What Are the Benefits of Arizona Historic Plates?

Arizona historic license plates give owners of 25-year-old and older vehicles a distinctive copper plate, a very low annual vehicle license tax, and something most states don’t allow: no restrictions on daily driving. You still pay standard registration fees, carry regular liability insurance, and complete emissions testing if your vehicle and county call for it.

What Qualifies as a Historic Vehicle

Arizona law recognizes a vehicle as historic in three ways, and yours only needs to meet one.¹

The model year date of original manufacture is 25 years old or older. For 2026, that covers any vehicle with a model year of 2001 or earlier.
The vehicle appears on a list of historic vehicles submitted to the ADOT director by a recognized historic or classic vehicle organization during December of each year.
The vehicle is a reconstruction that the ADOT director determines still retains the basic original body style as manufactured 25 or more years before the application date. Kit cars and replicas that don’t preserve that original body style don’t qualify.

Final approval sits with the ADOT director, so fitting one of the three definitions is necessary but not automatic.¹

Drive It As Often As You Want

This is the headline benefit. Many states restrict historic or antique-plated vehicles to parades, exhibitions, club events, and occasional maintenance runs. Some require proof you own a separate daily driver before they’ll even issue the plate.

Arizona doesn’t. ARS 28-2484 sets eligibility and plate specifications but puts no limit on how or how often you drive the vehicle.¹ Commute in it. Take it to the grocery store. Drive it across the state. The plate changes the registration category, not the rules of the road, so traffic laws, insurance, and emissions compliance still apply.

Copper Plates and Annual Renewal

Historic plates are manufactured from Arizona copper, in a separate numerical series with a color scheme distinct from standard and other specialty plates.¹ The copper is a nod to the state’s mining heritage and gives the plates a look collectors appreciate.

When you renew registration each year, ADOT issues a symbol or device that affixes to the plate rather than replacing it. The original copper plate stays with the vehicle year after year.¹

What It Costs

Arizona’s antique plate option through ADOT carries a $25 initial application fee and a $10 annual renewal fee, on top of standard registration charges. The plate doesn’t eliminate registration costs; it adds plate-specific fees to them.

Where the real savings show up is in the vehicle license tax. That tax is based on a percentage of the vehicle’s assessed value, starting at 60% of the manufacturer’s base retail price and dropping 16.25% for each subsequent year. By the time a vehicle hits 25 years old, the assessed value has depreciated to a very small number, so the annual vehicle license tax on a historic vehicle is typically minimal. The plate fees are modest, and the tax on a decades-old car runs far less than what you’d pay on a newer vehicle.

Emissions Testing Still Applies

A common misconception is that historic plates exempt your vehicle from emissions testing. They don’t. Arizona bases emissions exemptions on model year, not plate type. If the vehicle is registered in an emissions testing area, you need a test unless it’s five years old or less, a 1966 model year or older, or an electric vehicle.²

Those testing areas cover parts of Maricopa County, portions of Pinal County (designated Area A), and a section of Pima County (Area B).³ Outside those areas, emissions testing doesn’t apply regardless of your vehicle’s age or plate type.

Practically, this means a 1975 Corvette or a 1990 Ford Bronco with historic plates still needs emissions testing if it’s registered in one of those areas. Only vehicles with a 1966 or earlier model year skip testing entirely. If you’re registering a vehicle 25 to 59 years old and you live in Maricopa or Pima County, plan on emissions compliance.

Insurance Requirements Don’t Change

Historic-plated vehicles must carry Arizona’s minimum liability insurance: $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $15,000 for property damage.⁴ Those minimums apply whether you drive the vehicle daily or keep it in a climate-controlled garage.

Many owners of valuable classics add specialty collector car coverage on top. Specialty insurers often require that the vehicle be stored in a locked, enclosed structure when not in use, and some impose mileage caps or require a separate daily driver. Since Arizona itself doesn’t limit how you drive the car, your insurance policy may end up being the practical ceiling on use.

How to Apply

Applications go through the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Division. You’ll need documentation matching your eligibility path: a title or registration showing the model year for the age-based route, proof of inclusion on a recognized organization’s list, or evidence that a reconstruction retains the original body style. If you lease the vehicle and it isn’t registered in your name, bring a document showing you as the lessee.

ADOT issues the historic plates in lieu of standard plates once the application is approved, and the registration continues on the annual renewal cycle with the sticker-on-plate system.¹

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-2484 – License Plates for Historic Vehicles; Definition
2
Arizona Department of Transportation. Emissions Testing
3
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. AQD – VEC – Vehicle Emission A and B Area Explained
4
Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions. Automobile Insurance