Re: IML: Old License Plates in California

[Christopher H <imperial67@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

CA does not allow vanity plates to be issued in any letter-number
configuration that is the same as a regular plate series still in use (which
for black plates was three letters, three numbers, such as ABC123, and there
are plenty of those plates still in use).

The best you could have done is to purchase non-vanity (regular sequential)
"arts" plates (one of CA's special license plate designs that cost an
additional annual fee), which were issued using up black-plate letter-number
configurations that were deemed offensive or otherwise unacceptable in the
1960s (for example, any number that began with RED, presumably a lingering
effect of McCarthyism).

Even non-vanity arts plates can be moved from car to car by their owner.
(Regular plates stay with the car when it is sold in CA, but most CA
special-design plates, as well as any CA vanity plate, can be kept by the
owner and transferred to another vehicle.)

Having a set of these plates assigned to a car you own would allow you (not
legally, but theoretically) to have black plates made in the same number and
almost no one would be the wiser. Only the most discerning of police
officers would likely notice, even though there is a code on your
registration that says what type of plate your car is supposed to have.

However, the arts plates have now moved on to unused blue-plate
configurations (numbers first: 123ABC) that would have used in the 1970s.
Act now if you want any of those! They're into the Bs or Cs already, and I
imagine there were fewer terms deemed offensive as time went on.

Chris in LA

On 10/28/05 9:21 AM, David Whitney at hazegreen66@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Regarding Dan's situation, getting authentic black plates on an out-of-state
> '66 appears to be out of the question, since it's newer than '62.  Even if you
> go the vanity plate route in the proper format using S or T as the first
> letter and then repaint it, the vintage plates have raised letters that are
> different than the modern ones.
>  
> Happy motoring,
>  
>  
> 
> 
> Happy motoring,
> 
> David
> 
> '91 K-Imperial driver
> '66 Crown Coupe project
> '66 LeBaron dual air and every option known to man
> 
> 
>  Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.
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