1. Any motor vehicle which is at least forty years old may be permanently licensed by the department upon the payment of a registration fee of ten dollars. The department shall design and issue a distinctive number plate for this purpose. In lieu of the distinctive number plate, the owner of the motor vehicle may, at the discretion of the director, display on the motor vehicle a number plate from the year in which the motor vehicle was manufactured or in the case of military vehicles, military identification numbers. The number plate from the year of manufacture or military identification numbers may not be used in lieu of a distinctive number plate when it would create a duplication of a number in the recordkeeping system of the department. A number plate from the year of manufacture or military identification numbers must be legible and must be restored to the satisfaction of the department. Notwithstanding section 39-04-11, only one number plate needs to be displayed on a motor vehicle licensed under this subsection. Motor vehicles registered under the provisions of this section may not be used in the routine functions of a business or farming operation. 2. Any motor vehicle which is at least forty years old may, if not licensed under subsection 1, be permanently licensed using a personalized plate issued under section 39-04-10.3, in which case a one-time fee of one hundred dollars is due.
39-04-10.5. Prisoner of war plates - Transfer to certain surviving spouses - Retirement. On the death of a prisoner of war to whom was issued a special number plate under subdivision o of subsection 2 of section 39-04-18, the director shall comply with this section. If the deceased prisoner of war was survived by a spouse, the director shall transfer the number plate to that spouse's name, and the spouse may retain the number plate as an active plate. If the surviving spouse remarries, then within thirty days of that remarriage, the surviving spouse shall surrender the plate to the director. On receipt of a surrendered plate, on the death of the surviving spouse, or if the deceased prisoner of war had no surviving spouse, the director shall retire the number used on the number plate. On retirement of a number plate and at the request of the survivors of the deceased prisoner of war, the director shall issue to the survivors one commemorative plaque resembling the number plate that had been issued to the prisoner of war.