license plates

I have a fully restored 1930 Model A. I want to put original 1930 license plates on it.

The plates I have are un-restored. Should I put them on as is, or restore then to match the car?

If the license plate is rough, rusty, other than great condition, it could cause a deduction in points since it is attached to the car. If you put them on for driving, take them off when you reach the show field, or get restored plates.

Just a comment Dave.

While I was doing research on Pennsylvania's House Bill 1203, which would allow the use of Year of Manufacture (YOM) license plates, I checked up on what the other 50 states were allowing.

Approximately 38 of the states allow YOM plates, but some of the states had a clause that stated you could not repaint / restore the plate and it had to be in original condition.

If you have a pre-war car it may be difficult to fine a perfect plates if you live in one of those states.

Visit my website at: Bob's Vintage Cars

Vila

1933 Chevrolet

1962 Triumph TR4

1984 BMW 633 CSi

YOM plates are allowed in W. Va. Not sure about if they can be restored or not but my bet is that people will if the plate is less than in good condition.

About a month and a half ago we saw a license plate on an early fifties car and the owner had obviously taken the license plate along to the paint shop when he had the car painted because the plate was the same mint green as the car and the letters/numbers were the other slightly off white as the rest of the car. NOT correct restoration of the license plate at all. If and when the police see that he will get ticketed for that I am sure.

It looked nice but.......

I was assuming since the question was classified in "judging" it was asked in reference to the show field. As such, I stick by my answer....either have excellent original plates, restored plates, or remove them for the show field entirely. I assume also that the statement "restore them to match the car" meant the same level of excellence the car had been restored to. As far as different states' laws on plates on cars for road use, I plead total ignorance!!!

Dave A -

You are correct: "match the car" was meant as in quality of restoration, not colors.

I thank everyone for their help.

- ELD

Have I told this story?

Some years ago, I was driving an old modified Ford here in Virginia. I had never put a license tag on the front, becuase it had no license plate holder, and me being lazy:rolleyes:, I never put one on the front.

For some reason I can't remember now, I had some rear sheet metal work done to that old Ford, and I forgot to put the rear license plate on.:confused:

So here I am tooling home from a cruise-in with no front or back plate when I meet a trooper. I knew I wasn't speeding, this time:o ,so I couldn't figure out why he stopped me. He 'plained to me that I needed a plate on my car. I told him that I was having trouble finding a holder....

"How about the rear plate?":eek: "Ugggg, Oh, that's in the back seat!":(

Anyway, he let me drive it home and I promised to get it back on.

The message here is that antique cars and their somewhat retarded drivers sometimes can get by with a lot of stuff.

Wayne

Just a comment Dave.

While I was doing research on Pennsylvania's House Bill 1203, which would allow the use of Year of Manufacture (YOM) license plates, I checked up on what the other 50 states were allowing.

Approximately 38 of the states allow YOM plates, but some of the states had a clause that stated you could not repaint / restore the plate and it had to be in original condition.

If you have a pre-war car it may be difficult to fine a perfect plates if you live in one of those states.

Visit my website at: Bob's Vintage Cars

Vila

1933 Chevrolet

1962 Triumph TR4

1984 BMW 633 CSi

The second paragraph leads one to ask who within those states would be qualified to tell the difference between a "new" plate or one expertly restored?

It once was here in Texas all one had to do is take the YOM plates to the County Tax Assessor's office and if the clerk at the window believes them to be in serviceable condition you're good to go. Needless to say those clerks probably couldn't tell a restored plate from an original, especially if dealing with a color scheme that may have occurred 30 or more years before they were born. However, that all changed on September 1st of this year and no YOM plates not currently registered to a classic vehicle are allowed. If one makes the mistake of not renewing their YOM plates they will loose the right to used them forever, unless the nit-wits on the Department of Motor Vehicles Board pull their heads out of their you know what and choose to re-instate the use of YOM plates.

Of course it's all about the money. They want everyone to buy a new type of plate for a "classic" car and or a Specialty Plate.

Of course it's all about the money.

Yep..always is...

If you can email pictures of the front and back of the plates, I can give you a price on restoration. wwlarry7@aol.com

topic is well over a yr old.

Hey I'm just telling you what I found in my research and not my personal opinion.

I just love it when others quote me in their postings, it's a sign of flattery.

But now that you brought it up, I have repainted vintage plate on one of my cars.

Vila

1933 Chevrolet

1962 Triumph TR4

1984 BMW 633 CSi

Almost all YOM plates in WVA. I have a 1921 plate for my 21 Stanley, and the DMV will not allow me to use it as the number falls in their handicap numbers, and they do not want to remove that number from the handicaps.

Almost all YOM plates in WVA. I have a 1921 plate for my 21 Stanley, and the DMV will not allow me to use it as the number falls in their handicap numbers, and they do not want to remove that number from the handicaps.

Interesting. Have you tried to find one with a number that doesn't fall into that range?