hey folks- can any of you new jersey vette owners out there give me some advice? what is the difference between "historic" plates (aka QQ plates), street rod plates, and classic car registration?

im thinking of doing the historic plates, since my vette qualifies, and i like the idea of not having to worry about inspection, but i hear there are tight restrictions.

any advice on this?

Hey!  I'm going through this myself right now actually.  I have a '77 that doesn't have any emissions stuff on it now and I've been driving around for a while with an expired inspection sticker because I know it won't pass.  From info I have gathered from the DMV website and people who have them here it goes:

Street Rod:The modified car must have been manufactured before 1949. The owner must be registered in a NJ street rod club or an affiliate of the National Streed Rod Association.

Collector Vehicle:Can't be registered as historic or street rod.  You have to have collector car insurance and the car cannot be driven more than 3,000 miles a year.  You have to go to the inspection station where all they check is your mileage.

Historic(QQ tags):Car must be 25 years old and is only used for "exhibition" purposes.

I was a little worried about the restrictions and I asked a bunch of people who have the QQ tags and all of them said there really isn't any restrictions.  I was told the restrictions pretty much come from the insurance if you choose classic car insurance, and it varied depending on who you go through (the least being 2500 miles/yr).  I was told that there is no inspection at all, but one person said he had a card in the mail that he had to write down his mileage and send it back, but he thought that was through his insurance not registration.  Either way, they all said nobody checks anything!

I'd have the QQ tags now, but my problem is that the owner has to be 25 as well as the car!  I have to wait until April, so I have to get by until about November, that's about when I'll really stop driving it.

Let me know if you find out any more info.

Steve,

I would say that 90-95% of collector cars over 25 years old have "QQ" Historic Vehicle Plates in NJ.  The first thing I did after getting my car was to order the QQ plates.  They were issued w/ no questions asked.

I'm sure you have seen plenty of these cars (all makes) driving around, I guess you can call that a "rolling historical exhibition."  I have actually never seen a pre-49 car with the "R" Street Rod Plates. 

All you need for the QQ's is the proper forms & 2 pictures of your car, and as far as I know, yearly mileage checks do not apply (except to your insurance co).  The forms can either be mailed in (necessary for personalized tags) or you can get them same day if you go to Trenton.

Here's the "official" NJ rules:      http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/cit_plates/specalh.htm

Good luck,

Anthony

Thanks for the info guys! My insurance company is hagerty, and they do not have tight restrictions on how much or where i drive, so the qq plates work for me.

great help! thanks a bunch!