California Members have question on license plate

[Don Z.]

These questions are more directed to our California members regarding license plate procedure during the 60's - 70's. I am researching my '66 and am pretty certain I have the newspaper ad for my car from the Los Angeles Times in December 1974. The Times has told me that back then all Corvette for Sale ads had to have the license plate number printed, thus I have the plate number from the ad. In the last week or so I have uncovered other ads ( from dealers) for a Monto Carlo and a Camaro from August & Sept. 1973, over a year earlier with the same plate number.
My question(s) are: When a used car dealer sold a car did the plates go with the car or did the dealer maintain them? If an individual sold a car private did the private party maintain the plates or did they go with the car?
I am trying to figure out how the plates got from a used car dealer in 1973 to the private party ad in Dec. 1974.
Any help appreciated. Thank You

[Joe L.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

These questions are more directed to our California members regarding license plate procedure during the 60's - 70's. I am researching my '66 and am pretty certain I have the newspaper ad for my car from the Los Angeles Times in December 1974. The Times has told me that back then all Corvette for Sale ads had to have the license plate number printed, thus I have the plate number from the ad. In the last week or so I have uncovered other ads ( from dealers) for a Monto Carlo and a Camaro from August & Sept. 1973, over a year earlier with the same plate number.
My question(s) are: When a used car dealer sold a car did the plates go with the car or did the dealer maintain them? If an individual sold a car private did the private party maintain the plates or did they go with the car?
I am trying to figure out how the plates got from a used car dealer in 1973 to the private party ad in Dec. 1974.
Any help appreciated. Thank You

Don-----


With one exception, since 1963 in California the plates always go with the car from the time it's first registered in California until the time it's scrapped or moved to another state. The exception is "special plates" like personalized plates. However, very few of those existed in the 1960's (the only one I can think of was ham radio operator plates but there might have been a few others). If plates have to be replaced for any reason (e.g. lost, damaged, stolen, etc.) they are always replaced with a different series of numbers from whatever is current at the time of the replacement.

From 1963 until about September, 1969 ALL plates issued to passenger cars in California were yellow characters/digits on a black background. The series went from AAA000 to ZZZ999.

Until very recently when this series plates were allowed to be "re-used" in certain cases for collector-type cars built within the time frame these plates were originally issued there was no way to legally transfer a set of plates from one car to another (except "special plates").

[Terry M.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

Don you might consider the possibility of a typographical error in one or more of the ads. It happens all the time when there are a string of alpha numeric characters, even in NCRS publications.

[Don Z.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

Yes, Terry, I had thought of typo's but we are talking 4 different editions of the paper, not that that couldn't happen.

Joe, did the tag going with the car change in the 70's, do you know.
All of what I have uncoverd has been in the mid 70's.

Thank You

[Joe L.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

Yes, Terry, I had thought of typo's but we are talking 4 different editions of the paper, not that that couldn't happen.

Joe, did the tag going with the car change in the 70's, do you know.
All of what I have uncoverd has been in the mid 70's.

Thank You

Don------


The system in California has not changed to this very day. The only difference is that there are a lot more "special plates" out there now which stay with the owner and can be transferred to another car. As far as the regular series license plates (which are the VAST majority of the plates on the road), beginning with the yellow-on-blue plates first issued about September, 1969, they cannot be transferred from one car to another under any circumstances----they remain with the car they were initially issued to. When they are turned in to DMV (e.g. the car goes out of state, the car is junked, plate is damaged, etc.) that plate is "dead" and the number not re-issued.

The previous series plates (i.e. yellow-on-black and black-on-yellow) can only be transferred to another car under very special circumstances and then only to a year model car that could have originally been issued these series plates. The yellow-on-black was only approved for this sort of transfer in the last few years. The plates have to be approved by DMV before they can be used.

[Don Z.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

Thank You Joe for clearing this up for me.
Maybe back in the mid 70's they just used the plate number for the ad.
Who knows. I only know that I've found this plate number on 3 different cars at three different times.
Thanks Again

[Don Z.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

Joe, One last question...In the mid 60's and mid 70's did car dealers have a license plate issued by the state called a "dealer plate" that they could use??
Thank You

[Joe L.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

Joe, One last question...In the mid 60's and mid 70's did car dealers have a license plate issued by the state called a "dealer plate" that they could use??
Thank You

Don-----


Yes, they did and still do. However, these plates clearly say "dealer". Plus, they are a completely different series. As I recall, they are all numbers with no alpha characters. ALL regular passenger car license plates (except those few "special plates" as I previously described) from 1963 to September, 1969 are a series of 3 alpha characters followed by 3 digits.

[Don Z.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

Thank You Joe for all of your help.
Don

[James G.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

Thank You Joe for clearing this up for me.
Maybe back in the mid 70's they just used the plate number for the ad.
Who knows. I only know that I've found this plate number on 3 different cars at three different times.
Thanks Again

Joe has stated every thing correctly. Not uncommon in the old days for a car "flipper" to give the same plate number to the LA Times. It was their trademark.....you know Terry always used TBD657.....Philsbury always used MIK577...etc.
Cal DMV burned in 1976, so even in the 80's we could not go back far for info. Today, info is ZERO..... thanks to 911 and Gov't Regs.

[Terry M.]

Re: California Members have question on license plate

Cal DMV burned in 1976, so even in the 80's we could not go back far for info. Today, info is ZERO..... thanks to 911 and Gov't Regs.

Also thanks to some low life who cut the dickens out of a model as he stalked her with information he got from CAL DMV. If memory serves that was before 911, but did result in government privacy regs. 911 and the advent of Homeland Security only made it worse. More and more we are all reduced to the lowest common denominator, and that sucks because we are all treated like those who don't have two brain cells to rub together.