UPDATE: We originally published this story in 2019. A lot changed with departments of motor vehicles during the pandemic, so we thought we’d take another look and update the various and sundry rules and regulations for registering a classic car in all 50 states.

There were a good handful of states – in New England particularly – that kind of flew under the radar as particularly classic car friendly, but some significant changes occurred in the last few years that changed that a bit. Specifically, Vermont closed a loophole that had previously allowed out-of-state residents to register vehicles there. Being a state that doesn’t require a title for vehicles 15 years old or older, it was a boon for people from other states that have a title requirement for all vehicles. We’ll get into greater detail in the Vermont section but suffice it to say that states are making it harder to register our older vehicles without titles.

What we wanted to figure out was whether your state was actually classic vehicle friendly and rank all 50 states by its overall consideration for older car owners. Some of our criteria are objective: Is there an emissions process? Is there a sales tax? Several of the criteria were more subjective: How car-friendly is the weather? How pleasant are the roads?

Our methodology took these items into account:

Registration: For classic car registration restrictions, we looked to every DMV website, and in some cases the state laws that govern them. If there were no restrictions, the state got 100 points. If there were restrictions for “parades and special events,” the state gets a 75. If there were day of the week and holiday restrictions, the score went to 50.

Inspections:  States typically either require a safety and/or emissions inspection or they don’t. For this yes or no question, a state either gets 100 points for No or zero points for Yes.

Sales tax: If the state has zero sales tax, it got 100 points. We took off 10 points for every percent of sales tax. Since it’s difficult – nigh on impossible — to build city and county taxes in, we indicated it in the text, but they’re not part of the score.

Title requirement: Some states (Vermont, for instance) don’t require a title for vehicles over a certain age. They got 100. Some states allow a surety bond. They got 50%. Some states like Massachusetts will not register a car without a title at all. They got zero.

Road quality and traffic: For road quality and traffic, we looked at the US News & World Report’s Transportation Ranking.

Weather: For weather, we checked the state’s annual snow and rainfall at Current Results.

Finally, we searched every state’s DMV website for information and talked to classic vehicle owners where we could for their opinions. Then we assigned a number grade for every criterion and averaged each out to come up with an overall score.

With nine categories and a possible 100-point score for each, a home run would be 900 points. No state achieved that lofty score, but several crossed the 800-point threshold. Two states didn’t manage 50 percent of the available points and Massachusetts – where this story is currently being revised? It’s only getting worse.

Which state is the most classic car friendly? Some of the answers may surprise you and the entire top ten is a little perplexing (We’re looking at you, Alaska).

From lowest score to highest, here’s how the states shook out:

Data is subject to change. Content is intended for informational purposes only. Check with your local motor vehicle department for current information.

50. Massachusetts

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y	Weekend only	0
Safety Inspection	Y	Annual	0
Emissions Requirement	N	15-year cap	100
Sales Tax	Y	5% on book value	50
Excise Tax	Y	$25/$1000	0
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	60
Road Quality		Poor	25
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 260

We can tell you from first-hand experience over the last 40 years of operating a motor vehicle that Massachusetts isn’t a great place to own a classic vehicle. The weather is the biggest disadvantage, as is MassDOT and the local highway departments, which blast the road surfaces with salt more or less constantly from November to April.

If that’s not bad enough, the Registry of Motor Vehicles is notoriously awful, assessing a 5.5% sales tax not on what you paid for your car, but what some arbitrary price guide says it’s worth. Williamstown resident David LaChance registered a 1966 Volvo P1800 project car that he hauled home on a trailer and wouldn’t be roadworthy for years. “They taxed it like it was a Pebble Beach candidate. Oh, yeah — they said don’t bother trying to appeal it.”

The one nice thing about Massachusetts is its rolling emissions requirement. If the car is older than 15 years old, you’re mostly in the clear. The emissions equipment that came on the car is supposed to still be there, but the inspection stations – all privately owned gas stations – aren’t likely to check. Massachusetts does have a mandated safety inspection. Your experience getting a sticker can be wildly different from shop to shop, so if you find one that’s willing to adhere a sticker to your windscreen with minimal fuss, stick with them.

49. California

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	Y		0
Sales Tax	Y	7.25%	27.5
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Poor	25
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 427.5

Weather and the lack of a safety inspection is the only reason that classic car ownership in California is as good as it is. Everything else is a major impediment to driving a vintage vehicle.

Cars from 1975 or newer must have all of the original emissions equipment present on the vehicle when it was new when the car goes through a mandatory smog check. Frankly, we didn’t even check whether California requires a title from other states when registering a classic car, because the hassle of registering a post-1975 car from another state makes it not worth it. California is generally a classic car exporter rather than importer solely because of the smog regulations.

That’s not a bad thing for clean air, but it’s a really bad thing if you’re just trying to register a car for occasional use.

48. New Jersey

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		0
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N	1996 or newer	100
Sales Tax	Y	7%	30
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		9 Month	80
Road Quality		Poor	25
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 460

New Jersey is not particularly unfriendly to vintage cars. It offers historic plates and a lot of classic car owners seem to have them, likely because the registration fee is only $44, versus up to $84 depending on the year and weight of the vehicle. There’s also a Street Rod plate available for just $15, but it’s for vehicles built prior to 1949 that are registered in a NJ street rod club, or an affiliate of the National Street Rod Association.

The state follows the OBD-II era, 1996 or newer only requirement for emissions testing, which is great for most classic vehicle owners. Sales tax is steep at 6.625%, but there’s no annual excise tax.

Greg Giacchi owns a Datsun 280Z, a second generation Supra and a second-generation Trans Am, and comments, “No complaints here in NJ. Cars older than 25 years have antique status, which means no safety inspections and registration renewals are spaced out to either 3 or 5 year intervals. Overall I find this state to be lenient on vintage car ownership.” (Ed. Note: Since we originally ran this, it appears that the state’s classic vehicle registration runs for three years, but there’s no fee for renewal, another distinct Garden State benefit.)

We searched high and low on the DMV’s website and couldn’t find any exemption for titles, regardless of year, though. That can pose a real issue if you’re buying a vehicle from a state that doesn’t issue a title for an older car. Greg agrees: “I’ve only tried to register a vintage snowmobile without a title and that was a mess. They wanted me to place an ad in the newspaper public notices for 4 weeks before allowing me to proceed.” Oof.

New Jersey is congested, it’s a pretty small state and most of it is squeezed between major cities like New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. However, despite its reputation, New Jersey is a beautiful state away from the cities and does offer some nice driving.

47. Texas

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	Y		0
Emissions Requirement	Y	24-year cap	0
Sales Tax	Y	6.25%	37.5
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Surety Bond OK	50
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Fair	25
Traffic		Fair	25

 

Total Grade: 437.5

Texas likes to brand itself as this free-wheeling Libertarian paradise, but registering a vintage car is just as complicated and costly as any other state, and sometimes more confusing.

We talked to Peter McCoullogh, who provided a ton of information about the law and how it’s practically enforced in Texas.

Sales tax for vintage cars is calculated on your bill of sale, which is a lot more legitimate that using some bogus price guide. “Texas has a SPV (Standard Presumptive Value) system to calculate sales tax values on most vehicles, but they do not use this system for anything 25+ years old. They will instead just charge you 6.25% of your indicated sale price, like most states normally practice,” Peter says.

The Lone Star State also has four different ways you can register a classic car. You can register it normally and pay a normal registration fee. You can register it as a Classic, which is for cars 25 years old or older for $40 per year with no driving restrictions. Or you can register it as an Antique for $10 per year – actually a $50 registration fee that’s good for five years before it has to be renewed — with the “exhibitions and special events” restrictions most states have. If your vehicle was manufactured before 1921, the fee drops to $40 for five years.

