using old yellow on black California plates

Hi-I have a clean yellow on black California plate that I want to register and use on my IM Speedster. I was told that the only way, for now, is to order a personalized plate with the same letter/number setup and just switch them, carrying the new ones in the car. This concerns me, driving around Huntington and Newport Beach police...Thanks for any tips you guys might have. Brian

Brian -
I've been on the road all over Southern California for almost a year now with repro plates from EuroSign.
I ordered the Environmental Plate "SPDST" in white and ordered the same configuration in yellow-on-black from EuroSign. I put the stickers on the black plate, mounted it on the car and put the white plates in the trunk - just in case. So far, so good.
I'm not wearing a front plate, either, which is definitely violating the "letter of the law." I figure what I'm doing with the repro plate is at worst a violation of the "spirit of the law."
A fine point to be sure, but one I believe most officers could appreciate - given how cool the car looks.

Thanks alot John. I just checked out their site. Guess I'll have my friend in Nevada order and receive them. Looks like EuroSign has a strict policy regarding California plates.

I ordered YOM (black on yellow) plates. They made the YOM year 56, should have been 57. Trying to get them to remake it, their mistake. Hopeful the NorCal police and Norcal Hywypatrol are as forgiving. Mine reads "ZACK 356", I think has an extra letter from the original plates. Not sure if letters were before numbers.

David

Brian, I'm doing the same thing as John is doing with my rear plate saying CARUMBA, and no front plate. So far so good. Eddie

Note to David Louie - all CA black-on-yellow plates came stamped with the year "56" on them. In each of the six years that followed, California issued new metal year tags (57-62) that were bolted over the 56.
So, if you order a repro plate from EuroSign, it will come with the year 56 stamped on it, which is correct for the black-on-yellow plates. Now, if you could just find a 57 year-tab, you'd be all set.

OH! Didn't know that. Thanks John.

David

Eddie, the maximum number of characters during black plate production was 6. Your "CARUMBA" will set off any smarter policeman if you have it reproduced in the black w/yellow letters format. It wasn't until the production of blue w/yellow letters that California could manufacture a plate with 7 characters.

For everyone, there is a great authoritive site on California license plates including their history and what would work today. It is www.calpl8s.com

Joe, thanks for the info. Eddie

According to that site, the yellow-on-black plates would be wrong for '50s Speedsters. They were used from 1963-69. You'd want black-on-yellow, 1956-62.

John at JPS suggested I use YOM (yellow on black) plates, when I told him I was planning to buy black on yellow plates.

My choice for yellow on black was purely cosmetic. I knew it was for the wrong years, but on my black car it looks best in my opinion. It also has too many letters to be correct, and those years didn't offer custom plates anyway. So I did what I thought looked best. Eddie

Hope the police don'T read this cal plate website, as it states
that California didn't offer a personal or "vanity" plate untill
1970. Could raise a red flag to a cop on the ball!

Chances are the cops won't see my boogus plate until after they stop me for doing 70 threw a series of turns posted 35. Happy Motoring. Eddie

(Message Edited 5/29/2003 8:26:58 PM)