Black Plates Finally Included in YOM Program!

Post by **Steve Simmons** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:11 am

I just read in Rick Feibusch's newsletter than CA "black plates" have finally been allowed into the Year of Manufacture program. This is great news for anyone with a '63-69 car that has either come from out of state or lost its black plates somewhere in its past history.

The only downside is that we will no longer be able to tell a "California car" by its black plates. But overall this is a welcome and overdue change to the current YOM laws.

More information here:

http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/index ... page=focus

and here:

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/a ... _comm.html

spitfire · Post by **spitfire** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:09 pm

Thats really cool, when I finally get that older car I will be sure to get those plates.

eprsplit · Post by **eprsplit** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:47 pm

If you have a car that is missing a plate there is a company I have used in the past makes excellent replicas.
Their primary business is making plates for the motion picture industry.
The quality is second to none!
http:www.licenseplates.tv
They will NOT mail replica California plates to California but you can have them mailed to a friends address in another state.

Post by **Steve Simmons** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:46 pm

There is a company in North Hollywood that makes them as well but I can't remember their name. It's something to do with airplanes.

By the way, welcome to the forum!

carlivar · Post by **carlivar** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:29 am

I have mixed feelings about this... it will make it hard to tell the "real" California cars. But I guess pre-63 cars already had that problem.

However: don't the 60's YOM black plates still require the correct year sticker? So that will be a way to differentiate original (current sticker) with YOM (model year sticker)...

Post by **Steve Simmons** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:39 pm

I don't go for the whole "California car" thing. A large portion of California is very wet, and 800 miles of it's western edge are subjected to very salty air. When I'm shopping for a car, I go for overall condition regardless of where it came from. Case in point is my MGB GT. I had it trucked in from Alabama because it was in flawless condition despite being a 20-year-old restoration. Today, five years later, it's still more solid than any other GT I've run across.

As for stickers, YOM plates are required to display an origianl correct year sticker as well as a current one. I've never understood how this can possibly be enforced. Nowhere on a registration form, pink slip or anywhere else does it say the plates on the car were assigned in the YOM program. A car which still has its original plates would only have the current year sticker so how would anyone ever know the difference?

carlivar · Post by **carlivar** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:42 am

I agree that not all California cars are rust-free, but even the salty air on the coast is far better than where I was raised -- Illinois. It's not even just a clean underside... back in IL it seemed like two thirds of every job I tackled had some little nut or bolt somewhere that had a serious rust problem which turned a 2-hour job into a 6-hour job.

Sure, Arizona or Alabama or even any cold-weather state where they don't use salt on the roads is also fine, but there's a lot of California desert closer than those places.

Generally speaking, I definitely think that the black-plate cars I've looked at are statistically in better shape than white-plate cars of unknown origin. No question about it; it's just simple probability.

On the YOM program, DMV has to physically inspect the plates. I've even heard they take pictures of the plate and send to Sacramento for verification! I guess the original sticker is included in that? I suppose we'll find out. I've never seen a YOM plate w/o the correct sticker. DMV even gives you a special tab to display both stickers.

Post by **Steve Simmons** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:08 am

The DMV takes a scan of the plates to send to their main office in Sacramento for final clearance. There must be two plates in good condition and one plate must have the appropriate year sticker for the vehicle unless the vehicle's year model matches the plate itself. Orange plates were issued in 1956, so 1956 cars are not required to have a sticker since one never existed. The same will be true for 1963 cars.

Still, I have to wonder how anyone would ever know that a car was assigned plates in the YOM program rather than having them since new, or since before the YOM program existed. There is no documentation that I have found to tell whether a car has original old plates or recently assigned ones.

My MGA has plates assigned in the YOM program, but I decided to simply place the current sticker in the correct spot on the plate itself rather than use the ugly tabs they provide to mount the tabs above the plate.

KraigG · Post by **KraigG** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:56 pm

Very good news! I can finally "black plate" my 64 Corvette. I wonder if I can use the pair of clean black plates I still possess from a 64 Buick I sold out of state?

And what's the procedure? Do we just go see the DMV with black plate and current registration card in hand? And has the program started yet?

Post by **Steve Simmons** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 3:39 pm

The plates have to be in good condition, with a year-correct sticker adhered. The numbers also have to be clear in the DMV computer, but since they were last issued to a car you owned, you can probably get them cleared if they aren't already.

According to one of the articles linked above, the hearing for the bill is this month. Hopefully it will pass and go into effect soon!