Vintage Plates on a PT Car??

[texasdvldog]

Hey guys I'm building a 67 RS/SS Camaro and I was wondering if running California Vintage Plates (Black and Yellow) would "look out of place" The car is nowhere near original and not even the same color now. I was wondering how many people on this forum are running Vintage plates or should I just get regular plates. FYI, I don't have ANY plates on my car yet, I'll be registering it (for the first time) real soon. I believe starting this summer, California is allowing you to run the black and yellow plates on any 60's car. So I'm wondering what the consensus is... how many of you have vintage plates?

[ss dave]

got a 69 camaro vert, SPC with Varishocks, ATX spindles, G-link, LS7and 1969 Ks. plates.

[BobB66SS]

I have them on my car simply because it's a one-time, low cost permanent registration and saves money here in Michigan on the insurance, even using one of the collector car insurance carriers. I had vanity plates on it for several years, finally decided it wasn't worth the $$. Plus the 1966 license plate REALLY cuts down on the "what year is this?" questions.

[Steve1968LS2]

I think they are fine.. after all, these ARE classic cars and the black/yellow plates look great..

[Chad-1stGen]

Wait you can get new vintage plates in CA now? I didn't realize that.

[no bags]

..........I run vintage plates on my Camaro and Vintage Honda and hauler. We can run year of mfg. as long as we have current plates, registration and insurance in the car.

[sik68]

Wait you can get new vintage plates in CA now? I didn't realize that.

Replicas:
http://www.licenseplates.tv/cat/california_147.html

[DEIGuy38]

I like the old black and yellow plates. I would run them

[79-TA]

..........I run vintage plates on my Camaro and Vintage Honda and hauler. We can run year of mfg. as long as we have current plates, registration and insurance in the car.

I always thought you could only run vintage plates if you were just lucky enough to have the pair that survived on the car. Soo, is there some way I can get period-correct blue and yellow plates for my TA? Right now I just have some blue and whites from the earlier 90's.

[Steve1968LS2]

I always thought you could only run vintage plates if you were just lucky enough to have the pair that survived on the car. Soo, is there some way I can get period-correct blue and yellow plates for my TA? Right now I just have some blue and whites from the earlier 90's.

If your car still has it's vintage plates than it can run them. If it has newer plates then you are SOL.

BUT, CA just passed a law where, for a fee, you can re-issue black/yellow plates to your car if they are the right sequence.

[CRCRFT78]

Soo, is there some way I can get period-correct blue and yellow plates for my TA? Right now I just have some blue and whites from the earlier 90's.

No. And don't expect to be able to use CA blue plates anytime soon. They're only allowing CA black plates in sequence and by the year of manufacture to be reissued. However, I would suggest buying any CA blue plates you would hope to use in the future because I was told it may happen. The question is when?

[Chad-1stGen]

What do you guys mean "in sequence?"

[wicked68]

in georgia they have a single vintage plate that is custom - its not the year style - but they do let you make it vanity - I just got my new one back to match my handle - wiked68 - and plus its cheaper to go with the vintage registration.

[wicked68]

love the ct70 - that was my first minibike - I had it while living in the east bay in norcal. lot of fun memories learning to ride on that thing :D

..........I run vintage plates on my Camaro and Vintage Honda and hauler. We can run year of mfg. as long as we have current plates, registration and insurance in the car.

[CRCRFT78]

Running in a sequence meaning the letters and numbers correspond to the year. For example, my 63 Novas plates start off with DS* ### (3 letters/3 numbers). The DMV can tell by the plate info what year those plates should correspond with. Along with the year stamped in the box where your yearly registration tag would go.

Same applies for CA blue plates. Notice early issues of CA blue plates have a 3 letter/3 number sequence, mid run CA blue plates have 3 number/3 letter sequence & late issued CA blue plates then had a 7 number/letter sequence in no specific order. The info all corresponds to the year of issue.

[Roadbuster]

I think the black plates look the best out of the California plates. I want a set for my 68. Too bad when I got it they were long gone. They would look better than the white/blue plates with my orange paint!

Jon

[class67]

I have the bue/yellow plates on my 67, they were on the car when I got it but since the car had not been registered since 79, I had to petition to keep them. It was not that much of a hassle and they look better than the new ones...I think.

If you have the black plates, by all means use them!

[texasdvldog]

well that's the thing..right now my car has NO PLATES! My car hasn't been "on the road" for about 20 years so of course it's not in the DMV's database. I saw them selling license plates at the Good Guys show a few weeks ago so I looked into it and it sounds like yea in July you can run the old black/yellow plates. And that dude was selling them like hotcakes for 250.00 bucks a pair!


I'm still a little confused about the "sequence" that some were talking about??

[go-fish]

In MS we get "Antique Tags" that have a little model T looking silhouette on it. It is just black and white. Very cheap looking and I don't like it.

I do like the fact that it cost me only $14 for life. It is a one time registration and the State is gracious enough to give Military members a tax break on all tags. $14 fo life!

[chicane67]

Basically... all it really means is a sequence of numbers, letters, or both and is issued by a government to identify an officially registered vehicle.

What is actually being discussed... is the number and letter in the sequence of the plate that has specific meaning. For example... the black and yellow California plates began alphabetically, with three letters beginning with AAA and ending in 1969 with approximately ZZW. Consequently, you can reasonably estimate the approximate year the plate was issued by the beginning three letters. For example, a plate beginning with D,E, F, G or H would have been issued in 1964. T, U or V would have been issued in 1967. W and X, 1968, Y and Z, 1969 and so on.

So for you to register a set of Black and Yellow plates to a vehicle... they would have to be in the proper "sequence" of the coinciding year for you to register them to the vehicle.

Oddly enough... my 67 L30/M20 LM1 actually has the originally licensed plates from 1966 on it and they start with "AOG"... which doesnt explain the above to be true. But... my 67 has a weird history of oddities associated with it... and I have found no conclusive answers to why it is the way it is. A few years ago... it was illegal to run black and yellow plates on a car that did not already have them. In fact, I was missing my front plate when I purchased it in the late 80's. In the early 90's... I had a duplicate plate made and had the original plate restored... to "meet" California's front plate law.

FYI: 1963 was the last year a complete new plate issuance to all vehicles occurred, those plates had a black background and chrome yellow characters. The license plate series began in 1963 (when ALL vehicles were issued the new plates) and ended in 1969. A black plate on the car AND on the title signifies that the car has been in California continuously since that plate was issued, which would be 1969 at the latest, ZZZ 999 being the last plate issued. Contrary to popular belief, a black plate can NOT be LEGALLY applied to a car that it was not originally issued to (which this law has been modified, but is not yet in effect.)

Having a black plate is no guarantee that a car was originally sold in California, however. If a 1960 Ferrari lived in New York from 1960-1965, then moved to California in 1965 and stayed here, it would have been issued a black plate around RRR 000 (This number sequence was issued consecutively in alphabetical order, starting at AAA 000 in 1963).

The new law: California State Assembly Bill # 462 was fully passed October 11, 2007 and will take effect July 1, 2009. It will allow year of manufacture license plates to be utilized on vehicles 1969 and older, or the owner of a commercial vehicle or pickup truck 1972 or older, and increase the fee to $45. Basically what the amended law does is allow YOM use of the 1963 series, California, steel, black and yellow license plates and the 1970 series, six and seven digit blue and yellow aluminum license plates for commercial vehicles and pickup trucks 1972 or older. This opens up two classic and important California series of license plates to include YOM for rare and important 1960's and early 1970 vehicles.