Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

[Oliver B.]

...Those are the license plates, my car got when the second owner (1978 AWK-50) and I (1988 DTH-33D) bought it.
Both Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, FL).

I would love to get them for my car (garage and shows), but do not know, how (from over here in Germany). Maybe they still exist - if not, is there a good source for reproductions?

I recall DTH-33D being a "clean" one, with just the green "Florida" and "Pinellas" scripts and FL's shape, with black(?) letters over it (so no Manatee, Orange or Space Shuttle on it ).

Attached a photo of the second owner in front of his new car - showing the license plate.
It is not clearly visible, but it appears to be even more "clean".
Letters seem to be red (or?) with just the Florida-script on the bottom and registration sticker up right.
Was there a choice of (Florida) license plates in the late 70's?

Looking forward to getting your input on:
- how they really looked like back then (color, scripts, options)
- how to hopefully get them

Thanks
Oliver

[Grant M.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Oliver,

Even from Florida, that would be a tall order as most DMVs will not disclose (except to law enforcement agencies) contact information on plate owners. Having bought some YOM plates from a swap meet vendor and wishing to register them for use here in Ontario, I had a policeman friend track down the current owner of the registration (they were now being used on a boat trailer--different plate background from automobiles), and he was willing to turn them in so that I could request the number. But there was no guarantee our DMV would let me use a trailer number on a car plate and in any event, the number had to be out of use for at least a year prior to re-issuing. In the end, I found another set of YOM plates the numbers of which were not in use and therefore able to be registered.

If you're only looking for the plates for display purposes, perhaps a repro would do? There are several licence plate restorers in the US (google/msn search "licence plate restoration") to find some. Not all can reproduce a plate, but some can and may be able to help you.

Good luck,

grant

[Oliver B.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Oh, sorry - big misunderstanding - I did not want anybody to tell me how to track down the persons who now have those license plates...
(From my experience, I know "the world is ever sooo small" - so somebody might be out there, who has them and reads this, but that was not my intention.)

Much more important/interesting to me are/were tips, where to get repros from (thanks for your hints, Grant and Ridge) and mainly how they really looked like back then.....
Any more on that?

Thanks again!

[Richard S.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Oliver,

There is a good chance the guy who has been selling old Florida plates will, again this year, be at the NCRS Regional in Orlando in January. If you're not planning on attending, I'm sure someone can pick out a nice YOM plate for you and send it over.

I'll be attending so let me know....

Rick.

[Oliver B.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Rick, that's a very generous offer!

Would it be too much hassle to look or ask for "my" plates then?
I will also think about your offer, picking "just one nice 1977 plate"... What do you think is the cost for such a YOM plate - what actually does YOM stand for???

Oliver

[Oliver B.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

......I just looked up wikipedia for "Florida license plates" and came up with this page: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...tes_of_Florida

Unfortunately there are no examples shown (might be due to restrictions to my office-internet), but the information states following variations:
1974 (guess till the next entry): red on reflective white, slogan "Sunshine State", format "12-3456"
1977: green on reflective white with graphic state name, no slogan, format "ABC-123"
1978: green on reflective white with graphic state map, slogan "county name", format "ABC-123" or "123-ABC"

Strange: my picture shows no FL-map and it appears to have red instead of green letters. All this despite the fact that it has been issued in 1978 - or was it possible, that the owner transferred it from a previous car? But THEN again, the "AWK-50" should not have been available - or.........?

Any input?

Thanks
Oliver

[Ridge K.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

YOM = year of manufacture

[Greg F.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

...Those are the license plates, my car got when the second owner (1978 AWK-50) and I (1988 DTH-33D) bought it.
Both Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, FL).

I would love to get them for my car (garage and shows), but do not know, how (from over here in Germany). Maybe they still exist - if not, is there a good source for reproductions?

I recall DTH-33D being a "clean" one, with just the green "Florida" and "Pinellas" scripts and FL's shape, with black(?) letters over it (so no Manatee, Orange or Space Shuttle on it ).

Attached a photo of the second owner in front of his new car - showing the license plate.
It is not clearly visible, but it appears to be even more "clean".
Letters seem to be red (or?) with just the Florida-script on the bottom and registration sticker up right.
Was there a choice of (Florida) license plates in the late 70's?

Looking forward to getting your input on:
- how they really looked like back then (color, scripts, options)
- how to hopefully get them

Thanks
Oliver

Oliver,

You can try this site (maybe).....http://www.licenseplates.tv/

[Robert E.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Oliver,

Give this site a try as well http://platedepot.com/index.php

Robert

[Richard S.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Oliver,

I believe the old Florida plates were "county" specific. You should be able to find "Pinellas" county plates in the year you want from a number of vendors. Good luck....

Rick.

[M W.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Oliver,

You can try this site (maybe).....http://www.licenseplates.tv/

Ditto's on these folks.Great work.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Much more important/interesting to me are/were tips, where to get repros from (thanks for your hints, Grant and Ridge) and mainly how they really looked like back then.....

Oliver -- here's a site that shows all plates of North America from 1969-up. Also plates wanted; plates for sale.

http://www.15q.net/

[Steven B.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Oliver, I don't have a Hemmings with me now but plate and repro plate vendors advertise in Hemmings. You can look them up at: www.hemmings.com

Good Luck!

Steve

[Oliver B.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Thanks for all your response - I will check those sources....

Can anybody shed some light on the old plates, please?
As far as I was able to research, the AWK-50 seems a little odd in respect of it being red on white, which (according to wiki) was available only till 1976.
And then the lettering: is it possible (was it back then?) to choose a number with a different format? (Well, dumb question! The pictutre PROVES it WAS! ...)

Or maybe any artist out there, who knows how to enhance the quality of the picture??? (C'mon, if James Bond can do, there must be someone else who can, too! ) That would help a lot when reproducing...

[Chuck G.]

Re: Looking for Florida license plates AWK-50 and DTH-33D

Oliver;

I can't speak for Florida, but I can say that in many states, instead of giving you a new plate every year, when you renew your registration, you simply get a sticker.

In Maryland,where I live now, the stickers are approx. 1.5 x 1.5 inches. You apply them to your "old" plate.

SO....that is likely an older plate, with a later renewal sticker on the upper right corner.

Also, with that format on the plate, could it be a "vanity tag"? Could it be the owners initials and the 50 for his age?

Chuck