“Texas State Troopers have an absolute field day enforcing this,” according to Peter. “Counties like Harris and Ft. Bend are cracking down through their own law enforcement policy. Most people who abuse Antique Plates use the ‘I’m driving home from my mechanic’ excuse when they’re, but they’ve heard every excuse in the book. Unfortunately, enforcement is noticeably selective. The guy who drives his ’70 Nova to work and back every day will likely go a decade unscathed, but the dude in the FB RX7 wouldn’t last a week. If and when you do get busted, the officer has the right to impound your vehicle, and write you a citation for no registration.”

Texas ranks 37^th and 38^th in the US for commute time and road quality, so when you do get your classic registered, it doesn’t sound like you’ll have a great time driving it.

46. Vermont

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		0
Safety Inspection	Y	Annual	0
Emissions Requirement	N	1996 or newer	75
Sales Tax	Y	6%	0
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Out of State Registration Allowed	N		0
Length of Driving Season		6 Months	50
Road Quality		Fair	25
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 450

Vermont has undergone one of the biggest, most painful changes for vintage car owners. The issue is not for residents, but non-residents who used to be able to register just about anything by taking a road trip to the state’s southernmost Department of Motor Vehicles. That loophole that allowed out-of-state registrations has closed, so if you had considered registering your classic vehicle without a title in that state, in order to get a valid registration that you could use to get your vehicle registered at home, you’re out of luck.

Vermont is deceiving because its numerical score is so low. What makes it great is how easy it is to deal with the DMV. The staff is generally terrific and the lines are amazingly short. There’s also no title required for anything 25 years old or older, although there’s an “Exempt Vehicle Title” form to fill out.

The problem is that the weather is not conducive to vintage vehicle operation from late October straight into May some years. Not only does it snow like crazy, most of the back roads are dirt and they turn to axle-snapping mud for about a month and a half after the snow melts. Many main roads can be completely buckled with frost heaves in the winter and spring.

On the plus side, traffic is generally light outside of the “cities” like Brattleboro and Burlington, and Vermont offers some of the greatest driving roads in New England when the weather is decent. (ED NOTE: Watch out, though. In the seven years your author was a resident of Vermont, he got more speeding tickets in that state than in any of the nearly 40 years of driving he’d done in Massachusetts and Maine.)

“Vermont pretty much leaves me alone,” says Michael Eldred, who has a handful of British cars registered in Southern Vermont. “Neither of my two pre-1960 vehicles needs to have seat belts retrofitted or pass any kind of emissions test to pass its annual safety inspection,” he says. “You can register your vehicle as an antique and pay a reduced fee, but that only entitles you to drive your vehicle in parades and to shows. As a result, few people register their antique cars as antiques.”

45. Tennessee

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	Y		0
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	7%	30
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	90
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 495

“Tennessee is pretty good,” says our vintage motorcycle collecting pal Somer Hooker. “Antique is over 25 years of age. You fill out an affidavit that it will only be driven on weekends or special events.” From there, the tag fee is a one-time event, with no renewal required. However, that’s only good for weekends and special events, and according to Somer, “If you are caught using on a regular basis it can be revoked.” The state notes that if that happens, you’re responsible for all the fees to register the vehicle as a general use vehicle.

“Vehicles over 25 years old can be titled on a Bill of Sale,” Somer notes. Tennessee abandoned emissions testing since the last time we posted this, so there’s no longer a requirement, regardless of your classic vehicle’s age.

Depending on where you are, you may see a couple of inches of snow a year in most of Tennessee, and the roads can be pretty spectacular. However, the tradeoff is Nashville. Traffic in and around the city can be outrageous.

44. Missouri

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		0
Safety Inspection	Y		0
Emissions Requirement	Y	St. Louis Metro	100
Sales Tax	Y	4.25%	57.5
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Fair	50
Traffic		Fair	50

 

Total Grade: 527.5

Missouri has some pretty stringent restrictions that come along with getting Historic plates, with no real obvious benefits for doing so, other than avoiding an annual registration renewal. The DVM’s website doesn’t say you can’t drive the car on a weekday, but if you’re driving it to a shop, it has to be within 100 miles of home, and you’re limited to just 1,000 miles of driving per year. The mileage restriction alone might steer you away from getting such a plate. A thousand miles a year isn’t much.

Taxation is also pretty brutal in Missouri, depending on your county. The state assesses a 4.25% sales tax, but then there are 24 pages worth of county taxes to research to find out how much more you owe. A cursory search reveals that your additional sales tax can be up to 5.5130%. There’s a handy tax calculator to figure out how much you’re going to owe.

One bit of good news is that Missouri allows an owner to bond a title if the original title isn’t present, making it much more friendly to register a car than some of the states in the Northeast, which just tell you to hit the bricks if you don’t have a title.

Historic registration doesn’t appear to get you out of the state’s biennial safety inspection, but you do avoid the emissions inspection in St. Louis, St. Louis County, St. Charles County or Jefferson County if your car is from 1996 or older. Throw in the average foot of snow lots of places in Missouri get every year and it’s not particularly old car friendly.

43. Hawaii

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	Y		0
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	4.712%	53
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Surety Bond OK	50
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Poor	25
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 553

Hawaii is a weird state in terms of registering a car. There’s no state DMV, for example. Each island – essentially individual counties – runs its own licensing division. Trying to track down exactly what requirements they have is tricky.

Honolulu says “The vehicle must be a bona fide antique as defined in Section 249-1, HRS. ‘Antique motor vehicle’ means any motor vehicle of the age of thirty-five years or more from the date of manufacture, that is of the original factory specification or restored to the original specifications in an unaltered or unreconstructed condition, operated or moved on the highway primarily for the purpose of historical exhibition or other similar purposes.”

There are some beautiful roads in Hawaii, but US News & World Report ranks both the traffic and road quality near the bottom.

39. South Dakota

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	4%	60
Excise Tax	Y	4%	0
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Good	75
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 555

South Dakota’s historic vehicle plates apply to cars 30 years old or older. The sales tax is reasonable at 4.5%, but there’s also a steep excise tax of 4% that makes this one of the most tax-heavy states in the Union when registering a car.

The restrictions on classic vehicle plates seem relatively familiar, though there’s some room for interpretation. There’s no mileage restriction, for example, and the requirement says that you can’t use this registration for “daily transportation” to work. But if you took it to work a few Fridays a month through the summer, does that count as “daily transportation?”

South Dakota does require a title and doesn’t seem to be particularly helpful in providing information if you happen to have a car that either came from a state that doesn’t issue one for older cars or is missing its original title. That may or may not be a problem when the time comes to register it, but it’s tough to tell without some kind of documentation.

South Dakota ranked #1 in America for length of commute time, so traffic isn’t an issue, according to US News & World Report. It ranks about mid-pack in terms of road quality. The 45 inches of snow the state accumulates every year probably doesn’t help.

39. Maryland

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N	1996 or newer	100
Sales Tax	Y	6%	40
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	90
Road Quality		Fair	50
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 555

Maryland has the same “weekends, holidays, and special events” clauses that most other states have, which means that you might not want to bother getting the antique or street rod plates if you plan on driving it to work occasionally.

It appears that Maryland requires a title for everything, regardless of age since there’s no exemption listed on the state’s page for registering a classic vehicle.

What’s nice about Maryland, though, is that it assesses its 6% sales tax on the value stated on the bill of sale if the vehicle is over seven years old. That’s a nice advantage when the NADA book value on a classic vehicle assumes that it’s in concours-ready condition, while you went and bought a $1,500 beater that you’re hoping to drive as you restore it.

The weather’s decent in coastal Maryland most of the year and snow isn’t that much of a concern, but Oakland County in the western part of the state gets an average of 80 to 100 inches of snow a year, leaving classic vehicles in the barn for a good chunk of the year.

