I looked in the "search" section of the forum regarding this, but a lot of the info is dated. I am curious if anybody has had a similar experience or can comment on the info below.

I have a 68 camaro and I want to put the California Black/yellow plates back on it (it currently has the current white/blue numbers plate). I went to DMV today and they tried to tell me it can be done!!! The one catch that I found was that the final decision is made by somebody at headquarters in Sacramento after you fill out a request form, pay $$, and send it to Sacramento, etc. So basically the counter staff can say "yes" all day long, but they dont have any sayso in the final decision which is made in Sacto by who knows who. Everything I have read on this forum as well as the CA DMV website says that I should not be able to put blk/yelw plates on my car.

Have the laws changed recently???

I wanted to hear from other forum members on this subject before I go spend $$$ on the blk/ylw plates just to find out that the dmv counter staff told me wrong.

What I was told is that you have to be able to prove that the black plates you have were originally issued to the car. If you can prove that, you should be fine.

In my case, I have a copy of an old title for the car that shows the original day of sale and the black plate license number that was issued to the car.

Good luck and let's us know what happens.

Hans

Hans is right on. I tried several times with several different counter people at the DMV and got no every time. My car has never had CA plates on it as it has spent most of the time in Oregon and Washington. I ended up going with historical plates and actually like them.

If you are going to give it a try and you are a numbers guy which you probably are remember to apply with the correct plates for your year. The black plates started in '63 and went into late '69-early '70. The '63 plates started with the letter A and moved forward. Most '69's start with W,X,Y. '68's probably started with T,U,V. This is just a rough estimation, do some research if you want to nail it down closer.

Let us know if it works. I have a nice set of black plates that start with Y that I would like to put on my car. I had kind of givin up on the idea.
Doug

I went to the dmv to register my 69 I was given the black YCG ----- plate with the car and the girl gives me new plates since it was off the road for 15 yrs and i had no reg from the original plates. It sucks I want the black plates back on it. There is a guy in so cal called The License Plate Man. he may have some info on this and he sells old plates at the Pomona swap meet.

1962 and older can have original plates re-reg to the car! these will be yellow and blk.since your car is a 68 you cant put black n yellow plates onto your car again.i have even tried to buy plates on ebay that were close to my series in 68 starting with like T or U or V.i was then goin to order new personal plates with the same 3 letter 3 number as the plate i got on ebay.then instead of putting the new plates on i will put on the old plates! good idea huh!!!!!!!! wrong! ca dmv will not allow you to order a personallised plate with the older 3 letter 3 number configuation!

It seems thta I keep hearing the same thing-NOT POSSIBLE. But has anybody ever had the counter staff tell them yes only to get a no somewhere else down the road???

ufunnyguy -

Are the black plates original to the car or not and can you prove they are original to the car? If yes, you won't have a problem. If no, I would bet the gal at the DMV didn't understand that the plates you have aren't original to the car....and therefore she may have answered "yes" inadvertently. You will get a "no" when you apply...


Hans

no plates would not be original to car. Matter of fact, I havent bought them yet. Of course if I bought them I'd make sure they were as close as "original" in regards to letter sequence.

I was surprised that the dmv counter staff actually said "yes", that was i originally posted this topic.

Also, I havent heard about the counter staff requesting approval from Headquarters?????

Wagonman is correct about not being allowed to put them on anything but '62 and older. The info found in a search is dated but nothing in CA laws have changed since the couple years in a row when former gov Davis shot down the bills that would make it possible to add year of manufacture plates to any car. The state doesn't want anything but reflective plates on any car registered. That's the law and I have been to DMV offices (actually my wife has as she bought me black plates for my car) from Santa Barbara, Lompoc and Pismo to San Jose and Los Gatos and been sent packin... Even the wife's cousin who works at DMV wouldn't risk her job to set us up with the black plates...

There is a possible loophole but you have to non-op your car, turn in the existing plates or report them as lost to get them out of the system and then after your car has been non-op'd for a while you can call the DMV, Police or CHP and inform them you have a non-op vehicle you are ready to put back on the road and would like to request an inspection. They do this because you cannot drive an unregistered vehicle. When they come to your car for inspection it needs to have the black plates in place, the inspecting officer then reports the vehicles vin and plate numbers. From there it's up to the DMV clerk, if you get a really gung-ho type you may be asked to turn in the existing plates and be issued new anyway. I know someone that has successfully done this with customer cars that came into his shop already non-op'd and plates already out of the system... The other issue that comes up is if the inspection officer feels your car is not stock he can send you to the smog ref. In CA you don't have to smog these old cars but the law assumes you have the factory smog equipment in place and working.

I was surprised that the dmv counter staff actually said "yes", that was i originally posted this topic.

Because pre '63 can have year of manufacture it often gets reported partically correct.

