The department must issue specialty license plates for qualifying vehicles, and owners must provide proof of an approved safety inspection when first registering a custom vehicle or street rod.
Sec. 504.501. CLASSIC MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAVEL TRAILERS; CUSTOM VEHICLES; STREET RODS. (a) The department shall issue specialty license plates for a motor vehicle that is at least 25 years old or is a custom vehicle or street rod. The license plates must include the word or words "Classic," "Custom Vehicle," or "Street Rod," or a similar designation, as appropriate. (b) A person eligible for the license plates may instead use license plates that are: (1) embossed with an alphanumeric pattern; (2) of a plate design that was issued by this state in the same year as the model year of the vehicle; and (3) approved for use by the department. (b-1) The department may require the attachment of a registration insignia to a license plate described by Subsection (b) in a manner that does not affect the display of information originally on the license plate. (c) There is no fee for issuance or approval of license plates under this section. (d) Notwithstanding Chapter 547, a custom vehicle or street rod eligible to receive license plates under this section is not required to be equipped with a specific piece of equipment unless the specific piece of equipment was required by statute as a condition of sale during the year listed as the model year on the certificate of title. (e) On initial registration of a custom vehicle or street rod, the owner must provide proof, acceptable to the department, that the custom vehicle or street rod passed a safety inspection that has been approved by the department. The department shall create a safety inspection process for inspecting custom vehicles and street rods. (f) In this section: (1) "Custom vehicle" means a vehicle: (A) that is: (i) at least 25 years old and of a model year after 1948; or (ii) manufactured to resemble a vehicle that is at least 25 years old and of a model year after 1948; and (B) that: (i) has been altered from the manufacturer's original design; or (ii) has a body constructed from materials not original to the vehicle. (2) "Street rod" means a vehicle: (A) that was manufactured: (i) before 1949; or (ii) after 1948 to resemble a vehicle manufactured before 1949; and (B) that: (i) has been altered from the manufacturer's original design; or (ii) has a body constructed from materials not original to the vehicle. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1320, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1136 (H.B. 2553), Sec. 32, eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 729 (H.B. 890), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 729 (H.B. 890), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1296 (H.B. 2357), Sec. 195(a), eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 876 (H.B. 3068), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2019.