39. Pennsylvania

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N	“Classic” plates	100
Emissions Requirement	N	1996 or newer	100
Sales Tax	Y	6%	40
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	90
Road Quality		Poor	25
Traffic		Fair	50

 

Total Grade: 555

Perhaps it’s because of things like the Hershey swap meet, the AACA headquarters, and the Carlisle events, but there seem to be more classic cars in Pennsylvania than just about anywhere. Does that have anything to do with how easy it is to register a classic vehicle there? Probably not.

Pennsylvania has two different vintage vehicle designations (Antique and Classic) with different restrictions. Classic car tags are available for anything older than 15 years old. Antique plates are for 25 years old or older.

The restrictions say that the “occasional use” of a classic or antique vehicle is “no more than one day a week” in bold letters, which seems pretty restrictive. “Classic cars have a permanent registration but require yearly inspection,” Brian Padnes learned after registering his 1984 Land Rover. “Inspections can be done by any licensed shop so most are kind to older vehicles. Antique are emissions exempt and I believe classic are too as they fall into the ‘drive less than 5k miles’ category for PA.”

Tax is pretty significant, too. There’s no excise tax, but the state sales tax is 6%. Registering a car in Allegheny County means you’ll pay an additional percent on top of that. If you register in Philadelphia, it’s 2% on top. “For cars older than 1976 (the last year the plates were dated) you can restore an old license plate for the vehicle with a year that matches,” Brian tells us. “I got my father an old dealer plate for his 1972 Volvo P1800ES.”

39. Indiana

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		75
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	Y	1975 or newer	75
Sales Tax	Y	7%	30
Excise Tax	Y	$12/year	0
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		9 Months	75
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 555

Indiana has a historic vehicle registration program that requires you don’t use the car for daily transport, but other than that it doesn’t place any restrictions on days of the week or holidays. But there’s not much of a reason to get one, since you’re still going to pay the standard registration fee, excise tax, county tax, and another municipal excise tax.

The state does have an emissions program in two counties (Lake and Porter) and inspects cars for emissions every other year from 1975 forward, meaning you’ve got to have all of your original emissions equipment in place. Don’t toss those AIR pumps.

Tax is pretty hefty at 7% in Indiana, and on top of that, you owe an excise tax every year, but for vehicles older than 1980, it’s a $12 per year flat tax.

Indiana does require a title when you go to register your classic car. There doesn’t appear to be any exemption for age, so get that paperwork in order. With 22 inches of snow and 39 inches of rain every year, Indiana’s weather isn’t the greatest, but outside of the cities, the roads are well maintained and traffic isn’t absurd.

36. Rhode Island

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		75
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	7%	30
Excise Tax	Y	Ridiculous	0
Title Requirement	Y	2000 or newer	100
Length of Driving Season		9 Months	80
Road Quality		Fair	50
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 560

Rhode Island gets a high numerical grade, mostly because of its relaxed Antique Vehicle requirements. If the vehicle is 25 years old or older, you can register it as an antique and skate on the state’s safety inspection requirements. However, if you do get it inspected, you can use it as a regular vehicle. If you don’t, the language from the DMV site notes: “The vehicle may be maintained solely for use in exhibitions, club activities, parades and other functions of public interest,” which isn’t great.

But the very next sentence says: “The vehicle may also be used for limited enjoyment and purposes other than the previously mentioned activities, but may not be used primarily for the transportation of passengers or goods over any public highway.”

This means as long as you’re not using it as a limousine or a cargo vehicle, you should be fine, although David Dennis does have a warning. “If you have a car that is 25 years old, but isn’t considered a ‘classic’ (think Honda CRX, or any average car from 1994), the police generally don’t know the actual rules and it can be a pain. I haven’t been targeted specifically, but have friends who regularly have arguments with officers trying to ticket him unlawfully despite the folder of information he carries with him at all times to show them.”

Where it falls apart is taxation. The state places a 7% sales tax on every vehicle, and you pay the higher of either the purchase price or the CPI Black Book. The CPI Black Book does have three grades of vehicle (Fair, Good, and Excellent), but basically overvalues anything that might be considered a restoration project. There is a Valuation Appeal process, but if it’s like every other state we have experience with, it’s not worth the time to fill out the paperwork.

The Ocean State also assesses a labyrinthine excise tax every year. Good luck figuring out how to determine how much you owe. If you can read this and make any sense of it, we’d suggest getting an advanced math degree because you’ve earned it.

36. North Carolina

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	Y		0
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	Property Tax	50
Excise Tax	Y	3%	70
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	90
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Good	50

 

Total Grade: 560

North Carolina is really light on the information on its DMV site. We heard from Eric Seeger that the state is “rather friendly to antique cars. I learned this with a 1989 Grand Wagoneer and a 1992 BMW 525i wagon. If your vehicle is pre-OBDII, they require an annual “safety” inspection which can be done at any number of state-licensed privately-owned shops for probably less than $25.” Further research reveals that the cost for a safety inspection is a totally convenient and not at all arbitrary $13.60 in North Carolina, so make sure to have some change in the ashtray.

Sales tax is also remarkably low at 3% of the purchase price.  You’re also responsible for a “property tax” that can vary significantly based on where the county you reside in and the calculated value of the vehicle.

The state has a Property Tax Estimator online. We plugged in a $10,000 value in Charlotte and came out with an estimated tax of $167.87. Over a period of years, that’s a pretty hefty tax liability, especially if your car is worth some money.

The state’s inspection consists of a technician making sure that basic things are in order: tires are not bald, blinkers and wipers work.” Period-correct emissions equipment is supposed to be in place, as well, but that’s largely left up to the shop doing the inspection.

36. New Hampshire

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		75
Safety Inspection	Y	Annual	0
Emissions Requirement	Y	County required	75
Sales Tax	N		100
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	60
Road Quality		Poor	50
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 610

Go one state north of Massachusetts and the weather gets even worse, locking a good percentage of the state in snow and ice for almost half the year, from just north of the state capitol in Concord all the way to the Canadian border.

We were a little unfair in our “poor” road quality assessment the last time. It mostly has to do with roads being damaged by the weather, which isn’t the fault of the state. We boosted the score by 25 points because whoever paves the roads in New Hampshire is a master of the craft. Fresh asphalt in New Hampshire is like a billiard table and you’ll know it instantly when you cross the border from Vermont, Massachusetts, or Maine.

Kristen Pratt said that registering her 1978 Jeep CJ-5 was a piece of cake. “Super easy to register here. Just need title (or bill of sale if applicable) for registration tags. Inspection is just like my 2018 Jeep, lights, tires, brakes etc. no emissions requirement,” she says. The title requirement is only for vehicles 20 years old or newer. New Hampshire doesn’t issue a title for vehicles older than that, either, so you save the title fee when you register. “NH has no sales or excise tax, they just have one registration fee, which is scaled according to age and value,” she says.

The one caveat, though is that while NH doesn’t have a sales tax, its registration fees can be pricey and weirdly kept a secret until you show up at city hall to register.

35. New York

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		75
Safety Inspection	Y		0
Emissions Requirement	N	1996 or newer	100
Sales Tax	Y	4%	60
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	1972 or newer	75
Length of Driving Season		9 Months	80
Road Quality		Fair	50
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 565

New York is rather notorious for its sales tax, but the state only assesses a sales tax of 4%. The issue is the additional use tax tacked on by the county, which can be up to 4.5%. However, that means you don’t have an annual excise tax bill to pay, so when you compare it to a state like Massachusetts, it ends up being mostly a wash.

The title situation isn’t great, though. Where most states in the Northeast have a 20 or 25-year-old or newer title requirement, New York rolls that all the way back to 1972, making a valid title required paperwork if you’re looking to buy a vehicle out of state. Even for vehicles built before 1972, you need to fill out a Certification (Affidavit) of Sale or Transfer and a Title Application.

