First some background:
California DMV has many registration programs and many more specialty license plates for automobiles. One little used one is the Historic Vehicle program. California's designation of "Historic" is actually pretty broad; here is the text from the DMV code:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc5004.htm
V C Section 5004 Vehicles of Historic Value
Vehicles of Historic Value
5004. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, any owner of a vehicle described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) which is operated or moved over the highway primarily for the purpose of historical exhibition or other similar purpose shall, upon application in the manner and at the time prescribed by the department, be issued special identification plates for the vehicle:
(1) A motor vehicle with an engine of 16 or more cylinders manufactured prior to 1965.
(2) A motor vehicle manufactured in the year 1922 or prior thereto.
(3) A vehicle which was manufactured after 1922, is at least 25 years old, and is of historic interest.
(b) The special identification plates assigned to motor vehicles with an engine of 16 or more cylinders manufactured prior to 1965 and to any motor vehicle manufactured in the year 1922 and prior thereto shall run in a separate numerical series, commencing with "Horseless Carriage No. 1".
The special identification plates assigned to vehicles specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) shall run in a separate numerical series, commencing with "Historical Vehicle No. 1".
Each series of plates shall have different and distinguishing colors.
(c) A fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) shall be charged for the initial issuance of the special identification plates. Such plates shall be permanent and shall not be required to be replaced. If such special identification plates become damaged or unserviceable in any manner, replacement for the plates may be obtained from the department upon proper application and upon payment of such fee as is provided for in Section 9265.
(d) All funds received by the department in payment for such identification plates or the replacement thereof shall be deposited in the California Environmental License Plate Fund.
(e) These vehicles shall not be exempt from the equipment provisions of Sections 26709, 27150, and 27600.
(f) As used in this section, a vehicle is of historic interest if it is collected, restored, maintained, and operated by a collector or hobbyist principally for purposes of exhibition and historic vehicle club activities.
Amended Ch. 918, Stats. 1984. Effective January 1, 1985.
For the record, those sections mentioned in subsection (e) pertain to mirrors, mufflers, and fenders respectively.
A few key points of discussion have come up in my research:
1. Qualifications and Restrictions: I am actively pursuing this because even though there is a pretty heavy restriction on a vehicle's usage with these plates, in my case I'm already following these restrictions anyway. This is further bolstered and enforced by my current ACI collectors insurance policy. So to me, I met these qualifications on all counts. Beside, other than the threat of what your insurance company will say about coverage in the event of accident or claim, state authorities have little interest in enforcing these measures (especially here in Los Angeles it seems).
2. Smog: The reason this program is such a hotly discussed and debated issue pertains to whether or not you will need to Smog your car after you enter this program. Here in CA any car MY 1976 and newer must posses its' original Emissions equipment and in operation. All cars post '75 are mandated to be tested every two years (or upon sale and title transfer). This, as you are all aware, is becoming increasingly more difficult for us here in CA as time marches on (at least through proper, legal means as is the spirit of the law). There has been multiple anecdotal evidence over the years that, despite the clear text above, those folks that have gone this route have not received a Smog testing notice on their registration since registering this way. This I admit was the primary reason I pursued this program as I would love to restore the M535 to its' original Euro exhaust configuration without the O2 Sensor, Cat, and Johnson Box. (I justify this attitude as this car is driven so little, that any affect it may have on the environment is extremely negligible).
You can see these discussions here at these forums from Ferrari, Corvette, Porsche, and others; some threads are quite old, but others are up to date:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/califo ... plate.html
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-tech ... lates.html
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche- ... -them.html
http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/52341-c ... al-plates/
I most recently talked to two individuals at this year's SoCal Vintage Meet (the only two cars on the field that had these plates), one a '77 2002 whose owner only recently registered this way and the other an '85 M635CSi whose owner had done this several years ago. The 2002 didn't have to Smog this year (CA does not require a Smog Certificate if you are maintaining ownership even for this type of registration change) so it is unknown yet what his fate will be while the M635 was on year 3 with no Smog notice yet. I was hopeful despite coming across this notice from CA DMV:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 7178,d.eW0
Suffice it to say, I will paraphrase: it is an internal memo from CA DMV dated 2012 clarifying and stating very definitively that regardless of a post '75 vehicle being registered as Historic, does not mean it is exempt from the bi-annual Smog testing requirement. It goes further to say that any exemption that was previously granted, was incorrect and should not have been done so. So there you go, however if it weren't for that conversation this past October with the M635's owner, I would say this issue has been officially closed. But time will tell.
3. Procedure: So, I decided to take the plunge. You have to do this at the DMV; specialty programs such as this as not handled by AAA. This was the first time I stepped foot in a DMV office in about a decade. The form is available on the DMV's wesbite, but you will have to process it in person at an office. First off, beyond the usual DMV bureaucratic apathy, be prepared for the clerk to know nothing of this program and their push-back. Be patient and allow them the time to research this in the computer, multiple binders, and supervisors. Also, important note: in order to get this designation, you have to be granted it from the central DMV HQ in Sacramento; it is not official until they do so. So this is really just an application and request process; you may have them refuse it whereupon you will have to appeal their decision (a process I know nothing about). After some time, the clerk finally figured it out and told me the following:
A. Since this a "special application" with DMV, expect the final approval to take 3-4 months.
B. When and if your application is approved, the new plates may either arrive at the DMV office you're applying from or on your door step.
C. You will have to surrender your current license plates at a DMV office (as expected).
D. Even if you receive the new plates in the mail, they may or may not be activated and assigned to the car yet. Since there is no real way to know this (even though they shipped mine with a new temp registration card), you will have to come into a DMV office to verify. Also this would be the time to surrender your old plates; it would make sense they do this deliberately so they can get those old plates (plates for cars in CA are permanently assigned to a car for life and cannot be transferred unless they are vanity or specialty plates).
I went to the office with a stack of paperwork ready to state my case about the eligibility of my M535 as historic along with my insurance policy statement. All this is probably a good precaution because you never know what to expect from the DMV staff, but in the end my clerk could really care less as long as the age of the car was correct. After all, the final decision is not up to them, but Sacramento. However, if you are registering the car for the first time in CA, then I suppose it will be a tougher process where you may have to do more negotiating at the window.
In conclusion:
So I applied back around the 12/10 before my registration was to expire as was given my temp registration. Since the car wasn't going anywhere right now, it was no big deal. Last Saturday, these arrived on my doorstep:
Well in advance of what I was told (+/-3-4 months) so I wasn't expecting these until March.
So in the end, at the worst I have a new set of unique license plates that are cheaper than my personalized vanity plates. At best, I will have these plates and not have to Smog the car again; we will see come this December (when it's due again).
Hope this is informative for all the Californians who are thinking about this (either on this board or out there in the general car population).
No safety inspection in VA for antique cars, either. I got mine mostly because I got tired of trying to get my reverse lights to work.
