I have seen ads that claim the car to be "original california Black Plate car". What does this mean? Thanks for any info.
early 60's black plates are very desirable ....and if they have been on the car since back then it increases the value of the car to some....especialy if they are the original plates on the car
it means it has that the original plates were never surrendered, lost, stolen or replaced. really doesn't mean much unless you are very interested in originality.
Wouldn’t think the ’60 California Plate would be of any value to Pittsburgh (or any out of state) resident
Thanks for the replies. I figured it was something like that but wasn't sure. Knew I could get an answer on the HAMB. Best resource around.
So in California you never get new plates, you just keep renewing the old ones (unless lost or damaged) and when the car sells the plates go with the car not the owner? Is that how it works?
Have you ever notice in the movie "American Graffiti, all the cars have yellow plates? Well, those were 56 plates. The following year,63, they came out with the "new" black plates (I say "new" because 63 is not the first time California had black plates.) and it wasn't until about 72 or 73 that they changed the color to blue.
I couldn't figure out why all of the cars in the used car lots had tags on them when I was stationed in Calif. in 1968.
Hi Both my 1952 Plymouth wagon and my 1964 Ranchero have black plates. To me it confirms that the cars were both built in California and therefore should have less rust issues. I paid a little extra for the cars because of this. Jan in Ojai, CA
not necessarily. perhaps on your car that IS the case, as with many if not most black plate cars, but a black plate really only means that it was REGISTERED in California. the VIN confirms where it was built. exactly. the plate is assigned to the vehicle not the owner. not sure why the rest of the country assigns tags to owners... prolly something to do with parking tickets....
You can still find clear DMV plates for cars 1962 and earlier. After 62 however, the vehicle needs to have the originally assigned black plate. At least that's the what I'm being told. Sadly, I that means I need to run a new white cali plate on my 63 econoline. BOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! If someone can tell me otherwise, I'm all ears.
That doesn't always mean they are the ORIGINAL plates. You can generally guess the "year" when the plates were issued by the letters. I had the original plates on my '68 Malibu that started with VYH.That put it first sold in early '69. I also had a '68 wagon that started with ZEN and that put it being sold as a "Used Car" in mid '69. 1970 for Passenger Cars 1971 or '72 for Pick Up Trucks(Commercial Plates)
If I understand you correctly you think you can’t get CA black plates for your 63? Look into the CA DMV’s YOM (year of manufacture) program. You can buy black plates and have them assigned to your 63 with a little extra paperwork. I am going through that process right now.
Ok to my understanding and my wallets..lol i paid extra for my car because of the black plate knowing it spent its time and life in cali..most desirable is cali arizona nevada texas..for rust issues..too many people were taking a out of state car down to cali .. was really from another rust belt state drove down there and reregistered ..lol yet now had a blue .or white plate and claiming it to be a cali car my plate has almost a half inch of stickers for year renewal..and reciets to show it hope this helps a little
Go to another DMV office or AAA For a '63 vehicle,get a pair of plates with the letters starting with A--(NOT ASS!). Like AAA/AAB/ABC,something like that. I have the Yellow/Black '56 plates on my Tbird and had NO problem with registering them. The Black/Yellow plates are the same. The DMV will need to see 2 plates,make sure they're "real"(not repro) and make a copy of both plates to send to Sacramento.
here's what the DMV says... http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc5004_1.htm doesn't say anything about originally registered. may wanna call the DMV 1-800 number, but legislation like this is usually pretty explicit when it comes to exceptions.
Any year car in CA, 1969 and older is no eligible for YOM plates as of June 2009. Blue & yellow started in 1970. No YOM on '70 and newer (not yet). Actually if you take a pair of clear plates starting with 'ABC' to the DMV for your 1969, they won't hassle you --but car guys will. If you want vintage plates on your classic, please make sure the prefix corresponds to when your car was made.
There was a new plate for 1951, yellow letters with a black background, and the same plate was used from 1951 to 1954. In 1955 was the new plate, same thing, just had the year 55 stamped on it. In 1956, they came out with the smaller plates which were black letters with a yellow background and those stayed around until 1962. A quick note: When the new plates were issued in 1956, they had to be installed on all vehicles and in 1963, all vehicles had to install the new "63" plates. After that, the plates did not have to be changed when the state issued new plates i.e. the blue ones, the white ones.....Etc
As I understand it, in California in 1963 all cars had to change in their plates for new 1963 plates. That is why you have seen so many old plates (pre-1963) as they were all removed from service. My dad bought his 1960 brand new in 1960 and it had yellow plates until 1963 when he had to change to black 1963 plates which remain on the car. So, being a black plate car prior to 1963 doesn't necessarily mean that the plates are original to the car. Similarly, my 1959 has black 1963 plates too.
That is exactly what I said, just like prior to the 63 plates all cars had to have the 56 plates. 55 was the last year for the large "oversized" plates which were black with yellow letters. In 1939, the plates were blue with yellow letters and said "worlds fair". If you go back to the the teens or early 20s , Cal had a red plate with white letters. There are even some years that the plates were white like today.
Here's my solution. I have a set of black plates that fell of the books years ago. They are no longer in the system. Order personal plates with these numbers. When you receive your new plates. Put the black ones on the car with the new stickers. The black plates will match your registation.
By golly, I guess you did! So, my 1959 and my Dad's 1960 came originally with 1956 plates and then each changed in to 1963 plates in 1963. Mike
I don't believe you can order personalized plates with numbers/letter configurations that are reserved for general use. Not 100% sure though....
Here is somthing to look at that will answer everyone's ? concerning the California plates. Go to the Wikipedia encyclopedia web site and in the search box type in: Vehicle registration plates of California. The answer to all your questions.
The 1951 California black plate was used through 1955 using metal year tabs from 1952 through 1955. In 1956 they came out with the new standard 12x6" plates that were yellow with black numbers/letters. There was no 1955 plate with 55 stamped in it. The 1956 plate had 56 stamped.
Originally Posted by 59Apache4J Here's my solution. I have a set of black plates that fell of the books years ago. They are no longer in the system. Order personal plates with these numbers. When you receive your new plates. Put the black ones on the car with the new stickers. The black plates will match your registation. kinda....you cant order personalized plates with older sequence format i.e. ABC 123 (space in the middle)
I am a lost on the 55 plate because I have seen plates both in real life and in photos (old) with the year "55" stamped on. Even James Dean was issued a "55" plate for his spider, even though he was dead by then.
I checked out this other web site www.davesclp.com and it showed a 51 plate with a 55 tab. I stand corrected. By the way, to everyone else, check out this site, it has photos of the actual plates.