YOM DMV - Insight Requested

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HealeyBN7
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YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Just wondering if anyone has actual experience exercising the California DMV YOM plate process. I am finally getting around to officially transferring title on the 1959 Peerless GT that I acquired from Dave last year. Since it didn't come with plates (out of state Hawaii), I figured why not would try to obtain period correct plates. But before I try, I am seeking a little wisdom from the collective.

The car is titled as a 1960. From what I can tell the only plates that the DMV will approve are Yellow/Black plates with a blue 1960 sticker. I don't believe they care about the letter sequencing and will accept any yellow/back plate. I would rather have Black/Yellow plates, but I believe these would not be allowed under their rules, even though Yellow/Black plates were converted to Black/Yellow in 1963.

If anyone has really done this. Stood in line. Talked to a live DMV clerk. Paid money and obtained a transfer and authorization I would really appreciate your insight before I head into what appears as a simple process, but is more likely a bureaucratic nightmare. Can you tell I am skeptical...

Thanks - Dean
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by Steve Simmons »

I've done it three times. It's a piece of cake. The plates have to be from the year of the car, so you cannot use black plates on a pre-1962 car. Currently black plates are not included int he YOM program but even if they were, you would not be able to do it unless you could convince them it was a 1962 or later car and register it as such.

To get orange plates assigned to the car, you will need a pair of them in good condition, technically unrestored although they are probably lenient on this if done so well that it's hard to tell from original. You will also need an original sticker in good condition for the year of the car, applied to the plate. You can find these on eBay and other places but they are getting more and more expensive. I think I have a 1960 sticker in mint condition somewhere, so if you need it let me know.

When you go to the DMV, you only need to bring the plates, title and registration. You will fill out one form and hand everything to the clerk. They will make a photocopy of the plates which will be sent with the paperwork to Sacramento for approval. Assuming the numbers on the plate are clear in the DMV computers and the car's registration is in order, there should be no problem getting the plates approved. Once this happens, you are given a new title and registration.

Now technically you are supposed to mount the plate with the 1960 sticker on the rear of the car, plus two little auxiliary tags with the month and current year sticker on them. These tags look horrible. There is nothing on the title or registration that says the plates were assigned through the YOM program so I don't know why you are supposed to display the 1960 sticker. If the plates were on the car since new, you would be stacking stickers on top of each other, not keeping the first one visible and placing the new one on a separate mount. For this reason I.. I mean a friend of mine just puts the current year sticker right on the plate as if the plate was always there. I can't figure out why they say to do it differently for YOM versus the plate always having been there. Since "my friend" never runs front plates anyway, he keeps the plate with the sticker on his garage wall and uses the plate without an original sticker for the car, with the current year stuck to it.
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by TEAM ROSBIF »

Just so you know, in June they are extending the YOM plates to 1968, for Californian vehicles, the Alfa Romeo club pushed a bill through in Sacramento. I bought some cleared black plates and a perfect 1966 sticker for the E Type, it will get transfered then. The plates on there now are contemporary california plates issued when it was brought in from New Mexico.
cheers

Mark
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by Steve Simmons »

I have a set of black plates waiting as well. I grabbed them shortly after I first heard about this bill being proposed a couple years ago. There was a brief thread on it here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=339

My '65 has its original black plates, but I'm hoping to assign my extra set to my '67. No one will mistake it for an original since the car is RHD!
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by spitfire »

Well its a good thing both blue plates came with the MG I just picked up then. I didn't realize I would have been out of luck.
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by Steve Simmons »

Was the car registered as the guy claimed? Hopefully it's at least current enough that the plates are still good, because otherwise it's a huge hassle and you would never be able to use the blue plates, assuming you wanted to.
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by spitfire »

The plates are listed in the registration and the title. When I checked the DMV site to calculate the fees for registration the plates were listed with them. So I feel it should happen I would like to keep the plates I like the number.
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by caliwagon »

TEAM ROSBIF wrote:Just so you know, in June they are extending the YOM plates to 1968, for Californian vehicles, the Alfa Romeo club pushed a bill through in Sacramento. I bought some cleared black plates and a perfect 1966 sticker for the E Type, it will get transfered then. The plates on there now are contemporary california plates issued when it was brought in from New Mexico.
cheers

Mark
I'm just not sure how I feel about this, but I guess that's because I have a black plate car, with the original plates. It's nice to know that a black plate car is a genuine California car--that is precisely what has made black plates so special. But with this no longer true, will the only thing that makes black plates special be the fact that, well, they're black? Lame.
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HealeyBN7
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Excellent - You guys are amazing. Now I just need to part with some cash and secure a set of plates. I wonder how dear they are? It is too bad that you need to have two plates, as I have a wonderful yellow/back plate that was used on my father's first car.

I too have mixed feelings about YOM as I have real black plates on the Healey. Of course on that car we can prove that it has been in California, and it has the full stack of registration stickers piled a half inch off the plate. The previous owner never pealed off the old stickers and for the past 10 plus years I continued the tradition. Pretty soon I will need to adjust where I park in the garage in order to get the door to close.

Dean
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by Steve Simmons »

I feel the same way, having a real black plate car. But I see the other side of the coin as well, with all those classics running around with white plates. I was very happy to get orange plates on my MGA even though it was not originally from California. People with 60's classics will no doubt feel the same way when they get black plates on their cars. Like you, Dean, I can prove my car's heritage by the stack of paperwork. It's always been in the family. Not that I plan to ever sell it or anything.
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Re: YOM DMV - Insight Requested

Post by Larry Kluss »

This thread is very interesting and educational. I'm fortunate to have the original black plates on my '68 E-type and blue plates on my '74 Nova. I have white plates on the '67 MGB because of title/smog/not-running issues when I bought it in '81. But it is an original black plate car and I have the one original plate that came with the car. Sadly, by the comments in this thread, it sounds like I won't be able to use it again.
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