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MG TD TF 1500 - License Plate

For years I have been running a 1954 Georgia Licence plate on my TF. The Georgia State Patrol and the local cops have ignored it, and never pulled me over.
It is now legal in Georgia to register a vintage plate, so I did today, and am now legal. Tag wise, anyway. Tag renewal coincides with your birthday, so unfortunately, another big one is coming up and the old age of 66 is upon me. So, if you see an old geezer tooling by in a green TF with 54 Georgia plates, honk and wave as you pass. Thanks. Larry
Larry Brown

Love YOM plates... like travelling back in time!
gordon lawson - TD 27667

Larry,
I celebrated my 71st in April, so if you see an older geezer tooling around in a maroon TD with 53 Georgia plates, honk back (if the Prince of Darkness permits).
Dick
RF Wacht

Larry,

Congratulations on finally being 'legal'

I just picked up YOM plates on Ebay for my 52 TD when my restoration is complete. I still have to do battle with the evil DMV regarding my title, the car is registered under its engine number rather than its chassis.

As for milestone Birthdays, I'm having one tomorrow. Didn't expect to be there for it after my PE a couple of years ago, so it is a big Bonus!

dave (not a geezer, but hoping to be one someday)
Dave Braun

Dave... Happy Birthday (tomorrow)... assume it is the same one I will have in January. Will raise a glass (coke) tomorrow!
gordon lawson - TD 27667

Larry, Gord, RF, Dave, even though I'm on oxygen I will raise a we nip of Sheep Dip this weekend in honor of your longjevities! (big word EH)!
Greg & Grimm
G.J. Cenzer

What was the driving force to change the law in Georgia? I've got a nice set of 54 plates I'd love to run on the TF but the cutoff in Colorado is 42 or older. Don't ask the DMV why. It's just the law. Thought about getting personalised plates with the same charicatures and using the old plates while carrying the new ones in the car. They told me that the fuzz would most likely confiscate the plates, impound the car and haul me off to the pokey. Somebody tell me how to get the statute changed here.

LaVerne
LED DOWNEY

Does that not make you elegible?
gordon lawson - TD 27667

laverne, do you mean 1942 or older? if not, gordon and i have the same question. regards, tom
tm peterson

Ahhh... he means 1942 or older (what hat did they pull that one out of)

Colorado DMV info:

An original plate shall meet the following criteria in order to qualify for use of the plate:

The plates were made before 1943,
The plates are embossed with the year of original issue,
The plates are legible,
The plates were issued contemporaneously with the year of manufacture of the vehicle upon which they are displayed and,
The plates do not exceed seven characters.
Your vehicle must have been manufactured 1942 or prior. It will first be required to have a regular registration issued, such as a Horseless Carriage, Collector, or Street Rod series license plate. The vehicle must be insured. The applicant must sign & date the DR 2818, Authorization For Use Of Manufacture License Plates, declaration statement. Also, please submit a photocopy of the license plate when applying.


Ok... find your member of congress... tell him you represent over 100,000 antique vehicle owners and you would like him to make a members bill (this was done in Georgia)... have some fun with it!!!! (take him for a ride...invite him to a run or meeting... You know polititians....)
gordon lawson - TD 27667

Thank you Gordon! I bet we are, I'm younger than my car, and younger than the MG TF as well.

LaVerne, 1942 was the last year of domestic car production before the outbreak of WWII, although few cars were made before production ceased for four years. Therefore it has become an artificial line of demarcation between 'modern' cars and 'old' cars. From this point in history it is probably no longer a valid argument. You could get car clubs to band together to create a more reasonable YOM law. I'm grateful that Minnesota has just such a law, although here, with classic or YOM plates, you have to be going to or from a club event or car show. Hence, the Minnesota T Register has biweekly meetings, on Tuesdays and Sundays.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Simultaneous posting by Gordon and I... put them together and it is pretty nice post. Good Teamwork, Gordon!

dave
Dave Braun

LaVerne...

There is a Senate Bill (04-027) introduced at the 64th General Assembly of Colorado...believe this would be current that is: "Concerning the recodification of the statutes that concern vehicles"
This is a summary and under review...
House Sponsorship is: Berry, McFadyen, Stafford, Welker and Williams S. (assume these are your elected officials)...contact one, or all, or find when they meet and ask that an 'adjustment' be made to their Bill before it is acted upon... Bills are always bulked together ("we would like a streetlight on Main St. and a nuclear power plant")
Ask that the 1942 be changed to '50 years or older'.... have fun!
gordon lawson - TD 27667

Good thoughts fellas. I'm not sure our law makers care to deal with something so trivial, but Gordon is right about how it works. It doesn't seem like to big a deal to me as Colorado is already producing numerous speciality plates and the mechanisims are aready in place for YOM plates. I think a logical cut off point would be the last year Colorado sent out annual plates with the year embossed on the plate. Late 60's I believe. All done with with validation stickers now. None of the sponsors represent my area but I believe I'll send them a suggestion.

