Do You Own a Car Over 30 Years Old? How to Convert It into a Historic Vehicle and Its Benefits

The DGT defines a historic vehicle as one that, due to its age, interest, or uniqueness, holds a special status that protects its representative character. This protection helps preserve the cultural and symbolic heritage of our time and allows continued use of the vehicle.

The primary aim of the new Historic Vehicles Regulation is to reduce costs and streamline the process for owners of such cars compared to the current regulation, which has been in place for 30 years. The new regulation will come into effect on October 1st following its approval by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday and its publication in the BOE on Wednesday. It is considered that the use of historic vehicles will be occasional and not as a daily means of transport to minimize environmental impact.

With the approval of the new law, developed by the Directorate-General for Traffic in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Autonomous Communities, and the Spanish Federation of Antique Vehicles (FEVA), a process recognized by all involved parties as excessively complex and costly will be simplified.

According to DGT data, there are about 47,000 historic vehicles in Spain, a relatively insignificant number compared to France's 400,000, Germany's 600,000, or the UK's 1.5 million. With the new regulation, the number of historic vehicles is expected to increase significantly.

The DGT anticipates reaching 200,000 vehicles, but the number could range between one and two million. According to the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) statistics, in 2022, there were over 3.9 million vehicles registered with an age exceeding 30 years, but many are not in circulation, have ended up in scrap yards, or were exported to other countries without deregistration.

Classification: Group A or Group B

As a major innovation, the Historic Vehicles Regulation will significantly reduce the costs of making a car historic, from the current approximately 800 euros to about 80 euros. In reality, the term "cataloguing" of historic vehicles is no longer used; instead, it is referred to as classification, with two groups established: "A" and "B".

For a vehicle to belong to "Group A," it must have been manufactured or first registered at least 30 years ago, its specific types must no longer be produced, and it must be in its original state, with an ordinary registration in Spain and a valid ITV.

The owner can request this classification at the corresponding Traffic Headquarters by submitting a responsible declaration that can be downloaded from the DGT's electronic headquarters. Thus, the applicant will receive a new circulation permit indicating the change to "historic service."

"Group B" includes vehicles that do not meet the requirements of the first group, as well as those that do but prefer to obtain a historic registration because the ordinary one assigned to the vehicle does not correspond to the date of manufacture or registration. This group also includes imported vehicles with foreign registration that do not have a valid ITV. To obtain this classification, owners must obtain a favorable technical report from a Historic Vehicles Technical Service (STVH) before passing the ITV and requesting the circulation permit. Finally, they must go to the Traffic Headquarters with the documentation to complete the process and obtain the historic registration.

Historic registrations are restricted to cars without a Spanish registration or those that, although they have a Spanish registration, do not correspond to the date of manufacture.

It is also allowed to drive with an original foreign registration, municipal ones that mopeds had before the General Vehicle Regulation, agricultural ones prior to Decree 3595/1975, of November 25, as well as ordinary registrations corresponding to the former Spanish provinces in African territory.

The possibility of using and driving with license plates showing the provincial initials in force at the time of registration is also contemplated, or opting for the oldest registration, in case of having more than one ordinary registration, with this circumstance being recorded in the circulation permit.

Usage is limited to 96 days a year

Historic vehicles may only be used occasionally, not exceeding the 96 days allowed annually. Among other conditions, they cannot be used for public transport of passengers or goods; nor for agricultural or construction activities. However, they can be used in static exhibitions and film or advertising shoots.

Additionally, their use is permitted for activities that, according to transport regulations, do not require authorization due to their minimal impact on the transport market or short distances traveled.

Low Emission Zones

The new regulation also establishes that historic vehicles cannot be required to use environmental labels, nor can restrictions on circulation or other negative consequences be imposed for not displaying them. In practice, this allows their circulation in Low Emission Zones, provided they do not exceed the mentioned 96 days of use.

The regulation urges municipalities to establish formulas in their municipal ordinances that allow circulation for those owners who make sporadic or non-habitual use of their historic vehicles, in the exercise of their powers to regulate the use of urban roads and restrict circulation to certain vehicles on those roads for environmental reasons.

Currently, although historic vehicles are not exempt from paying the municipal tax on mechanical traction vehicles, most cities offer discounts on payment, some up to 100%.

In this regard, the report prepared by the "Federation Internationale des Véhicules Anciens" (FIVA) and its Spanish counterpart, the Spanish Federation of Antique Vehicles (FEVA), has been considered, according to which "historic vehicles - whether cars, motorcycles, or utilities - represent only an insignificantly small fraction of vehicles in circulation and an even smaller fraction of road traffic, therefore, their contribution to air pollution is proportionally small."

According to FIVA President Patrick Rollet, "these vehicles are part of our technical and cultural heritage and, in our opinion, should not be confused with old cars, poorly maintained and used as cheap transport every day, when considering the problem of urban air pollution."

ITV Inspection

Vehicles classified as historic with an age exceeding sixty years from their manufacture or first registration, as well as mopeds classified as historic regardless of their age, will be exempt from undergoing vehicle technical inspection.

After the vehicle is classified as historic, only those modifications aimed at restoring the vehicle to the version of one of its original models or variants and the installation of a sidecar on motorcycles will be accepted.

The regulation stipulates that for a vehicle to be classified as historic due to its age, its constituent parts must have been manufactured during the normal production period of the type or variant in question and its spare parts, except for those parts that no longer exist or cannot be acquired on the market at a reasonable price and consumable elements that may be replaced by reproductions or equivalents manufactured after the normal production period.

If the vehicle classified as historic by construction is exempt from having seat belts in the front seats and therefore does not have them installed, it cannot exceed a maximum speed of 80 km/h. Furthermore, if it cannot install a child restraint system, minors with a height equal to or less than 135 centimeters cannot travel in it.