Just my opinion but the 53 TN plate is more unique looking than the CA plate. Cool story - TN use to require a front and back plate. A co-workers grandfather would take the plates off the car every year, stack them and then nail them to the barn wall. He had every year between 1936 and 1961. When the grandfather died the co worker inherited all of the plates and carried them around in a box for years afterward. One day he asks if I could build a display for the plates to be used as an art piece in a new home he was building. This was what I came up with. It wound up being close to 8 feet long. Sadly not all would fit so we had to pick out the ones that had special meaning to his family.
I purchased my 65 Chevelle from my brother in 1990 who lived in Hermosa Beach Ca., as I recall had the car smog approved & transferred ownership to me that year as a non-resident to retain the black/yellow 1963 plates that were transferred to the car when new. Each year paid the Ca. fees, eventually registering with historical plates here in Nebraska & was able to retain the Ca. plates as a non-operational status, seems an annual fee was required to do so & later withdrawn through some form of revised legislation. On occasion I get a Ca. DMV letter acknowledging the non op. status & the procedure to reinstate when desired, with of course some fees attached, & probably a smog update as well.
I would suggest contacting the Tennessee DMV, they have the final say. HRP Statewide toll-free: (888) 871-3171
Good news on the smog thing, makes sense as the older cars have dwindled down, where is the cut off year at present?
there was a time when old cars needed a smog check for transfer of ownership. I had to get a smog on my 61 Dodge when I bought it around 1987. not all of California has the bi annual smog check. in Calaveras country they don't do it. my brother lives there. probably other rural counties as well.
... I bet in other countries that embrace our hot rod culture there are more cars with California plates at shows or wall hangers in the shop than any other state. I used to sell license plates on ebay and sent quite a few overseas.
New Resident Titling & Registration Requirements You have 30 days from the date of becoming a Missouri resident to title your vehicle. https://dor.mo.gov/motor-vehicle/titling-registration/
What do you mean by "original plates" are they the '51 plates with a '53 tab part of the YOM program, are they black '63 which everyone had to go to if the car was registered consecutively over the years or are they the '69 blue plates? You can only keep California plates registered to the car on the car if it's registered in California, all the out of state plates you see running around are either visiting or registered to something out of state (people live here but have a po box or land out of state to save on registration). You can keep them for show and put then Tenn plates in the car...I bet they won't be happy about that. Or you can see if they have a YOM program over there and sell the Ca. plates.
IF you state doesn't confiscate your plates upon registering it there, you could mount the plates when you arrive at a show, for display purposes only. You would have to reinstall your current plates before getting back on the street or possibly or find a real problem with the local law enforcement. I know California does confiscate and probably most other states now do also.
Why would you want to keep your California tags and fees.you have escaped, you are free. Keep your registration, a copy of your pink slip, and photos to prove it was on your vehicle, and say goodbye. Spend the money you saved on other things. Put the plates on for shows if you want.
Only "enhanced" areas have a emission program, there are still some areas you don't have to smog your car (old or new). But the registration here has to be more then Tenn., I'm oldish and I remember paying $25+ fees to register my car in the early 90s......now the cheapest is $120 or $130 plus fees.
I would not be inclined to keep the car registered in California for the sake of keeping the plates... As long as you own the car you're golden, but when it comes time to sell the purchaser will most likely need an inspection, serial number search, etc. As the current owner, you should be able to transfer your California title without having to jump through any hoops. Personally, I'm not interested in buying ANY car that has a convoluted registration history.
Similar to CA, Tenn has a transfer fee and registration fee. After that, it's just the annual registration plus any county fees. Just pay attention to what they title it as. I had the have the title on my delivery changed twice because they want to pick something from their database to put in the model spot on the paperwork. Pretty simple. Again, what part of TN are you headed to?
When I moved to Tn a few years ago I got all the cars tagged. Title transfer, 1 years tags and YOM plates. Cost $51.50 per car and it is a one time cost( no yearly fee) so another reason I like it here. My late model daily is under $100 a year. I don’t know why you would want to run your Ca plate.
THIS^^^^^^^^ In about EVERY other part of the Country that is not California most folks will just consider you a tool and an outsider announcing where you came from.
