Concessional registration is available through the Club for eligible
members’ cars.
What
are "H" and "J" Plates?
Historic vehicles may
be registered under the Conditional Registration Scheme. The
conditional registration of historic vehicles is referred to as the
Historic Vehicle Scheme (HVS). The HVS was developed in consultation
with industry.
Historic vehicles
(including trailers) must be 30 years of age or older as from
the year of manufacture.
Historic vehicles must
be as close to original condition as possible, with no alterations
except for safety features such as seatbelts and turn indicators, or
period accessories and options, if desired.
As just mentioned, when you’re on the historic scheme you’re issued
with ugly historic plates (also knows as “H” plates). It’s a real
shame because some liked the look of their old custom plates (and
we're sure
the Roads and Maritime Services miss charging us for them too!).
Cost
There is a significant savings to be had by going onto the
conditional registration scheme. The first time you do it, you will
need to pay for your plates as well as the rego, which will bring
you to around $100. Every year after that, the cost is around $60.
And as for the compulsory green slip, that’s included in the price
too (no need to shop around). It used to cost close to $1,000 per
year for registration and green slip, so you can clearly see the
appeal.
Rego Sticker
The RMS did away with rego stickers on the windows of cars a number
of years ago, but this doesn’t include historically registered cars.
You’ll still need to put a sticker on the windscreen of your
historic car every year.
Insurance
You may have the green light from the
RMS to take your historic vehicle out for a spin, but it’s probably
not a bad idea to check the fine print on your insurance as well.
For example, the NRMA have a classic car insurance policy.
Restrictions
Since the introduction of the trial log book scheme for historically
registered vehicles, the main restriction is that you’re limited to
60 non-club travel days per year. Here’s the exact wording from the
RMS log book form.
Log Books allow up to
60 days of general use (i.e. maintenance and
personal use) per registration year, outside of club
organised events. Before the start of each day’s
use, the driver must record the start time and start
location in the Log
Book. Only one entry
per day is required, regardless of the number of
trips taken that day.
Log Books must be
carried in the vehicle when in use.
Log Books must be made
available on request by a NSW Police Officer or
Roads and Maritime Services Officer and may be
subject to audit.
So the first item basically refers to
the eligibility restrictions already mentioned in this article. The
second item has that interesting statement “…60 days of general
use…outside of club organised events”. Put simply, this means that
you don’t need to use one of your 60 days if you’re involved in a
club event (see details below). It’s my understanding that you won’t
need to make a log book entry if you’re just filling up with petrol
either, but for any other purpose, you will need to make an entry in
the log book before you depart. It doesn’t matter how many trips you
make in a single day, it’s only that first entry that needs to be in
the log book.
More information about
historic vehicles and registration under the H plate scheme can be found at the RMS website...
