California original plates -explain the appeal to a non-CAer

[HBChris]

DMV in CA won't issue personalized plates in ABC123 or 123ABC or let you substitute I for 1 or 0 for O.

[mshii]

My father bought "our" 02 in 1972 for my mother for Christmas, and it was "my" first car when I got my license in 1992. I wrecked the car in May of '93, and although it was repaired and is still in the family, one of my biggest regrets is not being able to drive the car with the original tag that it had--so much so that I've pondered attempting getting a vanity tag with the original numbers on it). That was the first license plate number that I memorized (I still remember it to this day), and it, the car, and the memories are very dear to me.

I said all of this more as a personal catharsis, but also to point out that sometimes the desire may be more of a way of rekindling the place and the era that the cars were new and/or remembered in. Hopefully this provides another viewpoint that some others can relate to.

[coppertop]

If you have the plates, you have o give them up...if you are missing plates, like someone stole them, they have to issue you new plates....

Could be but they don't check that closely. As far as I know they assume plates in lien sale with no paper work in DMV records or salvage title means they weren't there even if they actually are. At least I don't recall them asking me for them.

Rick[/quote

In my experience some DMV employees are more vigilant than others. I've always been asked to return my old plates (single plate-lost front plate- or damaged and out of state plates) before they will issue new ones. My friend from Alaska wasn't asked for his plate and keeps it on his shop wall to this day. One employee even loaned me a screwdriver to take the Colorado plates off a Volvo I bought there and re-registered in CA while she waited. She refused to complete the transaction until she had the Colorado plates. Apparently they send them back to the original state as those plates I turned in later got a ticket in Colorado after it was reissued to a Toyota, but still linked to me (I got the photo ticket in the mail 4 months after I took the car out of CO.)

Saying all this, I'm pretty sure CA has no right to ask for out of state plates, unless they have reciprocal agreement with that respective state, as the out of state plates are actually property of the issuing state and not CA.

[BarryA]

to prove that a vehicle has lived out its existance in a relatively dry, low rust environment (of course, a car originally licensed in CA in the 60's or '70's could have easily lived along the salty, moist coast in S.F., or have been used extensively in the Sierras for skiing trips every winter for years - in either case, it would probably be as rusty as a similar car that spent years in the upper midwest).

While the desirability of being able to use the "YOM" program to "reassign" black plates to a vehicle from that era is understandable, if a claim is being made as to a car's original "black plate" status, it's now even more critical to try to determine whether the plates on a car are those the CA DMV issued when it was new or not.

As far as surrendering original plates to the DMV goes, if one is willing to stretch the truth a bit, it's usually possible to conveniently "lose" the plates (or plate, if only one is present) fill out the appropriate DMV form certifying that the plates have been lost (see the link below), then equally conveniently "find" the plates at a later time. Just make sure that the plates have disappeared before the car appears in public or goes through any inspection process.

If only one plate is missing or trashed, keep in mind that there are companies that can reproduce "replica" plates that are essentially indistinguishable from the originals, as well as plate restoration companies that can do amazing work on plates that you'd think were beyond saving....

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg156.pdf