Summary — HB 1155 (North Dakota): Equipment exemption & collector's title for street rod / collector / special interest vehicles
Status & timeline
- Introduced: November 12, 2024.
- Committee substitute and amendments adopted in committee (Feb 13, 2025).
- Passed both chambers overwhelmingly (House 92–0; Senate 47–0).
- Filed with the Secretary of State: March 24, 2025 (enrolled after legislative approval).
Purpose / intent
- To clarify the equipment-exemption rules that apply to street rod, collector, and special interest motor vehicles and to create a new “certificate of collector’s title” to facilitate reconstruction, rebuilding, and sale of rebuilt/reconstructed/salvaged/antique/vintage vehicles while restricting their operation on public roads.
Key provisions
1. Amendment to NDCC § 39-21-52 — Equipment exemption and definition
- Exempts street rod, collector, and special interest motor vehicles from certain equipment rules in the Motor Vehicle chapter and related administrative code provisions that concern bumpers, tires, and fenders.
- Requires that such vehicles have in operating condition any equipment that was specifically required by law as a condition of their sale when they were first manufactured.
- Defines “street rod, collector, or special interest vehicle” for purposes of the section as either:
- a modernized motor vehicle manufactured before 1949 by a recognized manufacturer that retains the general appearance and original body configuration, or
- a motor vehicle designed and manufactured to resemble such a motor vehicle that is at least forty years old.
- Explicitly allows improved modifications to body, chassis, engine, brakes, powertrain, steering, and suspension — by modifying original equipment or replacing parts with fabricated components or parts taken from other vehicles.
- Gives the director (agency) authority to adopt rules to implement the section.
- New NDCC § 39-05-20.5 — Certificate of collector’s title (committee amendment)
- Authorizes the Department to issue a certificate of collector’s title for rebuilt, reconstructed, salvaged, antique, or vintage motor vehicles upon application and satisfactory proof of ownership — without requiring a certificate of inspection.
- Allows the Department to establish procedures to determine satisfactory proof of ownership and to appeal departmental ownership decisions to district court.
- Fee: $10 to be submitted with the application for the certificate.
- Permitted uses: certificate allows the owner to reconstruct, rebuild, and sell the motor vehicle.
- Prohibition: a vehicle issued a certificate of collector’s title may not be operated on any highway, street, or road; operating it is a class A misdemeanor.
- Conditions preventing issuance: false/fraudulent application statements, failure to provide required or requested information, reasonable belief the vehicle is stolen/embezzled or would defraud a rightful owner or lienholder, suspended/revoked title, unpaid required fee, or unpaid properly due sales or motor vehicle excise taxes.
Who is affected
- Owners, restorers, builders, and sellers of antique, vintage, rebuilt, reconstructed, salvaged, and “street rod” vehicles.
- State motor vehicle agency (department) for titling, fee collection, and administrative procedures.
- Law enforcement (enforcement of operating prohibition and title-related offenses).
- Buyers and sellers in the classic/collector car market (clarifies transferability and limits on road use when issued a collector’s title).
Potential impacts and considerations
- Eases title issuance in cases where inspection is impractical, thereby facilitating restoration and resale of older vehicles while preventing their use on public roads under the collector’s title.
- Clarifies what equipment exemptions apply and what original equipment must be operable, reducing ambiguity for owners and regulators.
- Establishes a low administrative fee ($10) and an appeals path for ownership disputes.
- The class A misdemeanor for operating a vehicle with a collector’s title on public roads is a significant deterrent to misuse; vehicle owners who want to operate restored vehicles on public roads may need to pursue standard titling/inspection routes.
Sponsorship and related bill
- Sponsors: Representatives Tveit, Bosch, Heinert, D. Ruby, Weisz, Dressler, Klemin; Senators Barta, Lemm, Thomas (committee report authors).
- The bill as amended contains both the equipment-exemption amendments and the newly created collector’s title provision.
