Michigan Relaxes Driving Restrictions for Vintage Cars
Hopping into the driver’s seat of a car is a freeing feeling at any age. A loose grip on the wheel and light touch on the pedals give us the capability to go just about anywhere when properly equipped—well, assuming your classic vehicle doesn’t have restrictions on usage based on your registration. Luckily, vintage car owners in Michigan are primed to enjoy this driving season and many more with a little more freedom thanks to the passing of House Bill 4183. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the bill, which vastly expands the ability to use classic cars, into law on April 2nd with immediate effect.
According to the way the law was previously written, a vehicle with historic or authentic license plates could only be used for “participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, and similar uses, including mechanical testing, but is not used for general transportation.” The new legislation expands the definition of “exhibition” considerably. The full language reads:
Sec. 20a. “Historic vehicle” means a vehicle that is over 25 years old and that is owned solely as a collector’s item and for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, and similar uses, including mechanical testing, but is not used for general transportation. For purposes of this section, use of the vehicle during the period from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day each year is considered an exhibition.
Plenty of drivers ignored the prior law, but there was always the chance that law enforcement would issue a citation for usage outside of the guidelines. That’s a worry no more, all thanks to an enthusiast just like you and me.
This law stands as a testament to what can be done by grassroots classic car owners, as it was not a lobbying group or organization that made this happen, but rather one person who thought the way the law was written was too much and decided to do something about it. That person was John Russell of Traverse City, Michigan.
“It’s been a long road, but totally worth it,” said Russell. It all started with a group being ticketed for participating in the Woodward Dream Cruise, as the informal driving event did not technically fulfill the letter of the law. The group protested and gained enough traction to amend the ruling in June of 2012 to allow unlimited use for the month of August.
Russell saw this as an opportunity. “That 2012 ruling made me call up my senator and ask why we had restrictions at all.” From there it turned into a letter writing campaign and spooled up into a full-scale lobbying effort before long. Despite some lulls and gaps in progress for the bill, John didn’t give up and before he knew it he was testifying in front of the Michigan state legislature, to which he said, “We aren’t asking for special favors, we are just asking to drive our cars. This is the automotive capital of the world. Why are we restricting people from driving to get ice cream in cool cars?”
Russell’s patience paid off. He got word on April 1st that the bill had passed, and had to reach out to his government contacts to confirm they weren’t pulling his leg. They weren’t, and that meant it was cause for celebration. It took years to get the ear of the right representative who would put together and introduce a bill, and then a full decade after that to complete the process to see said bill signed into law. Despite the wait, the timing is perfect, as owners are just starting to bring out their seasonally-stored vehicles and prepare to enjoy the driving season—now with a little extra driving.
With this win under his belt, Russell’s first question to State Representative John Roth and the bill’s other sponsors was “we can come back in a few years and ask for no restrictions, right?” Russell thinks he has the the right combination of evidence to make that happen, but in the meantime, those of us in Michigan are preparing for a celebratory drive this Memorial Day weekend.
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Here in California we have no restrictions unless you buy a very restricted insurance and mileage limits etc.
We have car gathering every weekends and many are evening gatherings during the week.
“socalcarculture.com” says it all. Really surprised to see That law in Michigan.
The answer was already in front of the faces of old car owners for years… Stop titling / registering the car as a classic, historic, or antique & you won’t have restrictions on its usage.
Oh, and I already know the reason for using the ‘specialty’ registration categories – it’s because you’re cheap & trying to pay less on taxes…
As a Michigan resident with one vehicle registered with an authentic plate, I can at least offer my view. I got an authentic plate for my motorcycle because I thought it would be extremely neat to have a plate from the year my bike was manufactured. The lower fees and assessments was just a bonus. Very few people I know actually plate their vehicle as historic because they’re “cheap”. I think that is an oversimplified view of the situation. Few people in my experience are using this as a menas to register their old junker on the cheap. In fact, I have yet to see that in my area. I think the main rub is that owners want to register their vehicles properly and pay fees that are appropriate for the 6 months out of the year (maximum) that our driving season is.
Wow!!! Just found out my daily driver for the past 10 years (1999 Crown Vic) is now a “historical ” or possibly considered a “classic”.!! O well – rest assured I won’t be entering it in any shows any time soon- but I will continue to drive it every day for another 10 years or so and when it finally becomes “cool” or sought after – I will probably sell it for way less than I thought it was worth…… happens every time!!
