If you own a vintage vehicle (hot rod or classic), you have up to SIX ways to register it for the road in the State of Florida. You may register it with:
(1) A "Regular" "MyFLORIDA.Com" tag, either with (a) the County Name, (b) "SUNSHINE STATE", (c) "In God We Trust"
or (d) one of the 100+ specialty tags (extra fees vary) such as "Save the Manatee". Go to www.myfloridaspecialtyplate.com to see the current offerings. Any of these regular or specialty plates can be personalized (a.k.a. "Vanity Plate", 5 to 7 characters maximum) too. It's the same registration procedure for your everyday late model vehicle. You'll need your old registration/title, proof of Florida insurance and a Florida Driver's License. You must bring the car too (to verify VIN number) if it's the first time being registered in Florida. The 1960's Amphicar and other amphibious vehicles are registered as a road vehicle only (see RS-60). Links to the full procedure are RS-01, RS-20 & RS-60.
These can be used on cars, motorcycles and pick-up trucks weighing 5,000 pounds or less. You need to find (try eBay or Google "Old License Plate Dealers") an old Florida license plate, in good condition, made in 1975 or earlier, with ANY county code (first number) and ANY class code (1-3 alpha letters usually before the dash) that matches the year your vehicle was made and you want to use it as your permanent license tag. For tags dated before 1920, they must be Florida state issue not just county issue or bridge issue and say "FLA" for "FLORIDA" on them. Thus your vehicle must be 1975 or older too, but it does NOT have to agree with the county and class codes on the vintage plate. The DMV makes no mention of modified or unmodified vehicles for these tags used on old vehicles. See the detailed procedure RS-25
Thus, if you own a 1948 Ford with a 1965 Chevy engine in it, you have a wide choice of Regular, Specialty, Street Rod, Antique, Custom Vehicle or 1948 "YOM" tag! Our local County Offices can handle methods (1) (2) (3) & (4) only. Those are new-issue tags and a $10 charge will be added to the registration fees. Regular, Specialty, Street Rod and most Antique tags will also need to be replaced every 5-10 years (another $10 charge each time). Vanity (personalized) numbers (such as "36 Ford") can be requested (use Form HSMV 83043) on any regular plate stock for an extra charge of $12 per year. In those cases, temporary (paper) tags will be issued and the vanity tag will be made and shipped to that issuing office in a few weeks. Methods (5) and (6) need to be handled in Tallahassee. The "Initial Florida Registration Fee" of $100 will be waived if the vehicle is more than 30 years old or you can prove it was already paid before you owned the vehicle or you recently paid a state sales tax on it when purchased. "Collectible" tags are no longer issued but are still seen on the roads. Florida is a one-plate state. Only one tag (on the rear of the vehicle) is required. The front of the vehicle may have any other plate or sign except a real license plate from Florida or any other US state. We therefore presume that a foreign plate on the front of the vehicle is OK. I have a cool porcelain plate from Florida, Argentina on the front of my antique!
You can check the availability of any prospective personalized number at https://services.flhsmv.gov/MVCheckPersonalPlate/.
Since the county offices don't know how to handle (4) "Horseless Carriage" or (5) "Year of Manufacture" tags, we put this detailed procedure together for you, called Registering Your Antique Vehicle with a Horseless Carriage or Year of Manufacture (YOM) Tags.
Prepared by Rich Courmettes
1942 Chrylser
Happy Motoring!
Updated 2/10/13.