We gave New York a “Good” rating for Road Quality and Traffic, despite having one of the most traffic congested regions in America. That said, it’s a huge state, and it offers some amazing driving once you get outside of New York City and Albany. The run west along the Erie Canal basically parallels I-90, but get off the highway and explore some of New York’s state highways like NY Rte. 31 in western New York; NY Rte. 5 and 5S in the Mohawk Valley; NY Rte. 48, 481, and County Rte 57 along the Oswego Canal; NY Rte. 4 along the Champlain Canal. Truly beautiful. The southernmost part of NY west of Watkins Glen offers a low population and beautiful scenery.

34. Illinois

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		75
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N	1966 on	100
Sales Tax	Y	7.25%	27.5
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		7 Months	65
Road Quality		Good	75
Traffic		Fair	25

 

Total Grade: 567.5

When we first wrote this we offered kudos to Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White for providing a thorough brochure on vintage car registration in the state of Illinois. Sadly, though, it looks like it hasn’t been updated since then, meaning all of the dates on the page are at least four years old. The long and short of it is that for $30, you can get a vintage car tag for five years, which is a pretty significant savings over a regular registration.

Sales tax is pricey, though. Illinois has a 7.25% sales tax to start with, and the county can ring you up for another quarter to three-quarters of a percent. If you live within the city of Chicago, there’s another 1.25% added on.

Despite Ferris Bueller’s adventure in the Ferrari, the weather and traffic in Chicago is brutal on a vintage car. Once you’re outside the city the roads open up, but it’s still a pretty short season, with 38 inches of snow in the middle of the state.

33. Virginia

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		25
Safety Inspection	N	With antique plates	100
Emissions Requirement	N	25-year cap	100
Sales Tax	Y	4.15%	58.5
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	90
Road Quality		Fair	75
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 573.5

Virginia is pretty clear about its antique plate usage and it’s not great news for people who like to drive. First of all, the statue says you can’t “exceed 250 miles from your residence.” Secondly, you can’t use your classic vehicle for general, daily transportation which “includes, but is not limited to, driving to and from work.” You can also use a pre-1976 Virginia license plate if you’d rather not use the state’s antique plates. If you’re planning on using your vehicle for more than just parades, that’s the route to take because it allows you to go through the regular inspection process.

Nevertheless, there’s a significant advantage to obtaining antique plates: you avoid the state’s annual safety inspection. Older vehicles are also exempt from the state’s emissions testing program, although, unlike many states that only make cars from the OBD-II era comply (beginning in 1996), Virginia pushes that back to 25 years.

Sales tax is relatively low at 4.15%. If the vehicle is more than five years old, the tax is calculated based on a state-provided Vehicle Price Certification form, so you’re not left to the inconsistent values in a NADA price guide, especially if your car is less than perfect. Like Maryland, a lot of places in Virginia get snow in the winter, so you’ll have your classic car stored at least a few months during the year.

32. South Carolina

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	5%	50
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		11 Months	90
Road Quality		Fair	50
Traffic		Fair	50

 

Total Grade: 590

South Carolina is a pretty great place to have a vintage vehicle. It does have the familiar weekends, holidays and special events restrictions for antique vehicle registration, but the fees are just $10 for registration and $15 for a title. You can get a Year of Manufacture plate for anything over 30 years old. That allows you to avoid the weekends and holidays restrictions, but you pay a fee just the way you would for a normal registration.

Beyond that, the Palmetto State did away with its safety inspection back in the mid-1990s. You can argue that’s not a great thing for road safety in general, but not having to worry about it or pay for it every year is a boon to classic car owners here. There’s also no emissions requirement, meaning South Carolina vintage car owners skate on all the annual annoyances, regardless of how old their car is.

Sales tax is moderate at just 5%, and outside of Charlotte, the roads are in comparably decent shape and uncrowded. The higher elevations get snow, but for the most part, South Carolina’s coastal communities will go years without seeing the white stuff.

30. Florida

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	6%	40
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 615

Florida’s weather alone makes it friendly to vintage cars. The state has several designations for older cars including Antique, Street Rod, and Horseless Carriage for cars manufactured before 1945.

On the one hand, it’s hard to see why bother getting an antique plate, because the state has neither a safety nor an emissions inspection program at all, never mind for vintage cars. But you’ll want the plate to save on what Florida calls the “Initial Registration,” a hefty $225 fee it collects the first time you register your car in the state. That fee is waived for cars bearing antique plates, and the fees for Antique, Street Rod, and Horseless Carriage tags are permanent, meaning you pay them once and you’re good for the entire time you own it.

The bad news is that – according to the application – everything needs an existing title, a hurdle that’s a challenge for a lot of people who buy a restoration project with plans to register it at some point in the future.

Florida gets essentially no snow every year, and outside the cities the roads are in great shape.

30. Maine

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	Y	Annual	0
Emissions Requirement	Y	20-year cap	75
Sales Tax	Y	5.5% on book value	55
Excise Tax	Y	Sliding age scale	50
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	60
Road Quality		Fair	50
Traffic		Good	75

 

Total Grade: 565

Several things have changed in Maine that owners of classic vehicles need to pay attention to. The big one is that the state is arbitrarily refusing to register Japanese kei-class trucks like the Subaru Sambar and Mitsubishi Minicab, which have been incredibly popular there thanks to four-wheel drive and efficient operation.

It’s a huge issue that’s eventually going to either bite the state or owners of ALL vehicles that meet the DOT’s 25-year cutoff for legal importation. Maine has not only refused to register these vehicles but has gone so far as to cancel the plates on vehicles it previously registered.

Like the pandemic, this contagion has spread to other states, making it harder to register these vehicles. Under the guise of “safety” the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA – you know, the people who like the tax and licensing revenues from new vehicles that cost an average of $45,000 in 2023) has been advising its members to not register these vehicles at all.

Outside of having a requirement that you have a daily driver to get antique plates, Maine is pretty light on the antique plate restriction, but it does require a safety inspection of all vehicles. Emissions tests are only required in Cumberland County (where Portland is, basically), and only for cars newer than 1996. There’s a sales tax and an excise tax, but you don’t need a title for anything older than 1996, so if you buy an older car from Maine, you’ll only need a current registration and a bill of sale, and honestly, we registered a vehicle there without a current reg.

One fact interesting to owners of trailered cars is that anybody can register a trailer in the State of Maine, regardless of your state of residence. The fees are super cheap, so if your state dings you for registering your wacky single-wheel trailer you tow behind your Beetle, give Maine a shot.

We dropped the road quality number into the “Fair” territory because Maine roads especially in the southern portion of the state – where the people live — are getting pretty rough.

Andrew Baca has a bunch of vintage scooters, a Corvair Greenbrier van, and now a Corvair-powered UltraVan registered in Maine. “One weird thing in Maine is that you can use a vintage plate on your antique vehicle as long as you keep the official plate in the vehicle,” he says. “I find this odd. They would not let me register the vehicle with the vintage plate.”

29. Washington

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	6.8%	32
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	90
Road Quality		Poor	25
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 622

Washington would get a much higher score if traffic and road conditions weren’t rated 42nd and 40th by the U.S. News & World Report. The restrictions on classic car registration include “club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, and occasional pleasure driving,” but there isn’t a day-of-the-week or non-holiday clause like some other states.

Jason Bagge has owned and registered hundreds of classic cars in Washington and suggests the way to register one is to find a set of correct year plates for your car’s model year and register it that way. “A collector plate limits you to non-daily use,” he says, “but what if you buy a set of old school plates that were made when the car was new, you can register them as ‘restored’ plates. These are daily driver plates that can still wear original 1970s tabs.”

For 38 years, Washington had an emissions testing program, but it was eliminated on January 1, 2020, for all vehicles, in all counties.

We’re giving the state a full “No” for a title requirement to register a classic car. Technically you do need a title, but if you don’t have one you can register the car for three years without one at all, or get a bonded title, as spelled out in Washington Administrative Code Title 308  Chapter 56A Section 210.

