82R2576 NAJ-D
 
  By: Davis S.B. No. 951
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the registration and compulsory inspection of certain
  street rods and custom vehicles.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 501, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 501.038 to read as follows:
         Sec. 501.038.  CERTIFICATE OF TITLE FOR CUSTOM VEHICLE OR
  STREET ROD. (a) In this section, "custom vehicle" and "street rod"
  have the meanings assigned by Section 504.502.
         (b)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, if
  the department issues a certificate of title for a custom vehicle or
  street rod, the model year of the vehicle must be listed on the
  certificate of title and must be the model year that the body of the
  vehicle resembles.  The certificate of title must also include the
  word "replica."
         (c)  The owner of the custom vehicle or street rod shall
  provide the department with documentation identifying the model
  year that the body of the vehicle resembles.
         SECTION 2.  Section 504.502, Transportation Code, is amended
  by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (i) and adding Subsections
  (f-1) and (f-2) to read as follows:
         (a)  The department shall issue specialty license plates for
  a passenger car, truck, motorcycle, or former military vehicle
  that:
               (1)  [is at least 25 years old,] if the vehicle is a
  passenger car, truck, or motorcycle:
                     (A)  is at least 25 years old; or
                     (B)  is a custom vehicle or street rod;
               (2)  is a collector's item;
               (3)  is used exclusively for exhibitions, club
  activities, parades, and other functions of public interest and is
  not used for regular transportation; and
               (4)  does not carry advertising.
         (b)  The license plates must include the words "Antique
  Auto," "Antique Truck," "Antique Motorcycle," "Street Rod,"
  "Custom Vehicle," or "Military Vehicle," as appropriate.
         (f-1)  Notwithstanding Chapter 547, a custom vehicle or
  street rod eligible to receive license plates under this section is
  not required to be equipped with a specific piece of equipment
  unless the specific piece of equipment was required by statute as a
  condition of sale during the year listed as the model year on the
  certificate of title.
         (f-2)  On initial registration of a custom vehicle or street
  rod, the owner must provide proof, acceptable to the department,
  that the custom vehicle or street rod passed a safety inspection
  that has been approved by the department.  The department shall
  create a safety inspection process for inspecting custom vehicles
  and street rods.
         (i)  In this section:
               (1)  "Custom vehicle" means a vehicle:
                     (A)  that is:
                           (i)  at least 25 years old and of a model
  year after 1948; or
                           (ii)  manufactured to resemble a vehicle
  that is at least 25 years old and of a model year after 1948; and
                     (B)  that:
                           (i)  has been altered from the
  manufacturer's original design; or
                           (ii)  has a body constructed from materials
  not original to the vehicle.
               (2)  "Former[, "former] military vehicle" means a
  vehicle, including a trailer, regardless of the vehicle's size,
  weight, or year of manufacture, that:
                     (A) [(1)]  was manufactured for use in any
  country's military forces; and
                     (B) [(2)]  is maintained to represent its
  military design and markings accurately.
               (3)  "Street rod" means a vehicle:
                     (A)  that was manufactured:
                           (i)  before 1949; or
                           (ii)  after 1948 to resemble a vehicle
  manufactured before 1949; and
                     (B)  that:
                           (i)  has been altered from the
  manufacturer's original design; or
                           (ii)  has a body constructed from materials
  not original to the vehicle.
         SECTION 3.  Section 548.052, Transportation Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 548.052.  VEHICLES NOT SUBJECT TO INSPECTION. This
  chapter does not apply to:
               (1)  a trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or mobile
  home moving under or bearing a current factory-delivery license
  plate or current in-transit license plate;
               (2)  a vehicle moving under or bearing a paper dealer
  in-transit tag, machinery license, disaster license, parade
  license, prorate tab, one-trip permit, antique license, custom
  vehicle license, street rod license, temporary 24-hour permit, or
  permit license;
               (3)  a trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or mobile
  home having an actual gross weight or registered gross weight of
  4,500 pounds or less;
               (4)  farm machinery, road-building equipment, a farm
  trailer, or a vehicle required to display a slow-moving-vehicle
  emblem under Section 547.703;
               (5)  a former military vehicle, as defined by Section
  504.502(i) [502.275];
               (6)  a vehicle qualified for a tax exemption under
  Section 152.092, Tax Code; or
               (7)  a vehicle for which a certificate of title has been
  issued but that is not required to be registered.
         SECTION 4.  Section 504.502, Transportation Code, as amended
  by this Act, applies only to a registration period beginning on or
  after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.