The Collectible Gold REGO Plate
- Qualified Collectors (QC) apply for a licence
- Similar to a firearms license
- On approval may warrant their collectibles
- QC owners identified by gold plate rego
- Collectible vehicle warrant of fitness
The Proposal
Collectible motor vehicle enthusiasts are the most qualified to ensure the safety and roadworthiness of their collectibles. Not all, of course, some rely on specialist workshops, and they will continue to do so. But the vast majority of Kiwi collectors not only know how to drive their collectibles, but to keep them in good working order. This is supported by motor vehicle actuarial tables that are based on fact. Collectible vehicles crash far less.
Why? Because their owners are petrol heads. They know their vehicles. They know how they work, and how to drive them. And they stay out of trouble – they avoid crashes rather than rely on the alphabet soup of digital systems in modern cars.
There are 997 different brands of motor vehicle registered in New Zealand and there is no way a generalist WoF inspector will know about them. The WoF
License qualified collectors to Warrant safety & roadworthy
Collectibles need different rules.
We propose establishing a dedicated 9th business group within NZTA to oversee the collectible vehicle microeconomy.
At the heart of this is a Gold Plate — a special collectible rego plate showing both the vehicle and the owner are safety-qualified.
To qualify, owners must become licensed collectors — demonstrating safety competence similar to a firearms license. The goal: ensure their vehicles are roadworthy, without burdening them with rules designed for modern, high-mileage transportables.
Why this matters:
Collectibles span a century (1901–1999) and can’t fit the one-size-fits-all certification system. Their engineering, performance, and restoration needs are too varied. The most qualified people to assess their condition? The collectors themselves — and the communities of expertise they’ve built around each marque.
Delivering safety better.
Licensed collectors have a proven safety record, backed by insurance data and road statistics. Collectibles average just 1,800 km per WoF, compared to 45,000 km driven by modern vehicles before their first WoF.
Vehicle faults cause less than 4% of serious crashes, and there’s no evidence collectibles are involved. Most failures are from wear, not time — but collectibles are time-based machines. A licensed collector knows how old components behave. An ordinary WoF inspector doesn’t.
This regime would unlock economic potential.
It supports a $16.5 billion sector, encourages replica part production, and connects NZ to global markets. But it starts with government recognising the facts:
Collectibles are not the same as transportables — and shouldn’t be regulated the same way.