28. Connecticut

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	Y	Annual	0
Emissions Requirement	N	1996 or newer	100
Sales Tax	Y	$500 assessment	75
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	20 years old	100
Length of Driving Season		9 Months	80
Road Quality		Fair	50
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 630

We were ready to hammer Connecticut because its Department of Motor Vehicles is notoriously awful. (Ed. Note: Still is. At the time of this writing, the Classic Vehicle Registration section of the CT DMV’s website offered nothing but a helpful runtime error.)

But a handful of Constitution State residents chimed in to defend its honor on a couple of counts. First off, Connecticut has a long history of offering a major tax break on vintage cars. For tax purposes, a vehicle that is older than 20 years old and historically significant only has a tax value of $500. That can save a lot of bucks versus registering a vehicle just a few miles north in Massachusetts, where a $500 Falcon can easily cost a multiple of that in sales tax based on the book value of a fully restored vehicle.

Dillon Troxell weighed in that you get that tax break whether you decide to get “Early American Vehicle” or “Classic Vehicle” plates, which don’t carry any significant restrictions to use. David Pollock notes that while a current registration is required if a vehicle is old enough to not need a title, Connecticut will “give you an affidavit that the seller fills out and gets notarized,” which is a whole lot better than a lot of states.

Dillon Troxell notes, “Car registration is the only thing CT doesn’t kill you on (yet).”

27. Delaware

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N	Antique	100
Emissions Requirement	N	Antique	100
Sales Tax	Y	4.5% doc fee	55
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	90
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Fair	25

 

Total Grade: 620

Delaware’s numerical score is slightly downgraded mostly because of the restrictions on classic vehicle registrations. Antique vehicle registration is open to anything older than 25 years, but the restrictions are fairly well defined: Cars with an antique plate “shall be used only for participation in club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, and similar uses, but in no event shall it be used for general transportation,” according to the Delaware DMV. Delaware also offers “Street Rod” registration for 1970 or older vehicles that have been extensively modified.

The title requirement is not good, though. From what we can see, everything requires a title, regardless of its age. That’s a challenge if you’ve bought a restoration project.

Delaware gets good marks for sales tax. However, it does charge a “Documentation Fee,” which is 4.5% of the vehicle sale price, or the NADA value, whichever is higher. Call it what you like, but that’s still a tax. Antique registration means that you pay $25 once for an inspection, and never have to pay for it again.

Delaware’s weather is better in the winter months than most of the Northeast states, extending the driving season by a month or so.

26. Wisconsin

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		25
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N	1996 on	100
Sales Tax	Y	5.5%	45
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		100
Length of Driving Season		7 Months	65
Road Quality		Poor	25
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 660

Wisconsin hates round numbers, apparently, because it charges a 5 percent sales tax, plus a .5% county tax. As of April 2020, the state no longer charges a .1% “Stadium Tax” to register a car. The Stadium Tax afforded Wisconsin residents the privilege of paying for the $290 million Miller Park for the last 25 years, all to watch the Brewers lose in the playoffs every time they get there (This year it was to the Arizona Diamondbacks.)

But we digress. Wisconsin also has antique vehicle registration, but only for cars built before 1945. There’s no safety or emissions to avoid (unless your car is from 1996 or later, and you live near Milwaukee).

There’s a title requirement, but in recent years, it’s gotten a lot easier to buy a heap without a title and register it legally. The process requires a surety bond worth 1.5 times the value of the vehicle (which comes from a price guide with the vehicle in “number 5 or 6” condition). A vehicle valued at $5,000 to $6,000 could get a surety bond for around $100. With that in place, you can get yourself a title. That’s a major convenience versus many other states that won’t give you the time of day without a title.

Wisconsin weather is completely offensive to old car ownership, though. You’ll probably forget what the car looks like it’s in storage so long.

25. Louisiana

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		0
Safety Inspection	Y		0
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	4%	60
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N	25 years	100
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Fair	50
Traffic		Fair	50

 

Total Grade: 560

According to what we could find on the Louisiana DMV website getting a vintage vehicle plate is slightly more involved than other states. The state requires that you fill out an affidavit that says you haven’t modified the vehicle from its original form.

If the vehicle is 25 years old or older, you don’t need a title to register, but again, that requires some paperwork. You need an affidavit signifying a physical inspection by the police, a notarized bill of sale, and a statement saying you’re part of a classic car club, which appears to be unique to Louisiana. And those vintage vehicle tags come with a significant set of restrictions now: “… such vehicle shall be used primarily for special occasions such as exhibitions, club activities, parades, or other functions of the public interest, or for necessary testing, maintenance, and storage purposes.”

There’s no emissions testing requirement, but vehicles built after 1980 have to have their original emissions equipment present during the annual safety inspection in Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston, and West Baton Rouge counties.

Tax can get rather expensive, too. The state assesses a 4% sales tax, but counties can hold you up for up to an additional 6% in sales tax depending on where you live.

24. Oklahoma

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	3.25%	67.5
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Surety Bond OK	50
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Fair	25
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 662.5

We gave Oklahoma a hard time the last time we ran this story because it seemed to want to keep any information about registering a classic car under heavy wraps until you’ve stood in line for three hours at the DMV. There’s more information in a PDF provided by the state now, but it’s still pretty slim. Most states cut you a break by making classic registrations a one-time fee, but not Oklahoma. It’s a $19 annual fee. If you want it for ten years, it’s $86, which saves you over a hundred bucks in registration fees, but you’re better off in other states that have a one-time fee.

Despite what appears in our scorecard, Oklahoma DOES require a title for classic cars, but it also accepts a nominally priced surety bond in place of a title if the car you’re interested in is missing one (something to keep in mind when negotiating a price with a seller.)

The traffic in Oklahoma is generally pretty light, which scored the state an 11^th ranking in US News & World Report. Its road quality is pretty dismal, though, placing it 37^th in the US.

23. Michigan

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		75
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	6%	40
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		8-9 Months	75
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Fair	50

 

Total Grade: 740

Considering it’s locked in snow for four months a year, the roads are in deplorable condition and – well, Detroit – Michigan fares well in the vintage vehicle friendliness rankings, mostly because of the registration requirements.

“I had a super easy time getting a title for a Honda S90 I bought with a bill of sale several years back,” Evan McCausland tells us. The state does require you to fill out the Uniform Surety Bond in lieu of a title. The requirements for a Historic vehicle plate are kind of remarkable. Yes, you’re only supposed to be using the car for events and pleasure driving, but there’s no distinction on what days of the week you can drive it.

What’s really interesting in Michigan is the month of August: With a Historic plate, you can drive your car every day, including for general transportation to and from work. That’s a pretty sweet deal, especially if you’re headed to the Woodward Dream Cruise in the middle of the month.

22. Georgia

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N*		1000
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	7%	30
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	1962 or newer	20
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	95
Road Quality		Excellent	50
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 620

In almost every instance, Georgia rocks as far as classic vehicle ownership goes. Georgia doesn’t appear to have an annual safety inspection, nor does it have emissions requirements (A) for vehicles older than 1996 or (B) for any vehicles registered outside the Atlanta Metro area.

We placed an asterisk next to the classic vehicle restrictions section because they weren’t evident on the DMV website. Your mileage here may vary. The plates are comparatively expensive versus other states – $80 up front and $55 to renew every year – and don’t really provide any benefits since you’re not avoiding inspections.

Joe Severns noted that years ago, he only needed a bill of sale on a 1964 Mercedes-Benz Heckflossë some years ago, but the state’s website notes that titles are required for 1962 and newer cars now. “As the car had been a barn car (that ran and moved under its own power – but lacked safe brakes, tires and working safety belts,” he says. “Maybe Ralph Nader should have lobbied Georgia for a safer registration process that would include a safety inspection. Ad valorem taxes may also be required depending on the year of the vehicle. ’The government do take a bite.’”

That seven percent sales tax is applied at registration and is calculated by the state, not your bill of sale, which isn’t great, depending on which wildly inaccurate source the state bases its value on.