Holy crap, I've started packing. I'm movin' to Cali...... It costs me $1198.05 AU to register a V8 car for one year here in Queensland, Australia. No, this is not a joke.......
HAHAHAHAHA.......classic. I kinda thought that, but it was funny to hear. CRAP......hopefully everyone makes 150.00 an hr.
[QUOTE="Mr48chev, post: 14704363, .... in some parts of the country there is zero fastination with the Cali thing and you had best Leave Cali behind and not brag about it to the locals. You might get highly offended by their comments.[/QUOTE] this is a traditional Hot rod site. we are talking about California car culture here. any shitty comment about California car culture and history would not be offensive, it would be comical. 95% or more of early Hotrodding we all love came from California. WWII spread it across the country. HOT ROD magazine started in SoCal. the builders, the painters, Ed Roth, the first Drag strip started here, the Oakland Roadster Show. Muroc dry lake had racing starting in the 30's. who do you think raced at Bonneville and made that what it is today? the Hot Rod Culture that started here has spread world wide. there would be no "traditional HotRods and Customs" without this miserable state.
Tenn does allow year of manufacturing plates (or at least they did 20 years ago). It’s cool because the old plates are shaped like the state. I may not understand your desires, but I’d run YOM plate on the rear and put the California plate on the front.
On my '56 New Yorker I printed a plate, laminated it, and put it right over my legal antique plate. The plate I printed looks like a 1956 Kansas plate and says OLD HEMI. I've driven it all over the Midwest that way for at least 10 years. The only time I've had it questioned was when my fuel pump failed somewhere north of Milwaukee and one of Wisconsin's men in blue pulled up behind me on the shoulder to check on me. He evidently ran the plate while I was under the hood putting on the spare pump I carry, and when it didn't show up in the system asked me about it. I said "whoops, that's my car show plate", and pulled it off to reveal the real plate which he also checked. It came back good, so as far as he was concerned no harm no foul.
Sadly, no....... We down here listen to you guys complain about the cost of stuff in the US and can't believe how good you actually have it. Don't get me started about fuel. I'm trying to go a whole day without yelling.......
I assume you want to pay TN taxes not CA taxes Give up the CA plate. You'll have to change to TN drivers license anyway. That CA plate will likely draw more law enforcement attention than you want.
this is a traditional Hot rod site. we are talking about California car culture here. any shitty comment about California car culture and history would not be offensive, it would be comical. 95% or more of early Hotrodding we all love came from California. WWII spread it across the country. HOT ROD magazine started in SoCal. the builders, the painters, Ed Roth, the first Drag strip started here, the Oakland Roadster Show. Muroc dry lake had racing starting in the 30's. who do you think raced at Bonneville and made that what it is today? the Hot Rod Culture that started here has spread world wide. there would be no "traditional HotRods and Customs" without this miserable state.[/QUOTE] Thank you and this guy doesn't think it is miserable state at all..It has a great hotrod culture and as a young guy couldn't wait for those winter additions of Hot Rod Magazines showing warm weather rodding while I was stuck in miserable Ohio where the most exciting thing to do on Friday nights was watch your car rust...Uncle Sam brought me to Nevada and it was the best thing for me and my cars....Went to Bakersfield and Pomona a lot over the years....
Some of the comments on this thread sure went sideways as compared to the question asked. Anyway, for what it's worth, I just got back from California where I was on a business trip and I sure met lots of great folks out there. The funny thing to me was how most saw it important to tell me and the ones I had traveled with from Oklahoma that they are pretty much just like us in most of their thinking...and they were. I did see a few cool HAMB-friendly cars driving the streets and highways as well while I was there even in the "off-season" of this hobby.
Don't know if they have prestiege plates in Tennessee but.... Have a buddy that ran the origional plates on his car before they had Year of Manufacture (YOM) plates provision available to register a car with. He requisted, bought and paid for the same plate number on the prestiege plate and left the origional YOM plates on the car. The registration reflected the YOM plate number (think put CA in front of the number maybe) He kept the prestiege plate in the trunk He was pulled over once and the officer ask for his registration...went back to his cruiser, spent some time on the radio, returned and shoved the registration back in my buddys hand and said " I don't know how you did it, but you are free to go"....
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