California Black Plate Question..
 

With the original California Black plates that run from 1963 -1969....Question...are the years stamped on the plate ? Or is there just “63” stamped on the upper right hand corner ,and the rest is done with stickers ? Again do they stamp 64,65,66,67,68,69 on these plates ?? Iam trying to run the original plate that came with the purchase of my 64 GP.....and The NH DMV says...the plate needs to be the same year of manufacturing . My California plate has 63 stamped on it . Thanks for any help

All are stamped 63.

The number/letter sequence needs to be within a certain year range in order to use the plates. Something beginning with a ‘Z’ for example would be proper for a ‘69 model.

Attachment 520005...

B-Man.....would this be correct for my 64 GP.....it came with the car.

I don't know the laws in New Hampshire, but do they allow you to register a car with CA plates? I know in MN I have to run MN plates.

I'm thinking the reason for the DMV stating that the plate has to be the same as the YOM is that they do have 1964 plates.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/wrwAA...cWD/s-l300.jpg

In Minnesota, running YOM plates is what I do. But it has to be a MN plate.

I saw a 1965 real Royal Bobcat at a local car show...sporting 1965 Texas plates. So that got me thinking...and I called NH DMV....and yes out of state plates can be run on your car..as long as they are year of manufacture. The Antique plates have to be in the car somewhere. Would love to run the California plates that came with the car.

The pic you posted is a correct California plate. Yes as b-man stated it came with a 63 for this style plate. After that just stickers until the switch was made to the Blue plates about 1970

Thanks ! Now....is there anyone that repops a 1964 sticker for this plate....so I can run this plate on the GP.....I have to show the NH DMV it’s a 1964 plate...thanks. The DMV thinks it’s a 1963 plate and won’t let me use it..cus it’s doesn’t say 64

I have 2 1964 cars with original black plates and another single plate from a ‘64 car that was parted out, all begin with the letter ‘O’.

Your plates beginning with ‘M’ should be within the range for 1964.

Yippie ! Now how do I convey this Info to the NH DMV ? If I called California DMV and wonder if they would give me some sort of documentation to prove this . Thanks for all your leg work B-Man.

There are a couple of guys out here that sell them at Good-guys events swap meets. check your area or on line license plate restorer or the people selling old plates.

Tell them all CA black plates were stamped 63, there were no year number stickers other than on the registration sticker every year.

Find a friendly DMV employee or better yet do it through your local Auto Club (AAA) office if possible, of course you must be a AAA member.

They're available and can be found. Here is one that is on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-1964-64...ss!94590!US!-1


Put a 64 sticker on it and that should suffice. I had a friend do the same thing for a set of 67 plates. Letters/Numbers were from the same time frame, the DMV just wanted the same year stickers on the plates before they registered them to his car.

DITTO
 

This is exactly what I did (as the local DMV in Fremont instructed me to do) in 2015 for my 1965 GTO that I purchased from NJ.
I found a set of corresponding (for a 1965) Black / Yellow plates that had a 1965 “sticker” on it.
They all have a 63 “stamped”, but it’s the correct sticker they are looking for..

Chris.

My plates
 

My 67 GTO still has the original black plates on it. I am glad I kept the car registered for many years even while I was away working and sailing around in the Navy.

Bill H,

That is Nice !

Love the plates and that Doten Frame is way Cool.
Oakland, right up the street. The Indian heads make it even cooler!

Thanks for sharing.

Chris

Sequence is a general thing. Many busy DMV's got ahead of slower offices. While the "letter sequence" is generally true it's not always correct. Take for an example a car of any year getting new plates, those plates would be the DMV's current sequence but the receiving car could be of any year so No, cars do not have to have a letter sequence to match it's model year.
The "year" that is required to match is the sticker must be the same year as the model year. So a 64 model year car needs to have a 1964 sticker.

I am amazed that NH would allow out of state plates on an in state registration

Doten
 

Thank you.
The original background color on the plate frames was an orange/red color which I didn't like. Many years ago I talked to Bob Doten, who is the son of the dealer who sold my car. After I gave him all the info from PHS he said it was the first 67 GTO his dad sold in October 1966.

What about a '70 model sold in Nov. 69? Black or Blue?

I heard the plate also has to include a Q in order to be valid.

Absolutely correct EXCEPT there are a few black plates without "63"
The theory is the dies were worn by the end of the run and the 63 was worn the most. There are plates that have a just barely "63" visible but not stamped in to the metal which supports the worn out theory.

Black most likely. The blue plates appeared in 1970, but some places exhausted their supply earlier or later than others, so there's no hard and fast cutoff date.