On the plus side, Georgia gets about 2.9 inches of snow every year, so you’re safe never really storing the car for the winter, and outside of Atlanta Metro, the roads in the region are spectacular.

21. West Virginia

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N	w/ Antique Plates	100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	6%	40
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	90
Road Quality		Poor	25
Traffic		Poor	25

 

Total Grade: 530

West Virginia does have $66.50 per year antique vehicle restrictions that conform with the “weekends, holidays, and special events” restrictions of other states in the region, but the requirements don’t seem as strict as those laid out in Virginia.

You can either select the antique plates provided by the state or if you have a 1973 or earlier vehicle, you can opt for plates with a year marking that matches the year of your vehicle.

West Virginia doesn’t have an emissions inspection, so you don’t have to worry about that at all if your vintage car interests include cars from the 1990s. Unfortunately, it appears that West Virginia still requires titles for anything, so that may put a wrinkle in your plans. If you opt for the antique plates, you don’t have to worry about safety inspections, either. The sales tax is relatively spendy at 6%, but it appears to be calculated on the bill of sale, which is a huge advantage versus calculation by a NADA price guide.

West Virginia has some of the most amazing roads in the East, and traffic is relatively light compared to other states in the mid-Atlantic region. The weather cooperates most of the year, but you’ll definitely see snow a few months out of the year.

20. Kansas

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	Up to 8.775%	12
Excise Tax	Y*	Property tax	0
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 682

Kansas is another state that actually seems motivated to provide information to its constituents about registering classic cars. Not only does it have a clearly written statute laying out the lenient requirements and restrictions for historic plates (KSA 8-172, if you’re interested), but the Kansas Highway Patrol has provided an excellent pamphlet on title requirements. Whether you have an out-of-state title or a Bill of Sale, you’re required to have the VIN inspected by the Highway Patrol. Antique plates are available for a $40 one-time fee, avoiding annual renewals.

That’s the plus side. On the negative side is Rick Lyda’s experience: “I brought my ‘61 Willys CJ5 to Kansas from Colorado,” he says. “I had to get it inspected by the Highway Patrol before I could tag it. They only do inspections on Tuesday and Thursday between nine and noon. That made me have to pay two days extra trailer rental and miss a day of work just to get the pleasure of paying $25 and spending a half hour arguing with the guy about the six-digit VIN.”

The roads rank pretty high according to US News and World Report at #15, and the commute time is the 8^th best in America.

19. Iowa

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		75
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	5%	50
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y		0
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 695

Iowa has Antique vehicle registration, but we’re not sure there’s any point to obtaining it other than vanity.

After 2009, if you get Antique plates, you’re subject to the restrictions (only driven to and from state and county fairs or educational exhibits, must never use it as daily transport), but the fee is the same as any regular car. It doesn’t look like there’s any break on the 5% sales tax, either. Iowa House Bill 2251 introduced the idea of a cheaper state-provided year of manufacture plate, but that bill appears to have gone nowhere since 2022.

According to the state’s general laws, Iowa requires a title for all vehicles at the time of registration and there’s no language obvious that allows any kind of surety bond in its place.

Add that Iowa gets 39 inches of rain and 29 inches of snow every year, and you’re looking at a pretty low score.

18. Colorado

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N*	Graduated	100
Sales Tax	Y	2.9% plus local	50
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Surety Bond OK	100
Length of Driving Season		7 Months	60
Road Quality		Fair	25
Traffic		Fair	25

 

Total Grade: 660

Colorado is like most other states in that it offers a Historic vehicle tag with a few minor restrictions. There are some confusing instructions to keep in mind, though:

The state has a graduated emissions testing program for cars in nine counties in populated areas. Vehicles older than 1975 registered as collector cars are exempt from emissions testing.

Cars from 1976 to 1984 that were registered as collector cars prior to 2009 and have not let that registration lapse are exempt from emissions testing.

Cars 32 years old that were not registered prior to 2009 must have an initial emissions inspection, then be reinspected every five years, and must not drive more than 4,500 miles per year. Is that clear enough?

Emissions inspections are at government-run facilities. “Wait times are posted online and there’s one about 5 minutes from my house,” Andrew Ganz tells us. “I’ve never waited more than 10 minutes, though it’s ironic that you sit idling outside the facility.”

The second thing to take note of in Colorado – like Arkansas, New Mexico, and a handful of other states – is its titling requirements. If your older car doesn’t have a title, you can still register it with a surety bond, as in many other states. However, if your vehicle is NOT roadworthy, older than 25 years of age, and physically located in Colorado, you can get what’s called a “Rebuilder’s Title” to keep with the car as it’s being restored. Once it’s again in roadworthy shape, you can use that Rebuilder’s Title as the basis to get a clean Colorado title. That’s a unique win for restorers in Colorado.

Unfortunately, Colorado ranks 30^th in commute time and 29^th in road quality, according to US News & World Report.

17. New Mexico

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	3%	70
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Surety Bond OK	100
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Poor	0
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 690

New Mexico Statute 66-3-27 NMSA 1978 lays out the requirements for its “Horseless Carriage” registration. The restrictions are the basic “special events and car shows” type, but there’s no restriction on days of the week or miles per year. It’s kind of odd that a car from 1984 can be registered as a “Horseless Carriage,” but that’s the statute.

The fee is $14.50 for the first five-year registration period, then $9.50 every subsequent five years afterward.

There’s a version of Colorado’s “rebuilder’s title” in New Mexico that allows a car to be restored over time and then inspected at the time of registration for a clean New Mexico title.

New Mexico ranks as #14 in America in terms of short commutes, but unfortunately ranks at #41 for road quality, according to US News & World Report.

15. Arizona

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	Y	Limited areas	75
Sales Tax	Y	5.6% plus local	44
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Surety Bond OK	50
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Fair	50

 

Total Grade: 719

Arizona has up to four special plates for older cars. Classic Car plates are reserved for those recognized by the Classic Car Club of America. Historic Vehicle is for those 25 years old or older. Street Rod is for 1948 or earlier with modifications. Horseless Carriage is for 1915 or earlier. None seem to carry much in the way of major restrictions, which is great in a state where the sun shines most of the year.

Jeff Koch tells us that “Arizona’s emissions standards vary by county. In Maricopa County, where Phoenix is, any car 1975 or later needs emissions testing UNLESS you get collector insurance,  then the emissions requirement is waived. Collector-car or antique plates are not necessary for collector-car insurance,” a nice benefit for Arizona’s Hagerty customers.

He also notes that “Used car buyers who buy from a private seller are not required to pay sales tax on the transaction.”

Road quality puts Arizona in the top 25 percent of US states, while its road quality ranks at #33, according to US News & World Report.

15. Nevada

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y	5000 miles/yr.	50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	8.1%	19
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Bonded OK	50
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 719

Nevada’s classic car plates (of which there are SEVEN, by the way) come with an age and mileage restriction. The vehicle has to be 25 years old (or older for Old Timer or Horseless Carriage tags), and can only be driven 5,000 miles a year.

Changes to Nevada’s classic registration program went into effect in 2021. Nevada now requires that anything with a classic vehicle plate also have collector car insurance: “You must show the Declarations page from your insurance policy as proof that the vehicle is covered by Nevada insurance that is specifically designated for classic or antique vehicles and meets the minimum liability coverage. You must submit this at your next renewal or at the time you first obtain plates.”

The weather is generally conducive to old car ownership, the roads are fantastic outside of Las Vegas and you can register a car with a bond if the title is missing. Only relatively high taxation keeps the state out of the running for the best state in the Union for classic ownership.

14. Wyoming

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	4%	60
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Surety Bond OK	50
Length of Driving Season		7 Months	60
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 720

US News & World Report ranked Wyoming #2 for commute time and #3 for road quality in the United States, making this a paradise in the few months the state isn’t buried under the multiple feet of snow it receives.

