I remember a few years back some of the members here wanted to put black plates on our old trucks and we had a discussion. Well, last July a new law was put into effect and I don't recall anyone here mentioning it since.

We can now put year of manufacture (YOM) black California license plates legally on our vehicle!

It used to be only for 1962 and earlier but now updated updated and made it for all cars up to and including 1969 models and commercial vehicles until 1972.

California black license plates were the last CA license plates made of steel. In 1970 they changed to aluminum blue plates. The black plate series for cars began with 3 letters then 3 numbers... stated AAA000 in 1963 and ended in ZZZ999 in 1969.

Not only do you need to have the correct sequence for your car, you must also have attached to the rear plate the correct year sticker. If your car is a 1969 then you must have the 1969 sticker on the correct numerically sequential plate.

The correct sequence for commercially registered trucks is more unclear to me. I have a 1970 Dodge D100 with the plates: "31 872F", I had a 1965 Dodge D100 that had "S 27 023". Apparently they changed how they sequence at some point between those 2 year vehicles. Both of those were black plates.

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Here is a cool link to Cal plate sequencing: [www.15q.net]
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Below is from the DMV website at: [www.dmv.ca.gov]
Model Year Date License Plates
5004.1.  (a) (1) An owner of a vehicle that is a 1969 or older model-year vehicle or the owner of a commercial vehicle or a pickup truck that is a 1972 or older model-year may, after the requirements for the registration of the vehicle are complied with and with the approval of the department, utilize license plates of this state with the date of year corresponding to the model-year date when the vehicle was manufactured, if the model-year date license plate is legible and serviceable, as determined by the department, in lieu of the license plates otherwise required by this code.(2) The department may consult with an organization of old car hobbyists in determining whether the date of year of the license plate corresponds to the model-year date when the vehicle was manufactured.
(b) A fee of forty-five dollars ($45) shall be charged for the application for the use of the special plates.
(c) In addition to the regular renewal fee for the vehicle for which the plates are authorized, the applicant for a renewal of the plates shall be charged an additional fee of ten dollars ($10). If payment of a regular vehicle renewal fee is not required by this code, the holder of license plates with a date corresponding to the model-year may retain the plates upon payment of an annual fee of twenty dollars($20) that shall be due at the expiration of the registration year of the vehicle to which the plates were last assigned under this section.
(d) If a person who is authorized to utilize the special license plates applies to the department for transfer of the plates to another vehicle, a transfer fee of twelve dollars ($12) shall be charged in addition to all other appropriate fees.
Amended Sec. 1, Ch. 497, Stats. Operative July 1, 2009.?

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66 W200, 440/727, almost back together, restored!.
68 Galaxie 390
70 W200, 392, NV4500, d60f, d70r, hydraulic clutch, p/s, hydroboost, HD factory gauges
70 F250, 6BT, NV4500, d60f, d70r, hydraulic clutch, p/s, hydroboost, A/C
70 Olds Cutlass 455 Convertible, A/C, pw, discs, console
86 Jeep Comanche 4.0, auto, 4x4
91 Ford Ranger shop truck
99 Cadillac Seville
12 Jeep SRT8



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2010 12:33PM by frankyb.