# Hawaii license plate: Horseless carriage

> The Hawaii horseless carriage license plate: format 999, for example 959, documented since 2026, car. What each character means, its sizes and sources.

Page: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--hawaii/horseless-carriage · Markdown version of the HTML page, which is canonical. Site map: https://vehiclesdb.com/llms.txt · Terms of use: https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/terms

Part of [Hawaii license plates](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--hawaii) (7 registration series).

![Hawaii (United States) license plate, Horseless carriage (documented since 2026)](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-hi/us-hi-horseless-carriage/hawaii-license-plate-horseless-carriage.svg)

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | `999` (9 any digit) |
| Years | ~2026 → today (documented from 2026; the format is likely older) |
| Class | historic |
| Issued for | car |
| Plate size | 12 × 6 in |
| Checking a registration | The format above follows the issuing rules: a registration that fits it is one this series could have issued. |
| Series id | `us-hi-horseless-carriage` (https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--hawaii/horseless-carriage) |

Sources:

- [§ 249-9(c): the $10 permanent antique plate, the 'Horseless Carriage' and 'Permanent' labels, the separate numerical series from No. 1, the three-year inactivity discard](https://web.archive.org/web/2024id_/https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol04_Ch0201-0257/HRS0249/HRS_0249-0009.htm)

## About this plate

HORSELESS CARRIAGE. THE THIRD "HORSELESS CARRIAGE NO. 1" IN THIS PROGRAMME, Florida § 320.086(1), California VC § 5004 and Hawaii § 249-9(c) all legislate a separate numerical series commencing with exactly that phrase. Three states, three statute books, one sentence shape: that is no longer a coincidence and is worth recording as a probable shared model act for whoever does the L4 historical pass. Hawaii's differs in two ways that matter: it prints 'Permanent' on the plate, and it does not define "antique motor vehicle" at all, which makes its eligibility the least determinate of the three.

## Who can have one

Contrast Florida's fixed 1945 model-year cutoff and California's fixed 1922 / 16-cylinder-pre-1965 rule.

## How long it is valid

permanent, 'valid for use on such vehicles so long as the vehicle is in existence in lieu of the uniform state number plates' (§ 249-9(c)). The director may 'discard and allow for new applications of inactive special number plates that have not been assigned or registered during the preceding three years'.

## Fee

$10, in addition to any other fee applicable to antique motor vehicles (HRS § 249-9(c)).

## Use it

- Plate image (SVG): https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-hi/us-hi-horseless-carriage.svg
- Make it with your own text: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plate-generator/hawaii?series=us-hi-horseless-carriage
- API: `GET https://vehiclesdb.com/api/v1/plates/us-hi` returns this series as the entry with `"id": "us-hi-horseless-carriage"` (https://vehiclesdb.com/api)

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Open data, CC BY 4.0: reuse it with a visible credit to VehiclesDB and a link (https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/attribution). Plate images show sample serials and are not open data (https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/image-license). Dataset commit db0ec0a: https://github.com/vehiclesdb/vehiclesdb