Also, I havent heard about the counter staff requesting approval from Headquarters????? Personalized plates if questionable need approval from HQ not black plates...

What do you guys think about getting the new plates they give you and painting them . Obviously it wont be as cool as having originals but I think it would look pretty good . Is that against the law ?

What do you guys think about getting the new plates they give you and painting them . Obviously it wont be as cool as having originals but I think it would look pretty good . Is that against the law ?

Unfortunatly it's against the law. I've seen them done though...

when the plate is run by the coppers, the return comes back to reflectorized plates. then you get busted for mutilating/damaging/destroy/altering plates.

angel

Maybe some can answer this question for me? My 69 SS350 has the original black plates with the yellow letters/numbers. Plates start with the letter "Z".
The last time it was registered was about 1995. I cannot recall if I went non op or not (stupid 18 year old). The car has been in the "restoration process" for 12 years now. A friend of mine ran the plates and came up with no record found. My question, is will I be able to register it using the original plates? Same numbers appear on the cars title as well. Thanks in advance

I don't believe so, since it's not in "non-op" status. I had this happen to my '67 about five years ago. I even paid to have my VIN and plates verified because the CA-DMV told me that's what I needed to do to keep the plates and they still screwed it up. I just kept the plates and chalked it up to the idiots we have here. They know nothing and care less about anything you have unless you owe money. Hold onto the plates and maybe someday there'll be something we can sign to get this turned around.

Regards,
Al

when the plate is run by the coppers, the return comes back to reflectorized plates. then you get busted for mutilating/damaging/destroy/altering plates.

angel

Just a heads up, the cops dont have any system in place to identify whether a plate is reflectorized or not other than the fact that almost everyone can tell by the letter/number sequence. the cop who has to run a plate number to be able to verify if a black plate is in fact an old one is either ignorant, or has been on the job for half a day. here in LA i've never seen or heard of a cop really hasseling anyone for plate alterations on cars like ours. they're really anal about having plates on both the front and back of cars for the most part and even to that effect, one of my friends has his plate numbers spray painted on the front end of the car and he's never recieved any sort of ticket or warning for that matter.


I actually re-registered my 68 in february with its original black plates but the dmv never asked for any verification paperwork as far as i remember. we just paid the fees and they handed us the tags right there, it was the dmv branch in Glendale, in socal if anyone wants to try their luck there.

Registering you car is far different than having a car not in "non-op" and then trying to register it. If the gentelman can have the car put in "non-op" by the previous owners before he tries to register is it/title it in his name, then he might have a chance. Other than that, he gonna have trouble.

Just a heads up, the cops dont have any system in place to identify whether a plate is reflectorized or not other than the fact that almost everyone can tell by the letter/number sequence. the cop who has to run a plate number to be able to verify if a black plate is in fact an old one is either ignorant, or has been on the job for half a day. here in LA i've never seen or heard of a cop really hasseling anyone for plate alterations on cars like ours. they're really anal about having plates on both the front and back of cars for the most part and even to that effect, one of my friends has his plate numbers spray painted on the front end of the car and he's never recieved any sort of ticket or warning for that matter.


I actually re-registered my 68 in february with its original black plates but the dmv never asked for any verification paperwork as far as i remember. we just paid the fees and they handed us the tags right there, it was the dmv branch in Glendale, in socal if anyone wants to try their luck there.

Just for the record, you just quoted and are replying to a cop with this!!

I talked to a so called lic plate expert several months ago. He told me this if you wanted a black plate. Order the "plam Tree" personalized plate. As an example, "YMJ775"( this was the plate on my old 69 Chevelle SS). The plate will come without spacing between #'s and letters. There are apparently lic plate venders that can make you a black plate/yellow #'s & letters with the correct spacing between #'s / letters. I haven't had time to follow through on this idea.

Hmm a place that makes black plates? I have only 1 plate on my car. Would be nice to get another one for the front to get any fix it tickets signed off.

Just for the record, you just quoted and are replying to a cop with this!!

then he should be fully aware of the fact there is no license plate recognition program in a police car other than a reference book some carry to tell them what a year correct plate should look like. as far as other state plates are concerned, i believe there may be a electronic reference program used at the stations but not inside a squad car.

then he should be fully aware of the fact there is no license plate recognition program in a police car other than a reference book some carry to tell them what a year correct plate should look like. as far as other state plates are concerned, i believe there may be a electronic reference program used at the stations but not inside a squad car.

this is false. i highly doubt that you have ever seen a dmv return unless you were in law enforcement. i could show you but it is illegal. when a plate is run, the dmv return will come back to "reflectorized plates". off the topic, another thing that has been added in the past few months is if you have insurance or not. it comes back to "insurance information on file" in the same dmv return so if you are driving around, we will know if you have insurance or not.

enough said.

btw, im not a traffic cop but these are routine things that are available to all coppers in there cars.