I believe when a vehicle is over 25 year old, it qualifies as a classic and you can register it as a classic. How many of you do that and what is the benefit of registering it as a classic. Is the registration fee and insurance cheaper? Are there restrictions such as how much and how often you can drive the car? Does the rules vary from state to state or insurance co?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I think the rules vary.

In Texas, you can register a car 25 y/o old or older normally, as a classic or as an antique.

Classic does not have driving restrictions, and you you can use plates from the model year the car was built. The car must also pass safety and emissions in place at the time the car was built.

Antique has restrictions, like to and from the shop, to and from a show, tour, parade, or other special event. It is assigned a plate stating antique auto, or you can use a plate from the model year the car was built.

The plates must pass a reflective test before using them on the classic and antique cars.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

99 W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, chipped, DPF/Converter Delete. Still needs EGR Delete, 232K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Gone and still missed...1982 w123 300D, 1991 w124 300D

In the Areas of Georgia where plates are used (Metropolitan)[The rest of us
still use the paper used car "Drive Out" tags...good for 30 days...get a new
one every month.][This is still the Old South ...Revenooers paper, suspect.]
a 25 year old chassis entitles you to spend extra money for a plate with a cute
pictogram of a "Tin Lizzie" on the left side...And drive to your Heart's content.

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

It all depends on where you live. Which state is of interest to you?

SteveM.

__________________
'93 190E/D 2.5 Turbodiesel 5-speed (daily driver)
'87 190D 2.5 Turbo rustbucket - parts car
'84 Dodge Rampage diesel - Land Speed Record Holder
'13 Ram 2500 Diesel
'05 Toyota 4Runner

Heh,

This brought back memories of my time in Dekalb county. I had a 1979 Cadillac and I called the DMV to ask about "classic" plates. I was a poor student and was hoping to catch a break on my $800 car. As CompressIgnite says, you get the privilege of paying more for an uglier license plate and that is it!

@rrgrassi
Could I pick up an old Texas plate from Wimberley market days and take that to my tax and title office and have them assign the plate to my car? I guess whatI am asking is how do you get a date-appropriate plate if one didn't come with the car?

__________________

Current Mercedes
1979 maple yellow 240D 4-speed

Gone and fondly remembered:
1980 orient red 240D 4-speed

Gone and NOT fondly remembered:
1982 Chna Blue 300TD

Other car in the stable:
2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI / 6-speed MT

Yes, I have a '74 TR6 registered as an antique - I bought a set of '74 Texas plates on eBay and took them with me when I first registered the car as an antique in '99. They registered them to the car and the cost for antiques registeration in Texas is about $58 for 5-years. I have it insured with all insurance coverages (liability, comprehensive, etc) and that runs $118 per year with an antique speciality insuror - I can drive the car up to 5,000 miles per year - no commuting miles allowed.

__________________
Houston, Texas
1984 300CD 235K miles, Elvira, one owner
1987 300TD 180K miles
1974 TR6 78K miles Sarah Jane, one owner
OBK #27

The classic plates here in FL are baby blue with white #'s, look stupid on a yellow car.

__________________
1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon
1979 280CE 225,200 miles
1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles
1976 240D 190,000 miles
1979 300TD 220,000

GONE but not forgotten
1976 300D 195,300 miles
1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg

I am holding off on those plates till I get set up in TX this winter.....
What do the Tx plates look like anyway?.

__________________
81 Mercedes 300SD 289k.......SOLD
82 Mercedes 300CD 252k......slow ride

82 mercedes 300 SD...mi Unknown
83 Mercedes 300D ????ksniff..gone too
84 Mercedes 300D 148k........SOLD
85 Mercedes 300TD 386k and holding some one elses project

check the internet for your local(state) dmv. I was interested in a classic plate for my 81 here in pa. They restrict classic/collectible/antique plates to 1 day a week only, and driving two and from shows. i did not even get a chance to look into insurance once i saw that

2000-2008:


2009-:

__________________
'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Yeah, but they look ohh so right on the back of an astral silver SLC! (see my avitar pic)

Here in FL, the car needs to be 30 year model years old. My '78 became eligible for the "antique" tag last september and has been sporting the blue tag since October. There are no restrictions on mileage or anything. The registration drops to a flat $22 (give or take a dollar and some cents) anualy, regarless of weight class. You have your choice of the blue tag or any other plate at the same price.

__________________
". . .back before accountants designed cars"

-Current Stable-
'78 MB 450SL-C 107.024.12.020783 #3840 <Kayleen>
'85 FORD F250 6.9L Diesel <Allison>
'98 Lexus ES300 <Rachel>
Long Gone...
'74 Chevy G10...........................'99 GMC Yukon 4X4
'83 Chevy Suburban 6.2 diesel .....'99 SAAB 9-5
'90 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS............. '01 Chevy Tahoe
'98 Nissan Altima .......................'02 MB ML320
'88 Chevy Suburban V2500 4X4 6.2 diesel

25yrs old is classic in Colorado. You have to buy 5 yrs worth of registration to get the plates but it means you don't need emissions tests anymore which cost about $65 per year for a diesel so it's worthwhile.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I thought they discontinued the antique plates in Florida??

__________________
1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination

For MO, you send the title in and they send it back with your new plates. These cost something like $25, do not expire and no inspection is needed then or ever again.

They also come with a log book. You are allowed a number of miles for unlimited use. I think it is 2K miles. Might be 1K. Driving to and from and in car shows or races does not come off of your allotment, but driving to work would.

In WI you get 11months of the year to use it, has to be only 20years old. In MI you can get Antique (special) plates and you have limited use, parades/shows etc. "and the like", can also register original year plates as classic plates, same rules but one-time buy (cheap), all must be 25years old.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff