Collector?  Restored?  US Serviceman in Japan?  What plate does the Figaro sport?

When the Figaro arrived in my driveway that cold night in early December in 2018, all I could think  was ‘I can’t wait for this car to turn 30 years old.’

Why? So I could get rid of this hideous thing:

Thirty years is a special age for a car in the State of Washington.  That is when you are allowed to put a specialized Collector Vehicle plate on your vehicle.   I did this way back in 1996 when we lived on the coast.  That was the year my 1966 Mustang hit the threshold.  What is so special about a collector plate? 

Those plates are designed for a classic vehicle that you garage and don’t drive much. And it sucks to pay full registration for the entire year for a limited-use vehicle.  So the state gives you the option to get a collector plate.

But only one, which goes on back, and there is a one-time $35 fee for LIFE.  Yep, one and done.  The only caveat is… you can’t use the car as a taxi, or as you would use a regular car.  Yeah, leave it to WA state to leave usage very very vague and totally unenforceable.

It was cool.  In the Mustang I did get pulled over a couple of times by police not familiar with how the collector plate did not have to display month/year tabs.  I’m not sure when they started issuing them, but my plate was number 1670 (no alphas used).  This was back when there were only 6 digits/alphas. 

I tried to get it back to have reissued from the guy I sold the Mustang to, but he hadn’t seen it in years. Most likely hanging in his barn somewhere. A lot has changed since 1996.  

I see collector plates all the time now, on total beater cars and trucks that are clearly not classic and not collected.  Just trashed daily drivers.  Looks like people have caught on to this registration loophole.  Another sign:  WA has gone to seven digits/alphas on plates, and I saw a CV plate the other day with an 89000 number (they still use all digits, and are almost topped out). Yeah, there is some serious abuse going on out there.

*** update *** I just saw a collector plate that was 6040B. So, look like the state has hit the 100,000 mark and went to and 4-digit 1 alpha pattern for collectors going forward. I guess that gives them another 1k x26, or a quarter million more collector cars aka pieces of s**t cars to permanently register for life. Yeah, another win for unenforceable laws.

So Figgy turned 30 in 1992.  Well, in the eyes of the state.  It’s a 1991 car, but in Japan, on the title they put the month and year of first registration (not the month and year of production).  Generally speaking, these dates are pretty close.  So I’ve got a 12/91 car, but a 2/92 reg.  And the DOL chose the latter.  This means I own a 1992 Figaro, which doesn’t exist. Whatever.  Had to wait an extra year. 

So as I said above, the current collector plate ascetically looks like crap.  All are crowded with numbers, no longer embossed, no border, no scripted lettering. Just cheap and flat and colorless.  No character.  But there is an option. 

I’m allowed to find a plate from the same year of the car and have the DOL ‘restore’ it.  It’s reactivated.  I talked to my pal Wikipedia which has a wonderful page on the license plates of the State of Washington. Tracked down the specific plate numeric/alpha range for 1992 (the plate stayed the same from late 1990 to early 1995).   Went to another friend, Mr. eBay, and found a single plate, never used (no year/month tabs), for $14 shipped.  Winner.

The big day came just past the first of the year.  I walked down to the DOL with my new old stock license plate and a paper check (amazing those folks still take checks).   Ten minutes later, my eBay plate was not only active and legal and real, but suddenly my Figgy was permanently registered for the rest of its life.  Annual fees = zero.  I like that.

Bonus,  since no front plate is required for a collector vehicle, I can install my Dad’s old plate from when he was in the Coast Guard stationed in Tokyo.  While there, he bought a British MG, had it shipped halfway around the world, and drove the mean streets of what is now a city of 25 million person city.  He was issued a single plate which was specifically for US Servicemen in Japan.  I’ve had the thing hanging in my garage for well over 30 years.  Never in a thousand years would I think I would someday hang it on not just a JDM car, but one that was retro-styled to look like it was from the 1960s. 

Crazy.  I guess some things are just meant to be. I know I know. This is such a small thing and seems like a lot of effort. But it is the small things that make me smile. And any time I can stick it to a state or a Federal agency that is squeezing me for more $$ I’m all over it. No matter how many hundreds of hours it might take to save a quarter. Principle? Yeah, maybe. More likely spite.

Sure a simple license plate is a subtle change. Probably something no one outside a hard-core car collector would even notice. But I think it adds a little something. Not sure what, but something. You be the judge. Clean plate, no month tabs, no year tabs. Looks different if you pull up behind me. Makes you curious about the world.

Nancy pointed out that the plate phonically says 241 – F-Me. PERFECT! I say F-Me literally ALL the time.

Dad almost forgot the ever had this plate. Or that old MG. Or the Coast Guard for that matter. What a full-circle moment.