it will be that much easier. There are plate restoration companies that would probably do it for you, but you'd probably have to wink and tell them it's just for fun and not for a car. And doing it youself wouldn't be that hard with a hammer, some bondo, and Home Depot color matched paint. Then register and install! Just a thought. ;)

- Mike


[Modified by 58Mike, 11:37 AM 3/26/2002]

7vettes

I've had a 64 Florida tag on my 64 Coupe for about 10 years. The statute that applied at that time was:

Division of Motor Vehicles Procedure # RS-08
Law Section 320.0805
"Antique Authenticated License Plates"

I got all the paperwork at the local Tag Agency (tax collector office). The tag itself had to be mailed to Tallahassee for "authentication" along with a letter of request, proof of insurance, proof of ownership of the vehicle and a certain amount of $$$, which at that time was around $45.00. They inspected the tag and returned it by Certified Mail ( postage due on delivery ). Then I had to take their paperwork back to the tag agency and get the Registration issued for the tag, for which they charge the same $$ as they do for Specialty Plates such as the Panther, Shuttle, etc.

It seemed like a pain at the time but I really enjoy having the tag on the Vette. BTW, I actually bought this tag at Carlisle from a vendor.

Good luck.
:cool:

Curtis

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like alot of work, but I will chip away at it, when I find one. I like the idea of buying a new unused plate if I can find one. Good to hear from someone from Florida who has been through all that.

Enjoy all,
Curt

Big Block 60

Curtis
You might want to give this guy a call. I got my plates (2) with the year tabs for the corners for 100.00 bucks in '97. They looked like they had never been used.
Russell's Antiques, 2404 West 111th Street, Chicago, Ill. phone-1-773-233-3205. I told him what I wanted, and he sent them to me telling me that if I'm not happy with them, just send them back and if I do want them, just send him a check for the agreed upon price. Unheard of in this day and age.