Classic vehicle restrictions are fairly light, in that the car is only supposed to be used for exhibitions, events, and pleasure driving, but there’s no restriction on the days or mileage one can drive. Plus, the registration fee is a more than reasonable ten bucks. And that appears to be a one-time fee since it doesn’t say “per year” on the application. You can spend $50 for an embossed plate if you like, otherwise, you get one with vinyl letters and numbers affixed.  Sales tax isn’t too terrible at 4% and there’s no safety or emissions requirement to deal with.

Like several other states, everything has to have a title regardless of age, but if it doesn’t you can get a surety bond. It’s just going to cost you, depending on how valuable the car is. And all of the title paperwork happens at the county clerk’s office, rather than at the DMV, meaning you have another trip ahead of you.

13. Ohio

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N	25-year cap	100
Sales Tax	Y	7.75%	22.5
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		9 Months	75
Road Quality		Good	75
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 722.5

Ohio does have restrictions for Historical vehicle plates, but the requirements don’t seem onerous, and given the fact that you see an awful lot of them around at car shows, they’re probably worth having versus standard registration.

The application notes that the vehicle can’t be used for general transport, but there are no real restrictions on mileage, days of the week, or distance from home: “A historical motor vehicle shall not be used for general transportation, but may be operated on the public roads and highways to and from a location where maintenance is performed on the vehicle.” That’s open to a pretty wide interpretation.

Ohio doesn’t have a safety inspection, and there’s a 25-year cap for emissions requirements, so most of us are out of the woods. Sales tax can get pretty steep when you throw in the 2.25% county tax, but there’s a cap of $700.

11. Idaho

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	Y	Limited areas	75
Sales Tax	Y	6% plus local	40
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 735

Idaho’s vintage car registration scheme is pretty confusing. For $25 initially – and then $3 every three years afterward – you can get an “Idaho Classic” plate for any vehicle 30 years old or older that hasn’t been modified at all.

That entitles you to ONLY use your vehicle in “exhibits, parades, tours, club activities and such occasional use as is necessary for operation and maintenance of the vehicle.” If you want to drive it for ANY other purpose, you need a regular registration, which ALSO has to be displayed.

Then there’s an “Idaho Old Timer” plate for anything manufactured before January 1, 1943. Again, that dual-plating requirement is the same, meaning you have to pay for two registrations on the same vehicle. Fees are the same as for the “Idaho Classic” plate.

For anything built before 1973, you can also get a Year of Manufacture plate for $25, then $15 per year thereafter.

There’s also a Street Rod plate, for is anything manufactured before 1949 and modified to qualify as a “street rod.” That fee is $25, $15 per year renewal and a plate fee of $6.

Finally, there’s also a Corvette plate but you don’t have to put it on a Corvette. The reason to affix a Corvette plate to your 1988 Mercury Topaz is that it funds children’s programs in the state.

The last time we ran this story, Idaho had some emissions requirements, but the legislature passed a law eliminating all emissions testing in the state as of July 1, 2023.

Idaho has a provision for titling a car more than ten years old that doesn’t have a title. It’s a rather lengthy and detailed procedure, but at least it exists, without the requirement of purchasing an often expensive surety bond. You can read about the Provisional Title procedure here.

Idaho’s traffic ranks 9^th in the US, and its road quality puts it at 19^th.

11. Alaska

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	N*		100
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Surety bond OK	50
Length of Driving Season		7 Months	60
Road Quality		Good	75
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 735

Obviously, a lot of Alaska is buried in snow and ice for a good chunk of the year, but otherwise, it’s pretty classic car-friendly. Alaska has two types of plates for people like us: Historic Vehicle plates are for those older than 30 years of age and carry all of the usual restrictions on where and when the vehicle can be used. The bonus is that the plates are only $10 and you don’t have to renew.

Custom Collector Vehicle plates are for vehicles from 1949 or older, or a replica version of those cars. There’s also a pretty stiff set of requirements including hydraulic brakes, sealed beam or halogen headlamps (no mention of LEDs), seat belts for all occupants, turn signals activated by a switch (instead of osmosis or ESP, presumably), safety glass or lexan windows, electric or vacuum wipers, standard or blue dot taillamps, and a parking brake that operates “at least two wheels on the same axle.”

We put an asterisk next to Sales Tax because Alaska has no state sales tax. Depending on where you live, the municipality can charge anywhere from 0% to 7.5% sales tax, though, so be aware of that.

Given its inclement weather, Alaska still ranks pretty high on the US News & World Report roads index, ranking 5^th in the country for commute time, and 28^th in the nation for road quality.

10. Mississippi

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	5%	50
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Poor	25
Traffic		Good	75

 

Total Grade: 750

Mississippi doesn’t make finding information on vintage vehicle registration all that easy, but the requirements for doing so appear pretty lax. There’s not much on the state’s Department of Revenue site except for the fact that yes, you can get an antique tag, and the fee is $28. We looked for any kind of requirements and couldn’t find any. We’d assume that there’s a year cap, but good luck finding it.

What is clear is that as long as the previous owner had two years’ worth of previous registrations, you don’t need a title. 35.VII.06.1 Part 7, Subpart 6, Chapter 1 of the Mississippi Administrative Code says:

When applying for a Certificate of Title on a used vehicle that has not been previously titled, the following supporting documents must accompany the title application:

1. A certificate copy of Current Bill of Sale.
2. A certified copy of Previous Bill of Sale or certified copy of two years Tag and Tax receipts of previous owner.

There’s no inspection – emission or safety – and you can drive year ‘round, so congrats on a high score, Mississippi.

8. Alabama

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	4%	60
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N	35-year cap	100
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Fair	25

 

Total Grade: 735

Alabama makes it really easy for vintage car owners to register vehicles. According to the Commissioner of Licenses in Calhoun County, Barry E. Robertson’s website, “Automobiles and trucks 35 years old and older do not require titles,” which gets you all the way back to 1988 as of this year. If you don’t catch this in 2023, that creeps up to 1989, a boon, especially for you classic Japanese fans who may have still had to title vehicles from the 1980s.

It has restrictions for vintage tags, but we applied half credit here because the restrictions don’t say anything about weekends and holidays only, or anything about mileage caps. The vehicle only has to be over 30 years old and “operated as a collector’s item, including participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, and not used for general transportation purposes.”

It’s super cheap, too. The tags are only fifteen bucks, and taxes – including the state tax and any county tax – are 4% at most. It can be lower than that depending upon the county.

The weather in Alabama – outside of hurricanes and tornadoes – is pretty great, averaging less than an inch a year in most parts of the state. The road quality and traffic can be amazing, once you’re outside of Birmingham and Montgomery.

8. Montana

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	N		100
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Surety Bond OK	50
Length of Driving Season		7 Months	60
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 760

The weather is about the only reason not to be excited to own a vintage car in Montana. The state does impose the normal “special events and parades” restriction for historic plates, which you can research in the appropriate Montana code. Unlike any other state we know of, there’s a rather arbitrary sliding scale based not on age or the type of plate, but on the vehicle’s GROSS WEIGHT. If it’s under the completely rational figure of 2,850 pounds, it’s $25. If it’s over that, it’s $30.  Picture this: You drive a Triumph TR7 with a 2,820-lb. gross weight and your buddy with the TR6 weighs in at 3,042. If you can figure out the reasoning behind his registration costing $5 more, you’re ahead of us.

But other than that, it’s something of a paradise – both in general and for classic car owners.

First and foremost, it doesn’t impose a sales tax on cars at all. The money saved in tax resulted in a cottage industry of shady folks that would set up a Montana LLC specifically to register a car to the company, and then lie about the place where it was domiciled. Don’t do that. You’re begging for (A) an audit and (B) your insurance company to not pay a claim when your car burns up in a garage in New Jersey.

US News and World Report says that Montana ranks #4 in America for short commute times, and #11 in terms of road quality, so you’ll be able to enjoy the car when it’s registered.

