Community Forums

muskamoot · 09-06-2014, 09:07 AM

Any owners in Michigan running historical plates on their motorhomes? I have a 89 Fleetwood that I want to register next year as historic.It fits all the age criteria and actually would fit the use restrictions.I asked at the local SOS office and the counter people said motorhomes are exempt from being historic vehicles.I read the law and the requirements,but cannot find any exemption in it.

wa8yxm · 09-06-2014, 03:10 PM

I have also read the law.. Historic plates are for occasional use in historic vehicle events.. I have NEVER seen a motor home at a classis/historical car show, not once (Except in spectator areas).

Using it for your daily driver. NOT allowed.

By the way... Did you know if you can find a 1989 license plate, You can put that on a 1989 vehicle as your historical plate (Properly registered with SOS that is).

Same with any over 20 or 25 (Forget which) year old ride and matching year plate. IE: 1913 plate on a 1913 car.

muskamoot · 09-06-2014, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

I have also read the law.. Historic plates are for occasional use in historic vehicle events.. I have NEVER seen a motor home at a classis/historical car show, not once (Except in spectator areas).

Using it for your daily driver. NOT allowed.

By the way... Did you know if you can find a 1989 license plate, You can put that on a 1989 vehicle as your historical plate (Properly registered with SOS that is).

Same with any over 20 or 25 (Forget which) year old ride and matching year plate. IE: 1913 plate on a 1913 car.

I agree with the daily driver being out,but i had a vintage travel trailer with a historic plate and felt it was justified.We belonged to a camping club that had a big interest in vintage trailers and we fit right in.Michigan also allows the historic plated vehicles to be driven without restriction during the month of August.I only get out a few times a year and tend to congregate with the vintage owners.

tderonne · 09-07-2014, 05:34 AM

Never seen a vintage camper at a show?

You haven't been to a Tin Can Tourist rally then. Next rally in Michigan (they have them all over) is at Camp Dearborn September 25th to 28th. It's sold out. There is a show open to the public though. (Looking for a 2014 schedule, it was Saturday from 1-3 last year.)

My brother had historic plates on a 1977 Holiday Rambler for a few years. No problems getting them.

Tomtall · 09-07-2014, 06:36 AM

It was reported that several Hot Rods at the Detroit Woodword cruise were given tickets for driving their vehicle with historic plates a day prior to the cruise. Police were saying they are intended for parade and car meets on the day of the event. I guess Detroit will try anything to generate a buck. I know several rodders said they would never return to the cruise for that reason. However, in our county, law enforcement seem to turn the other cheek about them. The great NHRA nationals will be in our town on September 13-14 and they are welcomed with open arms.

muskamoot · 09-07-2014, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tderonne

Never seen a vintage camper at a show?

You haven't been to a Tin Can Tourist rally then. Next rally in Michigan (they have them all over) is at Camp Dearborn September 25th to 28th. It's sold out. There is a show open to the public though. (Looking for a 2014 schedule, it was Saturday from 1-3 last year.)

My brother had historic plates on a 1977 Holiday Rambler for a few years. No problems getting them.

Was the Holiday rambler a motorhome or trailer?

tderonne · 09-07-2014, 09:03 AM

It was a motorhome.

wa8yxm · 09-07-2014, 02:34 PM

I may have been a bit unspecific.. I have never seen a motor home in a CLASSIC CAR show.. (I thoght I said Classic CAR) not just a show, and for sure not a vintage camper show, but a Classic CAR show..

Such as the Woodward Dream Cruise,, Which I do not believe goes into Detroit, I think they flip at like 9 mile (Royal Oak/Ferndale) but I do admit it has been a while.. They always picked someone else to dispatch that detail (No comment but the job should have been mine) Actually. Im rather glad they did pick someone else.

Dmorgan6375 · 09-07-2014, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muskamoot

Any owners in Michigan running historical plates on their motorhomes? I have a 89 Fleetwood that I want to register next year as historic.It fits all the age criteria and actually would fit the use restrictions.I asked at the local SOS office and the counter people said motorhomes are exempt from being historic vehicles.I read the law and the requirements,but cannot find any exemption in it.

