Indiana Historic Plates: Costs, Registration, and Restrictions

Any vehicle at least 25 years old can be registered with an Indiana historic license plate through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and if you use the vehicle mainly for shows, cruises, and collecting rather than daily driving, you can instead choose the reduced-fee collector vehicle registration. Both options run through your local BMV branch. Which one fits you depends on how you actually use the car.

Historic Plate or Collector Vehicle Registration

Indiana treats these as two different things, and the distinction matters.

A “historic vehicle” is any vehicle at least 25 years old. Register it with a historic plate and you pay the standard registration fee, vehicle excise tax, and any applicable county or municipal excise tax. There are no special usage restrictions beyond what applies to any registered vehicle.¹

A “collector vehicle” is narrower. To qualify, all three must be true:¹

The vehicle is at least 25 years old.
It is owned, operated, restored, maintained, or used as a collector’s item, a leisure pursuit, or an investment.
It is not used primarily for everyday transportation.

Meet all three and you can register as a collector vehicle for a reduced fee. The tradeoff is the usage limit.

What It Costs

A vehicle registered simply as historic pays the same standard registration fee and excise taxes as any other Indiana vehicle.¹

A collector vehicle registration is $16.35.² Vehicle excise tax and any applicable county or municipal excise tax still apply on top of that base fee.

How to Register

For a basic historic registration, take the vehicle’s title to any BMV branch and complete the standard registration process. No extra paperwork beyond what any registration requires.

For collector registration, you must submit a completed Collector Vehicle Affidavit (State Form 56166) when you first register the vehicle and again each year at renewal.¹ The affidavit is your signed statement that the vehicle still meets the collector criteria. The annual renewal is the piece most people forget. Miss it and you can lose collector status along with the reduced fee.

Authentic Model Year License Plates

Owners of a qualifying collector vehicle can display a genuine Indiana plate from the vehicle’s model year instead of a modern plate. Reproductions don’t count; it has to be a real plate from the correct year.

Before you install it, the BMV inspects the plate at a branch. The inspection verifies that the plate is authentic, in suitable condition for display, and carries a unique plate number not already assigned to another registered vehicle. A restored or refurbished plate can be authorized, but one that’s too deteriorated may be rejected.³

The fee for registering and displaying an authentic model year plate is $37.³ One catch worth remembering: with an authentic plate, you must keep the current certificate of registration in the vehicle at all times. A photocopy will not satisfy the requirement, and law enforcement can ask to see it at any traffic stop.

Usage Restrictions on Collector-Registered Vehicles

This is where the collector designation has teeth. A collector vehicle cannot be used primarily for transportation. The rule is deliberately flexible rather than a hard mileage cap. Driving to a car show, joining a cruise night, entering a parade, or taking an occasional pleasure drive all fit comfortably. Using the car as your daily commuter does not.

The statutory language focuses on purpose rather than frequency: a vehicle “owned, operated, restored, maintained, or used as a collector’s item, a leisure pursuit, or an investment” fits.¹ Occasional dinner runs or afternoon drives are consistent with a leisure pursuit. Daily miles as someone’s primary ride are not.

If your vintage car is your only vehicle and you drive it everywhere, the basic historic registration at standard fees is the safer choice. You get the historic plate without the usage restriction.

Insurance

Every registered motor vehicle in Indiana must carry minimum liability insurance, and a historic plate does not create an exception. Financial responsibility must be in effect before you can register or operate any motor vehicle on public roads.⁴

Indiana’s minimum liability coverage is:⁵

$25,000 for bodily injury per person.
$50,000 for bodily injury per accident when two or more people are hurt.
$25,000 for property damage per accident.

Those numbers satisfy the legal requirement but often fall short for a valuable collector car. Standard auto policies typically pay out based on depreciated value, which for a 40-year-old car is close to scrap regardless of what you’ve spent on restoration.

Most collector car owners carry an agreed value policy instead. You and the insurer settle on a specific dollar amount when the policy is written, and if the car is totaled or stolen, the insurer pays that amount rather than a depreciation figure. Some insurers require a professional appraisal to set the agreed value; others accept documentation of the year, make, model, condition, and restoration history. Policies may require periodic reappraisal at renewal to keep the agreed value current.

Emissions Testing

Indiana’s emissions testing program, which applies in certain counties, exempts antique vehicles.⁶ A vehicle that qualifies for historic or collector registration will not need to pass an emissions test at renewal.

Selling or Transferring the Vehicle

Historic plates do not transfer with the car. The BMV advises removing your plates before completing the sale.⁷ The buyer will register the vehicle and apply for their own plates, whether historic, collector, or standard.

Indiana law requires the seller to endorse and assign the certificate of title to the buyer, note any liens, and deliver the title at the time of sale. The seller must also complete the odometer statement, date of sale, purchase price, and purchaser information on the title, and every owner listed on the title must sign in the seller section.⁸ Failing to properly complete the assignment or purchaser information is a Class B infraction.

The buyer takes the assigned title to a BMV branch to apply for a new title and registration. A buyer who wants collector registration will need to submit their own Collector Vehicle Affidavit at that time. An authentic model year plate does not automatically carry over either; the new owner would need to present the plate for a fresh BMV inspection to keep displaying it.

Importing a Vintage Vehicle Into Indiana

If you’re buying a vintage car from overseas, federal rules ease up once the vehicle hits 25 years. A vehicle at least 25 years old, measured from the date of manufacture, can be permanently imported into the United States without needing to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.⁹ Vehicles younger than that which were not originally built to U.S. safety standards generally cannot be permanently imported unless NHTSA finds them eligible.

At the border, qualifying vehicles enter under Box 1 on the HS-7 Declaration form provided to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. If the manufacture date is not on a permanent label, you can prove the vehicle’s age with an invoice from the original sale, a registration document showing the vehicle was registered at least 25 years ago, or a statement from a recognized vehicle historical society.¹⁰ Once the vehicle clears customs and is titled in Indiana, you can register it as historic or collector through the normal BMV process.

1
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Historic Vehicle and Authentic Model Year License Plates
2
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Fee Chart
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-18-12-2.5 – Display of Authentic License Plates on Antique Motor Vehicles
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-25-4-1 – Persons, Generally, Who Must Meet Minimum Standards
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-25-4-5 – Minimum Amounts of Financial Responsibility
6
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Emissions Testing Program
7
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. I’m Selling a Vehicle – What Do I Need to Fill Out the Title
8
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-17-3-3.4 – Sale or Transfer of Ownership of Vehicle
9
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Importation and Certification FAQs
10
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Importing Classic or Antique Vehicles for Personal Use