6. Oregon

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	Y	’75 and newer	75
Sales Tax	N		100
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	Y	Bonded OK	50
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	90
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 765

Oregon fares well because of its excellent quality roads, its decent traffic outside the metro areas, and the fact that it doesn’t have a sales tax at all. Depending on where you live you could see a ton of snow, but even then, Oregon doesn’t use salt, so cars and trucks tend to be in relatively rust-free condition after a lifetime of use.

You need to know math to figure out if you can get an antique plate in Oregon, though, so English majors may be out of luck. Here’s how it’s described on the application: “To determine the year model eligible subtract 1900 from the current year and divide that number by two. The vehicle must be this year’s model or older.” This sounds harder than one of those word problems involving trains leaving two cities at the same time.

There’s a title requirement and you can read more about it in Oregon’s general laws. Jeff Zurschmeide notes that registering a classic from out of state requires a VIN inspection. “If you bring a car in from out of state, Oregon requires a VIN inspection. They just make sure the VIN on the dash (or wherever) matches the title. My only VIN challenge was on a 1920 Model T, which didn’t have serial numbers until 1925. They make you go to the State Police station and get approval. Not a problem – Model Ts are not high theft vehicles.”

He also notes that the enforcement of “daily use” is pretty lax. “The DMV will give you a stern warning that cars with SP plates may ONLY be driven on special occasions, such as to car shows or club meetings, or to be serviced and repaired. I suppose if you got ticketed for speeding or something, they might add on charges for improperly driving on SP plates, but I take my ’56 pickup to the lumber yard and haven’t been hassled.”

6. Nebraska

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	5.5%	45
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 765

Here’s a novel concept: Nebraska actually provides a decent amount of information on registering a classic vehicle on its website. Finding this information in other states can be a real time sink.

Vehicles with Historic plates are subject to the “parades and special events” restrictions of most other states, but there doesn’t appear to be a mileage cap or a day-of-the-week restriction. It’s a little difficult learning the difference between a Vintage Plate and a Historical Plate, other than that the Historical Plate description says you need to have another vehicle registered with normal passenger vehicle plates.

As far as titles, there’s a fair bit of information worth reading at the DMV’s website. If the car is from 1940 or prior, you may not need a title at all. There are also different titling requirements for “Assembled Classic Motor Vehicles” that are 30 years old and have had significant modifications.

Nebraska ranks #6 in America for commute time and #12 for road quality, so the driving experience can be pleasant, provided you don’t mind going arrow-straight most of the time. The average 30 inches of snow aren’t great, but Nebraska doesn’t use salt on the roads, which makes it a good source of finding decent classic vehicles that haven’t rotted to the roofline.

5. North Dakota

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	5%	50
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 770

Weather is about the only thing that makes North Dakota a little less appealing for vintage car owners. Yes, it gets more than 50 inches of snow every year, severely restricting the amount of driving time you’ll get, and it’s one of the states in the Salt Belt that treat the roads with the metal-eating substance. But the rest of the state’s vehicle-related attributes are remarkable.

The state does impose usual restrictions on vehicles with Historic plates. Interestingly, North Dakota has “Pioneer” plates for cars older than 40 years of age that don’t seem to carry the same “parade use only” restrictions that the Collector plates do, according to the .pdf on the DMV’s website.  Either is a one-time registration fee — $160 for collector cars and just $10 for Pioneer tags — and there’s no safety or emissions requirement, so you’re in the clear there.

Sales tax is a mid-level 5%. Titles are required, but if you don’t have one, there’s a process requiring an inspection that at least will provide a pathway to legal citizenship. US News & World Report ranked North Dakota #2 in road quality and #3 in commute time, meaning you won’t be spending a lot of your time idling in traffic.

4. Utah

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	Y		50
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	6.85%	58.5
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		8 Months	70
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 778.5

Utah comes in with a strong score, limited only by its relatively high sales tax and the “parades and special events” restrictions on cars registered as classic vehicles.

Classic registration is cheap at just $17 – a buck more than when we first ran this story – and you only pay the fee once as long as the car is registered. There’s also a $4 postage and handling fee. Classic vehicles from model year 1982 or older are exempt from emissions testing. From model year 1983 forward to the rolling 30-year cutoff, emissions testing may be required in counties that require it.

Utah is also great if your vehicle doesn’t happen to have a title. Anything older than 1988 doesn’t need a title at all. You’ll only need a bill of sale to register the vehicle.

Utah has some absolutely spectacular roads, and it ranks 12^th in terms of traffic according to US News & World Report. Its road quality is 21^st in the US according to the publication.

3. Arkansas

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y*	6.5% plus local	35
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		12 Months	100
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Good	75

 

Total Grade: 810

Arkansas gets a pretty phenomenal score, falling down only on the sales tax portion of the assessment. Not only does the state ring you up for a relatively high 6.5%, but the county and the city can both wet their beaks, too, adding another percentage point or so to what you owe for the privilege of buying a car.

One interesting note, though. If the car you register costs less than $4,000, you don’t owe a sales tax at all, a boon for us who like to buy beaters and improve them as we drive.

Arkansas does have an antique vehicle plate, but it’s only for vehicles 45 years or older, rather than the 25-year cutoff most states use. The good news is that it’s only seven bucks, and there’s no renewal required.

Arkansas has no safety or emissions inspections and will allow a bonded title if the original title is missing. Add in the fact that the weather is generally good, and the traffic isn’t bad outside of Little Rock and the Land of Opportunity ends up scoring remarkably well.

2. Kentucky

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	6%	40
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N*		100
Length of Driving Season		10 Months	80
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 820

We looked at every form on the Kentucky DMV website and couldn’t find one for antique or historic vehicles, and there isn’t any designation for vintage or classic vehicles on the standard registration form, so registering a vintage car in Kentucky looks like it’s just like registering anything else. Kentucky also offers a title for classic vehicle projects, so you can work on the vehicle until such time as it’s roadworthy, then apply to transfer that to a regular title with no salvage, junk, or rebuilt markings.

That’s not so bad because there isn’t a safety or emissions inspection that a vintage vehicle plate would help you avoid. The sales tax in Kentucky is a moderate six percent, and there’s no excise tax to contend with on an annual basis.

There’s a good explanation of the title procedure on the DMV website that’s worth looking at. If you’re bringing a vehicle 25 years old or older into Kentucky from another state, you don’t necessarily need a title for it. The vehicle can be taken to a sheriff’s office for VIN verification and then the owner can apply for a new Kentucky title.

1. Minnesota

Criterion	Response	Notes	Grade
Classic Vehicle Registration Restrictions	N		100
Safety Inspection	N		100
Emissions Requirement	N		100
Sales Tax	Y	$125	75
Excise Tax	N		100
Title Requirement	N		100
Length of Driving Season		7 Months	65
Road Quality		Excellent	100
Traffic		Excellent	100

 

Total Grade: 840

Despite its generally lousy weather, Minnesota wins an excellent score for vintage car friendliness.

Start with the restrictions on vintage tags: None to speak of. The car has to be 25 years old, and you need to have another car registered as a daily driver – which you’d need to have to get Hagerty Classic Car insurance to begin with – but beyond that, there are no other restrictions. If the vehicle you’re registering doesn’t have a title, you can get a bonded title, and you’d get the bond back after three years along with a clean title.

Sales tax on a vintage car is a flat $125 fee, plus $25 in a one-time tax, regardless of how much you paid for the car. That’s a massive savings if your emotions ran high at one of the Arizona auctions and you came home with a $50,000 car. Ordinarily, your tax liability would be $3,000 on a purchase like that.

Add good roads, and relatively easy traffic outside the city and it really adds up to one of the most vintage car-friendly states in the northern part of the country.

 

So there you have it, classic car owners. Let us know what you think. Are our numbers accurate or do you think your state is way more classic-car-friendly than we’ve given it credit for? Make your case in the comments below … and congratulations, Minnesota.

 

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