mrbeaubo

I am looking for some 1975 license plates and I found ONE. Are we allowed to drive with only a license plate in the rear?

BLT-71

No, they want one in front and one on the rear, matching.
When I lived there I found a pair of vintage plates and had to totally restore and repaint them correctly before they would approve them for me.
I have seen a couple of people get away with it for a while. But if you drive often they will get you.

mrbeaubo

Ok, if anyone runs into some 1975 Texas License Plates let me know. Thanks.

SharkAttack

I have owned and driven C3 Corvettes for 15+ years in the Houston area and have only been warned (not ticketed) once by DPS about having no front license plate. I personally do not care for the looks of them, and still drive with no plate on the front.

Larry Machacek of Porter (small town outside Houston) collects and sells sets of antique Texas plates that are often new and were never issued by the state. I purchased my '72 plates from him, and they fall into this category. If the plates are in rough shape, he will generally fix them so the state will approve them.

Phone:
281-429-2505 (I recommend calling first)

Address:
PO Box 515
Porter, TX 77365

Good Luck.

mrbeaubo

I called Larry and he is going to look around the shop and I'm going to call him back tomorrow. Thanks for the referral, hopefully he has a set! How much did he charge for your set?

SharkAttack

It was a few years back, and I believe the price was $65 (for a set of two). Years before that I purchased a set for my '71, and he charged me $60. Inflation!

Budman68

Check in Canton. They have that big flea market every month.

Tom73

One thing you can do to legaly run only a rear plate is to register as an antique (which you have to do anyway to run year plates) with a year period dealer plate. Dealer plates were only required on the rear, no front requirement, so you can run them as such on an antique.

tom...

Smokehouse69

If you can find a "Dealer" plate, you can get by with only one plate, if not you have to have two plates to get them authorized for use on the car. You have to take the plates or dealer plate to you tax accessors office. They photocopy them, then send the photocopy to Austin for verification. About 3 weeks later you'll get a sticker in the mail for your windshield and a letter confirming that you can use the "antique" plate on your car.

mrbeaubo

So do I use the 2 state plates they issued me as of now? Will they transfer the charge for my 2 new plates to my antique registration?

Mack

If you're gonna drive it, you will need the new plates. I don't have antique plates, but I'd be willin' to bet they're gonna want to charge you another registration fee for the antique plates.

By the way... Where's Cedar Hill?

gerry72

You do not want antique plates if you intend on driving the car. You want classic car plates. This allows you to drive the car and use the YOM plates. Go here for info from the "horse's mouth" click the form and read the back of page two: http://www.dot.state.tx.us/insdtdot/...e.asp?clasauto

You're still going to have to use a front plate, though.

fcoppola

I just joined the forum here. I live in Houston, TX. I had an 86 vette ragtop that I ran with just a plate in the back. I was stopped a few times one being for a registration sticker issue. Never once did they say anything about my not having a plate in front. Since then I sold the 86 and just got a '74 ragtop. I plan on getting the classic plates. What I do is run the rear plate, and keep the front plate in the car. That way if I get stopped, I just say the fastener broke and I have a new one on order. I show the plate.

Thats my plan anyway if I ever get stopped for that. Hope that helps some.

Wendell Allen

I've been in Texas for most of my 44 years, and only recently got my first ticket for no front plate. This is after decades of driving cars without them.

And unfortunately, this is one type of ticket that Harris County, according the judge I got, by law they can't dismiss. They can reduce the fee to as low as one dollar, which my judge did do after I showed her pics of both plates correctly installed. But the court cost of $45 bumped the total cost to $46 anyway.

On the plus side, it won't show on you record as a moving violation.

I978vette

i live in the dallas area and have been pulled over twice in the last year for not having front plates.. i now have them but usually i only got a warning.. if you are a punk or out at the race scene then most likly you got a ticket. i went to the county clerk to pay TTL on my car and asked them about plates.. antique plates he said you can only drive the car something like 1500 miles a year. and there was another option he said also but i dont remember what that was. oh well

mrbeaubo

Cedar Hill is next to Desoto, Duncanville, and Midlothian, SW of Dallas in Dallas County.