LaVerne
LED DOWNEY

We have a simliar situation in Ontario...1978 was the start of yearly stickers instead of new plates... YOM goes back from there. (When I got mine they were $10.00 to register and regular yearly fee...now they have become 'Vanity plates' and are $260.00 to register)
gordon lawson - TD 27667

Hi, everyone!

I am new to this particular forum and I am glad to see you folks from Georgia! We need to hook up sometime soon.

Just purchased a '51 TD from a local gentleman around the Atlanta area and we are LOVING it! The car is registered as a '52, Ivory with green interior and grill slats.

Now, the vintage plates are something new to me. As a Georgia resident, are you saying that if we come up with an old "vintage" car tag, that we can use that tag in place of buying a new one at tag time?

This is certainly interesting. Thanks in advance for the information.

Cheers,

Dave L
dave lackey

Yep...when I was doing the research on 'Colorado', I somehow got Georgia in my head and checked with their DMV (website).... your vehicle just has to be 25 years or older to have YOM plates...they have all the info. Believe you have to buy a 5 year sticker to use on them so it costs more at the outset!

Because the United States is one of the few countries in which license plate laws are not federalized, each state has its own take on year of manufacture laws. To register a car with vintage plates in North Carolina, for instance, a car must be at least 35 years old. In New York, it need only be in its 26th year. (New York also makes case-by-case exceptions to the age requirement for more recent unusual cars like DeLoreans

1-13 "40-2-8.2. (Index)

1-14 Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the
1-15 owner of any antique vehicle, as defined in Code Section
1-16 40-2-77, shall be authorized to display a license plate of
1-17 the year of manufacture of such vehicle, provided that the
1-18 owner has properly registered such vehicle for the current
1-19 year and obtained a current license plate or revalidation
1-20 decal for such vehicle, which currently valid license
1-21 plate shall be kept in such vehicle at all times, but
1-22 which need not be displayed in a manner to be visible from
1-23 outside the vehicle."
gordon lawson - TD 27667

Dave, Not sure about "Georgia" ...but in Ohio you still have to purchase and "carry" Historcial Plates & the regestration for those must be current. Then you can "display" YOM plates on the car.
Question for the lawyers in the crowd:
Historical plates in Ohio are a "one time" charge (no yearly fees) provided you take the next pair "off the shelf". The way I read the law as long as those and regestration are "carried in the car", you can "run" just about anything (YOM or say "55 MG", if you could find it!)
Historical "Vanity Plates" you have to pay a yearly fee for (was $15.00, now is $45.00).
So here's the question for the legal minds: Lets say I have a set of "old historical vanity plates" (TF1555) and I go purchase the next "off the shelf" Historical plates. Could I then run the "old vanity plate" on the car as long as I keep the new "historical" plate & regestration in the car?
Currently I run the Ohio historical vanity plate on the rear, and a European style plate on the front (also "TF 1555").
Only comment I have ever had from police was when stopped for speeding (clocked @ 105MPH but not ticked ...damn I would have framed it!) ...anyhow, he said "neat this is a real MG I love the matching paltes"
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

Being the pack-rat tha I am, I never threw away any of my license plates ... going back to my first TC in 1951 (age 18), my Triumph Mayflower, My Abarth Zagatos(2), my Alfa(2) and my Ferraris(2), and may others. So I have a great big box of Québec license plates including some still in the package, as we weren't required to mount the front one in those days.

We don't use tags in Québec and the license plat always shows the first year of issue after they stopped issuing new plates every year - 1979. Just don't get caught driving without valid plates. First offence is $500 (I know!) and the second is $1,000!

However Québec steadfastly refuses the use of vintage or vanity plates, so I quess I'll have to live with ZSC 358 (for you Yanks that's ZED, ESS SEE 358)! and, as it says on our plate "je me souviens". Don't ask me to explain!

