CORVETTE CLUB OF RICHMOND

By:  Gregory E. Lucyk

I am a member of the Car Club Council of Virginia and have worked with the Council for the last several years to monitor legislative changes in Virginia’s antique motor vehicle registration laws.  I also own a 1961 Corvette and a 1971 MGB – both registered with vintage tags, and therefore have some personal experience with these special license plates.  There are a number of CCR club members who own early Corvettes (C-1 to C-3) and have some interest in better understanding the laws governing antique and vintage vehicle registration.  This article is intended to address that interest.

By way of definition, an “antique motor vehicle” is defined under Virginia law as a vehicle that is 25 years old and “owned solely as acollector’s item.”  Such vehicles may be registered with antique or “vintage” license plates.  Vintage tags are actual DMV license plates originally issued for a vehicle model year.  DMV issued yearly plates until 1976 – black plates in even numbered years, and white plates in odd numbered years.  There are a few vendors in the area that sell and refurbish these original tags, and if the plate number is not already assigned, DMV will register your same model year vehicle to the plates.  Note that vintage tags carry the same legal requirements and restrictions under the law as the familiar yellow or black antique plates.

Antique and vintage tags are referred to as “limited use” plates, although in practice, the limitations are not unduly burdensome.  Virginia Code Section 46.2-730 states that antique plates “shall not be used for general transportation purposes, including, but not limited to daily travel to and from the owner’s place of employment.”  Vehicles with antique plates may be driven:

*  “For participation in club activities, exhibits, tours, parades and similar events”, or

*  “On the highways of the Commonwealth, for the purpose of testing their operation or selling the vehicle, obtaining repairs or maintenance, transportation to and from the events described above”, and

*  “FOR OCCASIONAL PLEASURE DRIVING NOT EXCEEDING 250 MILES FROM THE RESIDENCE OF THE OWNER”

I emphasize this last provision because it is fairly new, having been added to the code in 2004.  Before this “occasional pleasure driving” language was added, the antique tag restrictions were in fact quite limiting.  Now, however, you may drive your vehicle, for recreational purposes most any time.  Feel free to go out for a spin in the country on a pleasant evening or a weekend afternoon and stop for dinner or an ice cream.  Golfers may throw the clubs in the trunk and stop off to play eighteen or to hit a few balls at the driving range.  You can take a drive up to Afton Mountain in the fall to look at the colors, or to Monticello for a quick tour.  A day trip to one of our fine Virginia Vineyards is a perfectly acceptable cruise.  Any such “occasional pleasure driving” does not have to be related to a club activity, and you don’t have to be traveling with other antique vehicles to be legal.  The only real limitation is the “not exceeding 250 miles from the residence” provision.  As I read this, coming from Richmond, it would be perfectly all right to drive solo to Smith Mount Lake for a day on the water, but a trip to the Barter Theatre in Abingdon to take in a show would exceed the statute.  Seems arbitrary, but the legislature decided to draw the line somewhere.

Note also that the 250 mile limitation applies ONLY to the “occasional pleasure driving” provision.  It does not restrict the other permissible uses.  If you are engaged in any club or exhibit related activity (such as a solo trip to enter the annual show at Carlisle, or a club organized trip to the National Corvette Museum) you are “participat[ing] in a club activity, exhibit,” etc. and would not be subject to the mileage limitation.

In sum, the intent of the statute is to prohibit the use and abuse of antique tag vehicles for everyday “general transportation,” such as commuting to and from work, and especially for commercial purposes.  If you see a van with antique plates that says “Acme House Painting” on the side, with ladders stacked up on top, and a driver wearing paint spattered scrubs, that owner is probably violating the antique tag law.  For my own, I would not drive one of my vintage tag cars to work on a daily or regular basis.  However, if I was planning to use my lunch hour for a parts run to Zip Products and wanted to be sure I had a correct interior color match, or had plans to attend a club meeting at a restaurant right after work, I would not be reluctant to drive the car to work, and then leave from there to my permitted destination.

There are some advantages to having antique or vintage tags.  You do not have to pay annual personal property tax on an antique or vintage registered vehicle.  Also, there is no annual registration requirement, and no annual safety inspection requirement.  You only need to register the tag once.  You will pay a one time $50 registration fee, and you must sign a statement confirming that the vehicle “is capable of being safely operated on the highways of the Commonwealth.”  You also must provide “evidence” that you own or have regular access to another vehicle with conventional tags.  Again, these are all one-time initial registration requirements.  There is no annual renewal or other certification requirement.  (Note:  The statute also sets forth procedures to register your vintage license plate as a “general transportation” tag.  That, however, entails annual fees, renewals, inspections, and personal property tax liability, and otherwise is beyond the scope of this article).

You should be aware that some of the Collector Car Insurance companies (who offer “agreed value” insurance at very reasonable rates) may require you to have antique or vintage tags, or at least to certify that you operate the car only for “limited use” purposes similar to those outlined above.  They may also require you to keep the vehicle in a locked garage.  If you have an early generation Corvette with some value, you might want to consider obtaining agreed value insurance.  Chances are, if you have conventional insurance and suffer a total loss of your vehicle, you will not collect the full, actual market value or investment cost of your vehicle.

You should also note that enforcement of antique vehicle tag limitations is a priority issue for the Car Club Council.  There have been bills introduced in the General Assembly in the last few years to delete the “occasional pleasure driving” provision of the statute, due to a perception of abuse of antique tags by folks who want to avoid the annual inspection or payment of personal property tax.  These bills have been defeated, but the votes have been close.  If you should see the above described house painter’s van, or some other smoking, bald tired junker with antique tags driving down the road, take a picture of the car, with plate number visible, and email it to fredfann@hotmail.com.  Fred Fann is the President of the Car Club Council, and he will forward the picture to his contacts at the Virginia State Police for investigation.  Be aware that the penalties for violating the law have been stiffened in recent years.  A violation of the statute is a Class 4 misdemeanor ($250 fine) and revocation of the owner’s privilege of registering a vehicle with antique or vintage tags for a period of five years from the date of conviction.

In sum, the laws regulating the licensure of antique vehicles in Virginia strike a good balance.  The law recognizes that antique and vintage plates are intended to be “limited use” tags not intended for everyday, general transportation, but the statutory language is written broadly enough to provide ample opportunities for classic car owners to enjoy their vehicles.