My respect to those who stick with governments to make changes such as these. I have worked in the classic car industry and have known some of these folks here in British Columbia. These are long roads to law and take a lot of time. In BC in the past all that we had were Vintage plates that were even more restrictive than the aforementioned Michigan plates. Our Province also requires the car to carry insurance (state controlled with extended insurance optional from private or government coverage) to operate which the vintage plates were exempt from. They were more like a permit than a tag. Many local vintage clubs and hot-rodderrs banded together in the 80s to lobby for the creation of something better. Thus today we have Collector plates. They allow owners to drive just about anywhere but to work at anytime. Your required insurance is far, far less than regular insurance. Like $300 per year vs $1800 etc. More recently the same lobbyists successfully acquired changes to the collector plate rules to allow for modifications which were forbidden in the earlier Laws. (only mods that could be considered for safety were allowed like brake upgrades) So now you can drive your ’55 Chevy with your Torque thrusts and period looking stereo without having to hide from the cops. The changes also allow streetrods to be legal as collector cars as well. Gone now are the days of taking photos of your car with the stock AM radio and whitewalls for certification and then swapping back the Cragars and Alpine later and hoping not to get caught. The modifications to more original cars need to be “period” correct but thankfully the car knowledge (no doubt honed on learning to catch cheaters in the past) of those in Victoria making the decision has improved and they are quite fair with what is considered a legal modification. https://www.icbc.com/vehicle-registration/collector-mods/Vintage-vehicles
https://www.icbc.com/vehicle-registration/collector-mods/collector-vehicles
We take our 60 year old car out anytime we feel like it. People come out and look at it and take pictures. It is a one car car show. Government types think they need to be in every portion of your life. Drive that thing.
WOW – Plenty of folks that don’t like this countries government. Then again complainers got to complain.
Per Winston Churchill — it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time;
Congratulations to John Russell. If you take the time to cool off, be polite, reasonable, and persistent — most politicians and government folks do listen. It just takes more effort than complaining.
In Arizona the MVD (DMV) uses information from your insurance company to determine if you own a ‘Collector vehicle”. It is up to your insurance company. The state issues no driving restrictions, they rely on the collector car restrictions set by the insurance company. My vehicle is a low production 2005 Chrysler built by Karman in Germany. The only true advantage is it no longer needs semi-annual emissions test for license renewal.
Hats off to Mr. Russell and his effort. I always thought that it was a chicken sh*t ticket for a cop to write to a classic car owner. Yes, folks violated the law and were rarely questioned, it is a silly law. Why is it restricted at all? Money in State coffers?
This part of the story sounds weird “It all started with a group being ticketed for participating in the Woodward Dream Cruise, as the informal driving event did not technically fulfill the letter of the law.
They’d have to ticket thousands and thousands of people. Nothing about the reason for stopping him?
As I remember, they were cruising a day or two before the official beginning of the dream cruise. A local cop decided to be a jerk about it and ticketed them.
in Washington state when you register your car they tell you it can only be driven to shows and club events. when you read the law it states you can drive it for the pleasure of others, to charge the battery anytime. I carry a copy of that law in my old cars, in case I’m stopped. never had any trouble. it does state you can’t use it as a work vehicle… can’t carry a load in your pickup etc.
How does any of this effect cars that are reproductions of Original vehicles of the past , as I own a 1934 3 window for that’s a near clone ( reproduction ) of the ZZ TOP Ford Eliminator owned by Billy Gibbs & having a reconstructed frame , 350 Cu.In. 300 HP engine with a mated T300 automatic transmission . Purchased in 2014 . I plated it with Vanity plates ( MYZZTOP ) Registered in Michigan . With these plates I can drive it as an everyday vehicle without worry of any tickets It costs me $73 for 2 year tab to license it . So No problems and little cost . I have it insured by Haggerty
Well, that would easily cost Over $300 in newsom’s land….
Thanks Mr Russell for all the hard work
Well, that would easily cost Over $300 in newsom’s land….
Historic plate registration is really cheap. The reason why they wouldn’t remove all restrictions would be a loss of money from these registrations. There would be no down side to getting historic plates and we all would have them.
It usually comes down to money.
Fabulous! I’ve never been questioned about my use of my historical plate cars but I know that others have.