Hi All,
My Herald came with a single black plate, alas my TR 4 had it's one
remaining black plate confiscated by the DMV after the previous owner got a
ticket for not having a front plate.
When I relocated to Arizona I had a slight ethical delima in that you are
supposed to surrender any license plates currently on the car before they
will issue a new plate. Well, I considered what to do, and decided that my
black plate could have been "lost" during my restoration.
It now resides with the other plates in my license plate collection. If I
decide to show my car and I want to look authentic I'll just take it with me
and put it on when I get there. I don't know if there is a law against
displaying my car (as opposed to driving) with incorrect plates, but I don't
really care.
So, unless you really have a strong desire to drive your car with peroid
license plates you can just buy whatever "collector" plates you want from
ebay and put them on your car for "display purposes only", as long as you
remember not to drive on a public highway with them.
However, if you buy a car with old plates and your state DMV won't let you
keep them you could always loose them during your restoration like I lost
mine. Just remember to ask before you actually get to the DMV.
I am not a lawyer, nor do I work for the DMV. If this advice gets you into
trouble it's your own damn fault for listening to me. But, I hate to think
of people struggling with the DMV for such petty BS. Yes, obey the laws of
your local, state, and federal jurisdictions, but don't let them stop you
from having fun.
YMMV....
Cheers,
John Matthews
'61 Herald (with regular AZ plates)
'63 TR 4 (with AZ historic vehicle plates)
P.S.
Here in AZ it costs an extra $25/yr to have these special copper license
plates. Occasionally I'll see someone in a beat-up, old '75 Chevy truck with
historic plates. I can't figgure out why anyone would spend the extra money
to have historic plates on such a vehicle. Even if the intent is to restore
it, why not wait until it's fixed up?
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