Who here has collector plates on their car? I'm curious about Minnesota in particular. I just bought a 72 Chevelle that has collector plates on it. What are the laws regarding collector plates in Minnesota? I did look at the MN state website, but the law seems pretty vague. Am I going to get a ticket for using the car to go to the store and grab a gallon of milk or cruising around town? Any help/opinions/stories would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: I couldn't really decide which forum was right for this question, so I hope this is OK!

I have them on mine and it just means that you dont have to pay for tabs, also if you dont wear a seatbelt you wont get in trouble for it if you have the collector plates, whereas if you have normal plates you would, I think thats it but I will ask my cousin who is a cop and tell me anything else

Well in WI, cars with collector plates may not be driven in Jan and only have to pass emissions once in the lifetime of the car if it is 69 or newer I believe. Also the plate fe is a 1 time thing, no renewing every year.

I was told when I got mine that I can only drive in & to parades & to car shows. I take it for an occasional drive to work etc. I think it depends on the law enforcement in your area as to weather you get a ticket or not. I was also told that I had to have another licensed vehicle in my name for regular use.

Here a link to the statuates:

http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/168/

i had collector plates on my Nova for 4 years, and i drove that thing everywhere. got pulled over 3 times , and none of the cops even mentioned it- and one of them was a state trooper (they are known for being sticklers for little details like that) that pulled me over at 3 am on a country road 5 miles from the nearest town for "going a bit too fast around a curve"- but i think he was just bored because he didn't even ask for my license or insurance.
so, in a nutshell, you can get them for a small fee up front- i think i paid $35 for them- as long as you have another car registered as your daily driver. hell, there were a few times when the Nova was the only car i had insured, and was used for my daily driver for months on end.

I also have MN collector plates on my 72, and have heard about the no commuting to work rule, but have never seen it inforced. I've seem our city attorney park his firebird outside his law office all summer long with collector plates and he seems to get by with it.
Steve

Thanks for the replies. I had a feeling it wasn't really enforced all that heavily. It's not going to be a daily driver or anything, but I just wanted to make sure I can drive it freely on the weekends and some evenings. If I get pulled over, I want it to be because I "just had to" put some Honda with a Folger's can for an exaust pipe in it's place!

I also have collector plates on my 66SS. Been there since I bought it in 93. I even had to use it for daily trans one summer for a few weeks.

Never got pulled over for it once, even on some odd day like a tuesday afternoon or whatever. Its never been mentioned.

Not only that, But I have also been testing my luck with a front license plate in the first place. The 2000 Car Craft Nationals gave out one of thier nicest plates, so I put it on the front for that show and I just never took it off. Havent gotten in trouble for that yet either. My regular plate is behind the plate anyways so I can change it back.

Chris.

All these Minnesotans in one topic seems like a good chance for a shameless plug ;) www.northstarchevelles.com (http://www.northstarchevelles.com)

What is the rule on having a plate from year of manufacture? I know a spot to pick up some plates that are 50-68.

This is off the MN DPS website.

Collector Vehicle Registration
Vehicles registered in any of the collector classes are restricted to operation solely as a collector item. These vehicles cannot be used for general transportation purposes. Owner has the choice of being one or two license plates for display. If one plate is chosen, the plate must be displayed on the rear of the vehicle. All license plates (with the exception of original Minnesota license plates), are issued out of the central office. No-fault insurance requirements apply to collector vehicles.

Originally posted by daveseitz:
What is the rule on having a plate from year of manufacture? I know a spot to pick up some plates that are 50-68. Dave, I checked into that to see if I could just get a set of plates for the 66 at a swap meet to match my year.

I see tons of restored cars with the correct year plate so I asked around at car shows and was told that basicly, you get the number off the plate you plan to use. The DMV runs it to see if that number is still being used, if not they register it to you and you can reuse it.

I was told that by a few car owners that, thats exactly what they did too. I asked the DMV several years ago and they comfirmed that. It may be different now though.

Chris.

I have vintage plates on my 70. I had to take the plate to the DMV to register it and have it photo copied. It runs under the same limitations as the collector plates. One time registration fee, no renewal fee.