well at least for me.

As of 3 days ago, my car is officially old enough to qualify for "safety only". Today I only had to pay $14.50 to get a sticker on my car, it was GREAT.

My sticker expired at the end of november, but I let the car sit in the garage for a month so I wouldn't have to put it through testing. there's not that many places in my city that have a working dyno, and it's kind of a pain.

I love not having to worry about the random check engine light that seems to come on every now and then. I think it's the EGR, but I didn't want to fix it until I do my 3.4 swap.

FREE AT LAST!

i thought they had to be 25 for that. or was yours built in 1988.

no it's an 89. the law in Texas is 24 years or older. I lot of people think of that as "older than 24" but an 89 qualifies

edit: maybe not.. see my next post

I hate you. I have two more years.

you know... looking at the state website, it says 2-24 years... Sure does sound like my car should have had one more year.

oh well, I have a sticker, and by the time I have to worry about it again, it will be 25 years old.

LOL!!!

So i decided to change from 'Classic' to 'Antique' last month and ran into what i think is an unusual situation. The clerk had to call her manager over as it appeared she wasn't sure how to handle this. The manager looked at me with what i can only describe as 'the evil eye' and STRESSED to me in no uncertain terms that i can only drive the car to and from an event. Well i been married a couple of times so the evil eye no longer has any affect on me. What was interesting though was that i had to have my antique plates prorated because the 'antique plates cycle' doesn't begin till March. I had no idea this was done this way. Well i did get my new plates with the '313' in the top right hand corner which i am sure means 'March 2013'. The plates are good for 5 years from that date.

Still waiting for a cop to freak out on me over no window stickers or front plate... hehehehe

My 58 doesn't have any window stickers either, plus it has plates from 1958, but I guess that's more expected than on a 3rd gen.

Indeed. I think the 3rd gen design was so futuristic that it fits right in in todays world and doesn't look like an antique.

I've had an Antique plate for 6 years now and if anything, I get less attention than before.

Most law enforcement types seem to know the relevant law. I have had a couple give me funny looks, but once the saw the rear plate they were on their way.

That car :') she's beautiful. My buddy has a 56

I just noticed this...

My plates, that I got 5 years ago say 3-13 (yes, that is March 2013). I should get new plates in March that say 3-18. I think they may have given you 2 month plates, not 5 year and 2 month plates.

I bet your right!

What's the difference between classic and antique in terms of registration? Or am I even asking the right question? My '89 was built in November of '88.

Still need to look into classic insurance...

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/RSD/VI/uniqueVeh.htm

annual inspections and what they inspect. antique every 5 years. classic every year.

Once it is 25 model years old, there is no more emission testing regardless of how it is registered.

Classic isn't really very different than a standard registration except you have additional license plate options..

Antique is registered every 5 years and is only $10 a year (+county fees) and it is EXEMPT from inspection. There are "restrictions" on when and where you are supposed to drive, but they are very vague and you could make a case that almost anything would fall into one of the allowed categories. My favorite is "to/from any event of public interest" I've never once had a law enforcement type ask me where I was going, even when they were angry and writing me a ticket.

What about from an insurance standpoint? Which one is cheaper, easier & provides the most coverage? IIRC, with Classic insurance, your premium is based on a value agreed upon by you and the insurer, right? But does it cover damage to other vehicles?

From the registration side, unless I'm missing something, it looks like the major benefit of antique registration is that it's cheaper and easier to do it as an antique. So why would people register their vehicles as classics, other than fewer driving restrictions and prettier plates?

Most insurance companies don't care how you register it.

"Classic" insurance mostly just looks at miles driven and year of car to determine eligibility. Liability coverage is included. I don't think it matters how it is registered.

Antique registration also allows the same plate options as "classic", but the added benefit of lower cost and no inspection.

"Classic" registration allows the car to continue to be used as a daily driver. Technically, "antique" registration does not allow the car to be used as a daily driver.