Just a thought here, if you read the law and couldn't find anything that rules out your RV, Call their bluff and make them prove it in writing that you can NOT get the plate you want. Use to live in MI, they go out of their way to screw the little guy! Fight it i say!

Doc- · 09-07-2014, 08:04 PM

I am going to try to register my class C using the chassis as a "vehicle type: van" and see what they say. I used to carry a national car show swap meet schedule when I cruised my classic car regularly on historical/vintage plates, only one cop stopped me for it but he had to prove I was not going to Long Beach California Custom Car show. He simply couldn't prove I wasn't. I got a lot of lecture from him but I drove it everywhere anyway, no other cops complained in fact they complimented a lot of times. I could see MDOT Motor Carriers being a real pain on a "commercial grade" vehicle because of the weight and dual wheels, I have seen them badger municipal vehicles as small as a 1 ton plow truck before.

muskamoot · 09-08-2014, 07:56 AM

Well, my take on it is that the plate is stated as a "historical vehicle" plate,not a car only or a truck only,but a "vehicle". I'm going to apply for one next year and see what happens.

wa8yxm · 09-08-2014, 11:23 AM

Here is the law.. If the "Historic Vehicle" is uses as a motor home.. I think this might disqualify it, Key word is MIGHT. as I am not a lawyer, also what I think plus (insert price of a cup of coffee, do not forget tax and tip) will get you..... Well.. a cup of coffee.

257.803a Issuance of historic vehicle registration plate or registration tab; fee; certification;
registration certificate; registration transferable; expiration or revocation of registration.
Sec. 803a. (1) The secretary of state may issue to the owner of an historic vehicle an historic vehicle
registration plate which shall bear the inscription “historical vehicle - Michigan” and the registration number.
(2) The owner of an historic vehicle applying for an historic vehicle registration plate or a registration tab
under this section shall pay a fee of $30.00, shall certify that the vehicle for which the registration is requested
is owned and operated solely as an historic vehicle, and shall certify that the vehicle has been inspected and
found safe to operate on the highways of this state. The registration certificate need not specify the weight of
the historic vehicle. The registration issued under this section is transferable to another historic vehicle upon
completion of the application for transfer and payment of the fee in the manner described in section 809.
(3) A registration issued under this section shall expire on April 15 in the tenth year following the date of
issuance of the registration.
(4) The secretary of state may revoke a registration issued under this section, for cause shown and after a
hearing, for failure of the applicant to comply with this section, for use of the vehicle for which the
registration was issued for purposes other than those enumerated in section 20a, or because the vehicle is not
safe to operate on the highways of this state.
History: Add. 1951, Act 144, Eff. Sept. 28, 1951;¾Am. 1961, Act 186, Eff. Sept. 8, 1961;¾Am. 1978, Act 427, Imd. Eff. Sept. 30,
1978;¾Am. 1980, Act 398, Eff. Mar. 31, 1981;¾Am. 1980, Act 476, Eff. Mar. 31, 1981;¾Am. 1981, Act 225, Imd. Eff. Jan. 6, 1982;
¾Am. 1987, Act 190, Eff. Apr. 15, 1988;¾Am. 1987, Act 238, Imd. Eff. Dec. 28, 1987;¾Am. 1990, Act 347, Imd. Eff. Dec. 26, 1990;
¾Am. 1996, Act 404, Eff. Dec. 21, 1996.

tderonne · 09-08-2014, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

motor home in a CLASSIC CAR show.. (I thoght I said Classic CAR)

Gotcha.

I have. Beautiful 1950's Flxible motorhome conversion, done by Flxible. Rear was open to show off the original Buick straight eight. Very cool to see.

(It did surprise me to see it at a car show, but it was there. I consider myself lucky to have seen it. It had roof air in an era houses didn't even have AC!)

There's quite few camping vehicles at the Henry Ford too. Not that that is a car show, but doubt anyone could argue a motorhome isn't a vehicle.

wa8yxm · 09-08-2014, 02:22 PM

Ah yes but Henry Ford also has Trains, Planes and the office of a country doctor that I used to pass every day on the way to school so I not only know where (its in the village) it sits today, but where it was originally built.

And a whole lot more (You would need several years to see it all, if that is you could)