Effective January 1, 2008, the Indiana General Assembly has authorized the use of Year of Manufacture (“YOM”) plates upon the registration of an antique motor vehicle. A customer wishing to display a YOM plate on a vehicle twenty-five years old and older must purchase and register the vehicle with a Historic plate. Upon registration, the customer will be given a Historic plate, along with an affidavit authorizing the display of the YOM plate in lieu of the Historic plate registered to that vehicle.

In order for law enforcement to run a YOM plate during a traffic stop, the customer should present the vehicle registration, Historic plate, and the affidavit authorizing display of the YOM plate on that vehicle. The YOM plate number will not appear through IDACS, but the Historic plate number will and will be tied to the vehicle registration.

The BMV will inspect each YOM plate prior to placement on the vehicle to ensure that the condition of the plate is generally suitable for display. In addition to evaluating the general condition, the BMV will verify that each YOM plate matches the plate issued for that year of manufacture according to Indiana BMV records.

Additional Information:

YOM plates displayed for cars manufactured in years in which plates showing a county indicator were in effect do not have to contain the county indicator matching the registrant’s address.

There were years in which a tag was made to place over the prior year’s license plate because of scarce resources during war time. For example, in 1943, the Bureau only issued a tag to place over the 1942 license plate. If a customer has a vehicle that was manufactured in 1943, they will be required to have the 1942 plate and the 1943 tag in order to display the YOM plate.

Although plates were required to be placed on the front and the back of the vehicle in some years, the customer will only be required to have one of the plates from that period on their vehicle to meet the requirements of this program.

A resource guide showing which license plates were available in each year has been assembled and is posted on the Bureau of Motor Vehicles web site.

Should you have any additional questions, please contact the BMV Registrations Department at (317) 232-2742.

(posted 01/04/08)