Anyone has a spare blue CA plate lying around?

[khaledejaz]

So, I am looking to put on a blue CA plate on my 73 02. I talked to the Santa Clara DMV and they said I could do that as long as it was the same year (73). Anyone has a spare one to give away ?

[jerry]

this was a topic of a week or so.

the information you were given by the local DMV contradicts what i was told and what i believe was the ultimate conclusion from the previous thread.

in summary: unless the car is pre-1963 (or 64?), you can not swap plates like that.

if you have new credible information, please share.

[khaledejaz]

I talked to two people behind the counter last Saturday at DMV and was told that the important thing is that the plates match the same year the car was first registered & that the old plates are not being used by any other car. I would still need to pay for the transfer fee.

[jerry]

this is encouraging news, indeed.

now the question is: how does one identify which year corresponds to what 3-letter sequence

after that's answered, i suppose the hunt can start.

the year restriction certainly narrows the available pool.

[albawhore]

It must have a '73 year sticker intact

JB

[Gordon]

Everything you wanted to know about CA license plates

http://www.calpl8s.com/

Go down the page to California Plate FAQ

G-Man

[2761377]

first of all, you will need a set of two plates to show the dmv. apparently you have found people who do not know the code regarding the 1962 cutoff year. according to the procedure, the applicant must show two plates, front and rear. the time i tried this, the dmv person took the plates from my wife and kept them. she said come back within thirty days with original dmv paperwork that these plates were on the car or they are confiscated by law. since have found out this is true- you don't have a right to own plates without buying them from dmv. in california, that is.

determining the year of plates is possible on yellow/black plates; it is embossed one of the tag depressions. on later plates, an educated guess is all that is possible. i have personal experience with a '71 plate with letters DNS, two '72's- GWG and HOF.

i predict your effort will stumble on this problem; but it is worth a try. on the '71 mentioned, the plate came with the car but the car was out of dmv computers. my experience on the earlier attempt gave me hope that i could have it restored to the car. after 5 trips to dmv, i found a person who knew the procedure and was willing to help. my pink slip(with the plate # on it) and vin verification were sent to a special unit in sacto and three weeks later i got my new pink and registration.

my personal experience from 2005

robert

[Tangarine-Dream]

Robert,

My car has the original '73 CA blue plate (rear). Question: The front plate was bent/smashed, so the previous owner's wife junked it--can I request a new front to be made from DMV? Or am I stuck with one good plate? I will never go to DMV only to get my single plate confiscated. Thanks for all of you guys assistance.

[73tiirusty]

I have a front and rear blue plate CA license plate from a 73 tii. I currently have no use for them so if interested let me know.

[rogerspeed]

So, I am looking to put on a blue CA plate on my 73 02. I talked to the Santa Clara DMV and they said I could do that as long as it was the same year (73). Anyone has a spare one to give away ?

I think what the DMV people were try to say. Let's suppose you have possesion of a pair of blue plates say "ZZZ999", you could concievably apply for "vanity" plates "ZZZ999", if that combination has not been assigned to anyone else, once the vanity plates are issued to you, current style, you could install the blue plates and no one would be the wiser/

[khaledejaz]

73tiirusty : I would love to take them!! My day would be made:) Pls. email me at khaled.ejaz@gmail.com Thanks!

[ingraham]

(nt)

[Gordon]

From the website on this thread that I posted yesterday.

The Year of Manufacture law, frequently referred to as YOM, allows you to register an old California license plate which matches the year that your old vehicle was made in.

Currently, this type of registration is only available for vehicles that were made in 1962 or before. That means that only the 1956 black on yellow style plates, which were used through 1962, and older styles, are available for YOM. The 1963 yellow on black style plates, and all bases that came after them, are currently NOT available for YOM registration in California.

Confusion as to which bases are available for YOM registration stems from the fact that all the bases shown here can still be seen on the road. However, any old plate still on the road is only valid because it has been continuously registered to the same vehicle since it was originally issued. The CA legislature has attempted several times in recent years to extend the YOM law past 1962, but it has been vetoed by the Governor each time. There is currently no pending legislation to try again.

1956 style and older plates for YOM use can be purchased from plate collectors, at swap meets and garage sales, and on eBay. The old plate must have a number that is not currently in use on a California license plate. This is called being "clear".

To find out if a plate is clear, visit your local DMV office, or call the DMV Special Processing office in Sacramento, and ask if the plate number is clear for YOM. If they say there is no record, or the number is not in the computer, then it is clear. The phone number for the DMV Special Processing office in Sacramento is (916) 657-7606 or (916) 657-7654. There is no website access for this info.

[Guest Anonymous]

determining the year of plates is possible on yellow/black plates; it is embossed one of the tag depressions.

subsequent years the embossed year numbers are covered up by a sticker that's issued annually with the registration renewal. What the DMW needs to issue a "YOM" (year of manufacture) plate is a PAIR of matching plates with the sticker for the year your car was built, and an alpha-numeric combination that's not currently in use (if you have yellow/black plates with "MEW 123", & somebody still has a car registered with black/yellow plates in that combination, they won't let you use 'em). The biggest problem with coming up with a correct sticker is that it's close to impossible to separate the stack of stickers on a plate after they've been stuck together for 40 or 50 years - often as not, trying to peel off the ones above the year you need winds up destroying all of 'em.

So far, the DMV system isn't sophisticated enough to closely match the plate sequence with correct year of issue (I've seen '61 & '62 cars with very early yellow/black plates that would have been issued around 1955/56 a number of times), and they seem to be willing to allow the use of commerical sequence plates on passenger vehicles, too.