And the letter sequence is a hint as to when the car was registered, but was by no means definitive. I've seen U series plates in 1967 cars and 1968 a car with a P series. It comes down to that sticker...

MES848 was the plate on my Cali-delivered '64 Bonneville. I have the original order form & delivery paperwork for my car, plus all the DMV rego slips showing this plate was on my car from the day it rolled out of Di Gulio Pontiac in Fresno back in June of '64 :D

https://bargegarage.files.wordpress....919.jpg?w=1024

If you have both black plates they are worth a couple hundred bucks, if only one plate worthless to a Calif person.
If I sell a car with black plates to a out of calif buyer the black plates come off (not included in sale)

I have both plates, plus the full paperwork history of the car going back to the quote the buyer got before he ordered it.

I'm going to get it all framed up once the build is finished.

Ok.......So how do I score a 1964 sticker ....for my California Black plates ??? ....HELP !!!!!

EBay for the sticker. Lots to choose from. Try to get NOS as some sellers reuse ones from old plates.
I'm pretty sure the 64 sticker mounted to the left

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...g=200&_fosrp=1


And for future reference, our 64 Fairlane California plates started with a P

should be plenty on Ebay
They reproduce them, $15-$25

I had a 68 Ford that started with XRY, my May registered 68 GTO is VQH.

Thanks Folks found them .....and also found “ Old Guys Plates “

California DMV started reproducing the black plates a few years ago, so I grabbed a pair. Much easier.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is all the hype about California Black Plates? I understand wanting a period correct plate for your car, but I hear about 'black plates' quite often. I just dont get it. Also, seems odd that a state (N.H.) allows out of state plates to be registered there?

Its a "California" thing LOL.
The black plates are simple, yet classy at the same time. . It's the finishing touch to a Sixties car restoration

Are you old enough to remember the “Coors Beer” craze ? All of us east of The Mississippi could not get it.....and if you got a 6 pack...you showed all your friends and you were very very Cool. When someone on the East Coast scores an old California car....it’s the same deal. Once you work on an old California car....you’ll know what Iam talking about....So if I can run a California Black Plate that came with the car at purchase...that just adds to the cool factor. New Hampshire is the Live Free or Die state yah know....

It use to be a big deal before DMV allowed them to be used for YOM, then these bogus look alike black plates really killed the deal.
It was a badge of honor to retain the black plates prior to all this new DMV stuff, kind of like having an old muscle car still with it's original drivetrain. At one time if your car didn't have them then you were out of luck, not allowed for YOM or any other way to get them re-issued. For years DMV tried their best to get you to turn them in for new plates. Back then if you happened to still have the set you had to show DMV proof that they were registered to that car some time in the past, usually a old registration tag showing those plates connected to that vehicle's VIN number
Now they allow them to be used for YOM

My old 68 LeMans started XMV... and my 68 Firebird was VLX...

The black plates were cool because they were original to my car, but now that wienies in new Audi's have them, they've lost their magic.
I've moved on to the blue 70's plates- my 74 Formie has its originals, and I scored a customized one for a 74, so I'm gonna try to register it with that plate.

Blue plate
 

I have seen a 1970 with a black plate but it's pretty rare, most would have came with a 6 digit blue plate.

My plates are original......no reflective paint ...!!!

Is Folsom Prison still making the plates ?

My historic N.Y. plate:

people comment on R.P.M. but no one has ever asked about the Bill Barry plate surround.


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/o91Lik.jpg

Attachment 520095


Mine are in pretty good shape... 400.00 Yikes !

The black plates for automobiles ran out of combinations late summer of 69. For commercial vehicles (Pick-ups including El Caminos/Rancheros are considered commercial in CA) they continued through 1972.
The commercial plate original letter number combination A12345 ran out of combinations sometime in 1967. It continued as 12345A up to 72.

I saw a '70 Monte Carlo with black plates. Must've been sold late '69.

I have both of these they were on the car when I bought it and the sticker was still good so I ran them out...

I called these buses "rolling roadblocks" when touring the Rockies on my superbikes or the Spyder :eek:

I would almost kill for the Bill Barry deal!They sponsored my car back in 63-64.Tom

Still have my Bill Barry frames, from my 70. Many don't recall the dealership. Was big in performance in thje day.

Just an observation, spent this weekend in so'cal and it seems that the new black plates are all personalized and don't interfere with the old black plate system of letters/numbers. Also in the days of black plates there were no personalized plates to my knowledge.

Hard to say. My friends mom had a '69 Chevelle SS396 with blue plates