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

This is the first year you can use vintage plates in Georgia. I think the vehicle has to be a 1970 or older. You must still purchase and carry a current licence plate, but you do not have to display it. I took my 1954 plate to the DMV, and they entered the number into the computer base. Suprisingly enough, I was not charged any extra fees. It did take three employees to figure out how to do it, as they have not done one before. Larry
Larry Brown

I live in Atlanta and have a 1950 Georgia license plate to go with my 1950 TD. My car was given to me by my father five years ago to restore and I'm 95% there. The car has two license plate holders on the back and my father always had the old '50 plate plus a current plate on there. I'll have to look into just going with the 1950 plate when I get her back on the road in a few weeks (I hope!).
Robert May

When my grandfather passed away I was given all of the Tennessee license plates that he had hanging in the basement. From 1954 to the seventies. My 54 TF sports the Black with yellow Tennessee shaped tag that once graced my grandfathers 54 Chevy. Here in Tennessee the YOM law requires that you can have that period plate as long as you have a current tag somewhere in the vehicle. In my case, I have a non renewable antique tag. One time purchase. However, the odd thing is that my 54 tag is not linked in anyway on a computer or otherwise with the tag that I registered the car with. I have run it for years and never a problem with the law.
M Whitt

It would be a good idea to have a copy of your State's law regarding YOM with you when pulled over. We had a club member stopped by a State Trooper that was not aware of the law & was told wrong information when he consilted with headquarters.

You can read about it in this past issue of our newsletter (page 3):

http://www.britcars.net/APR2005.pdf

Like Mark, I have a cool Tennessee State shaped 1955 tag to go on our TF.
Carl Floyd

I got info about this tag thing 3 or 4 years and started looking for one of my year. Found one restored, paid dearly and took it and one for 69 Ford pickup to local Dmv in Brookhaven and they registered the 52 but not the 69. Said 57 was last year it could be done. Have to keep the regular tag, (antique ) one in force and in car at all times along with the reg form given to me at time reg of the 52 tag. Lots of fun to have thei tag as Larry says. Hard for people to understand that it is legal and how it was done
Ellis Carlton

Carl,
Interesting thing in reading that:
"nonmodified engine & body" ...wow, talk about an "open-ended" stipulation! One could really take that to the exstream.
Would a "pertronix ignition" be considered an "engine mod"? Hardened Valves? A K&N filter? ..on and on, how many of us could claim to not have "some mod" in the last 50 or so years?
It all comes down to "officer" you get pulled over by...I guess.
My son was pulled over a few years ago in our old 87 Eagle wagon for no "brake light" and my son was issued citations for the light and "illeagle muffler". (car had 4 brake lights, one that was not working and a slightly warpped exhaust manifold)...we took the car to a highway patrol post where it passed an inspection with no problem and was issued a sticker on the way home from "impound lot" (next store),the officer had it towed to. Charges were dropped ..but we still got stuck with $150 towing & inpound fees!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

I have Ohio historical plates which I carry in the boot, but display a 1950 plate on the rear of the car. Don't know if I'm supposed to display one on front. The local police don't know, either. Guess they've got more important things to worry about than a shinny old MG TD doing under the speed limit on country roads with only one plate.
Steve Markman

Some one from California correct me if wrong, but I believe they allow you to use YOM plates and register them as current.

Of course in CA, the plates go with the car (here in Wisconsin, the plates stay with you). This is why you will see Black plate CA. MG;s for sale on e-bay.
Bruce Cunha

Bruce:

I can confirm that California does allow you to register YOM plates and use them as you would any other current plate. The cut-off year is 1962. I just registered my 55 TF with YOM plates. The early 50's plates were really just a 51 plate with a different colored metal tag issued with the corresponding year stamped on it. (52-55) The stamped metal tag is affixed to the bottom right hand corner of the plate. (i.e....'55 = gray). The license plate colors then changed in 1956 by esentially switching them around (yellow background/black lettering) versus (black background/yellow lettering). I believe, starting in 1957, that stickers were then issued. I'm now waiting on the current month/year stickers from the DMV. Apparently they also send a small plate to put the stickers, which you attach to the license plate, instead of having to place them on the plate itself. The early plates do not have the recess areas typical of more recent plates. You do need to have a cleared set to do this. One plate alone won't work.

As far as the plates staying with you or with the car I think it may be different than what you suggest. The plates I bought for the TF were from a guy here in California who previously had them on his 55 Caddy. He got rid of the Caddy but kept the plates. I still have a couple of sets of California plates off cars that I had previously registered in California years ago. When I moved, there was no demand or requirement from the other states to turn-in the California plates. Interestingly when I registered my 98 Jag, and now the 55 TF, the DMV did ask me to surrender my out-of-state (Florida) plates.

Cheers!!

Jim
Jim Rice

Thansk Jim

Thought they added the YOM a few years back. Unsure on the plates. Came from California and with all the cars I owned out there, the plates stayed with the car. You purchase the vehicle and the plates and registration are transferred to the new owner. Could be exceptions to that.
Bruce Cunha

To all looking for YOM plates:- Gerry Griffin has over 60,000 plates in his barn. The last email address I have for him is <gerald.griffin@worldnet.att.net>. If that no longer works shoot me an email and I will call him and get the latest.
Cheers,
Bob
R. K. (Bob) Jeffers

This thread was discussed between 14/07/2006 and 24/07/2006

MG TD TF 1500 index

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