House committee scraps 'vintage vehicle' program, replaces it with narrower 'classic' designation

The House Transportation Committee on Tuesday adopted and forwarded legislation that eliminates Utah’s broad "vintage vehicle" program and replaces it with a narrower "classic vehicle" designation, the sponsor said.

"The solution that's in this bill ... gets rid of the vintage vehicle program in its entirety and replaces it with a classic vehicle program," Representative Thurston told the committee. Under the substitute described by Thurston, a classic vehicle would be a motor vehicle or motorcycle with a model year of 1982 or older that is driven fewer than 1,500 miles per calendar year; the only statutory benefit is a one‑time lifetime registration fee, the sponsor said.

Thurston said the change responds to repeated complaints that people were using the vintage designation to avoid emissions testing and recurring registration fees. The bill also cleans up statutory language about replica and custom vehicles to make tax‑commission administration simpler, he said.

The committee adopted the second substitute and then voted to pass the bill out of committee with a favorable recommendation; both actions were approved unanimously.

Committee members had no public comment in committee and the sponsor said eligible existing vintage‑designated vehicles that meet the classic criteria can be automatically transferred.