What Are the Rules for Historic Tags in Maryland?

Historic tags in Maryland are a Class L registration available for passenger vehicles, motorcycles, and trucks that are model year 1999 or older and have not been substantially altered from the manufacturer’s original design.¹ The tag comes with cheaper fees and inspection exemptions, but you sign a sworn statement that the vehicle won’t be your daily driver.

Which Vehicles Qualify

Two conditions have to be met. The vehicle must have a model year of 1999 or earlier, and it must not have been substantially altered from the factory design. The Motor Vehicle Administration applies additional criteria through regulation.

The age cutoff used to work as a rolling 20-year window, so newer vehicles rolled into eligibility each year. The Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2025 replaced that rolling rule with a fixed cutoff of model year 1999. A 2002 or 2005 vehicle that would have qualified under the old rule no longer does, no matter how long you keep it.

The “not substantially altered” requirement is the other filter. Swapping in an engine the manufacturer never offered, adding modern suspension, or making similar changes moves the vehicle out of Class L. Modified older vehicles have their own registration class, covered below. Trailers are not eligible for historic registration at all.²

Fees and How to Apply

Maryland charges two different fees depending on how old the vehicle is:

Model year 1999 or older but under 60 years old: $55.50 per year.
60 years old or older: $50 one time, never renewed. The registration is tied to you and does not transfer if you sell the vehicle.¹

You apply using Form VR-096, the Application for Historic or Street Rod Registration. The form asks for your driver’s license number, the vehicle identification number, and your insurance policy information. You check the box for the eligibility category that fits your vehicle and sign a sworn certification about how you’ll use it.²

What You Can and Can’t Do With the Vehicle

When you sign the VR-096, you certify under oath that the vehicle will be used only for exhibitions, club activities, parades, tours, and occasional transportation. You also certify that it will not be used for general daily transportation, primarily for carrying passengers or property on highways, for employment, for commuting to school, or for commercial purposes.²

“Occasional transportation” is broader than a lot of owners assume. The statute does not put a mileage cap on the vehicle or limit you to a set number of trips per month. Driving to dinner, taking a weekend cruise, running an errand across town — all of that fits. What the certification rules out is making the car your regular transportation: the vehicle you rely on for work, school, and errands most days of the week. The line is between occasional enjoyment and routine reliance.

Your insurer may draw that line more tightly than the state does. Specialty collector car policies commonly require pleasure use only and cap annual mileage somewhere between 2,500 and 5,000 miles. Even when Maryland would consider your driving occasional, an insurance policy with a stricter definition can leave a claim denied. Match the way you actually drive the car to the terms of the policy you buy.

Inspection, Emissions, and Equipment

Class L brings real practical benefits beyond the low fee.

Safety inspection: No safety inspection certificate is required to register a vehicle as historic, and vehicles with a model year of 1985 or earlier that are registered under Class L are exempt from Maryland’s inspection requirements.¹³
Emissions: All Class L vehicles are exempt from any statute requiring emission controls or emissions inspections.¹
Equipment: Unless a piece of equipment was required by Maryland law as a condition of sale when the vehicle was manufactured, no particular equipment is required to operate a Class L vehicle. You won’t be cited for lacking a feature that only became standard on later cars.

The vehicle still has to be safe enough for public roads, and ordinary traffic laws still apply. Missing brakes or non-functional lights will draw attention regardless of registration class.

Insurance You Still Need

Historic registration does not exempt the vehicle from Maryland’s insurance requirement. You have to carry liability coverage at the state minimums: $30,000 for bodily injury to one person, $60,000 for bodily injury to two or more people, and $15,000 for property damage.⁴ Proof of insurance is required before registration, and the policy details go on the VR-096 itself.²

Two features to look at when you shop coverage. A standard policy pays actual cash value on a total loss, meaning the insurer sets the payout based on depreciation and comparable sales, which often lowballs a restored or rare car. An agreed value policy locks in a dollar figure with you up front, based on a professional appraisal, and pays that amount without a post-loss haggle. The premium runs higher, and insurers typically want photographs and proof of secure storage, but the payout difference on a well-restored vehicle can be substantial.

When It’s a Street Rod Instead

If your vehicle is 25 years old or older but has been substantially altered from the manufacturer’s original design, it doesn’t qualify as historic. Maryland registers it as a street rod under Class N.⁵

The use restrictions are the same as Class L: exhibitions, club activities, parades, tours, and occasional transportation. The eligibility test is what differs. Historic vehicles have to be unaltered; street rods are defined by their modifications. A modern engine dropped into a 1970 Chevelle or aftermarket suspension bolted to a 1955 Ford points to Class N. A small number of street rods registered as Class L before July 1, 1987, were allowed to keep that registration until it expired, but any new or renewed registration for a modified vehicle goes through Class N.

What Happens If You Break the Usage Rules

The usage certification on the VR-096 is signed under oath, so driving a Class L vehicle as your daily commuter or using it for commercial work isn’t just a registration technicality. It’s a false statement on a government form. Maryland can revoke the historic registration, and you’d have to re-register the vehicle under a standard classification with higher fees and full inspection requirements.

Enforcement tends to start with complaints. A neighbor reporting that your 1972 pickup sits at your office every weekday, or officers noticing the same historic-tagged car in rush hour traffic day after day, is what usually prompts scrutiny. If you actually need a vehicle for daily driving, register it normally and save the Class L tag for a car that lives a collector’s life.

1
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Transportation Code 13-936 – Historic Motor Vehicles: Class L (Historic) Vehicles
2
Maryland MVA. Application for Historic or Street Rod Registration
3
Maryland MVA. Registration – Special Use Vehicles
4
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Transportation Code 17-103
5
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Transportation Code 13-937.1