1972 california commercial license plate.

[desert-rat]

So for us Californians trucks are registered as commercial and have different plates.
For a passenger vehicle in '72, the format would be
123 ABC. My '72 C10 format is 1A12345 on blue plates. My question is, is that the correct format for a '72 truck??
I tried researching DMV and on line. Can't find anything. How far back did commercial plates for pick up trucks go? I know that the letter can be elsewhere instead of the second character on the plate.

[Steeveedee]

They were ##_###_ 'Letter' where _ is a space. Black with yellow letters from '63 to '70, and blue with yellow letters for yours. I don't recall what format the plates were prior to '63, but there were indeed commercial plates before then. I do know that '55 to '62 plates were yellow with black characters. Is your license plate white? I'm not familiar with the car/truck format for those.

[KQQL IT]

Pop moved here in june 71
It was xx219 J when they re-registered it.
I've yet to find a pic of the entire sequence.

Black plate yellow character

['68OrangeSunshine]

The original Cal plates on my '68 C/10 Stepside [bought 6/73] were Black w/ Yellow digits:

10 566 A

Note the spacing.
When I registered the truck in Arizona in 1974, I had to surrender the Cal plates to the MVD, who returned them to the DMV.
[By military regulations, my vehicle registration had to match my drivers license by state]
I might have a '50s Cal commercial plate in my garage. It's Yellow w/ Black digits.
I'll look later.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by KQQL IT

Pop moved here in june 71
It was xx219 J when they re-registered it.
I've yet to find a pic of the entire sequence.

Black plate yellow character

The black with yellow commercial plates were used until the local DMV offices ran out. Small towns could have had a lot of them in stock.

[Smitty]

My ‘71 is an original San Diego truck with black and yellow.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

The original Cal plates on my '68 C/10 Stepside [bought 6/73] were Black w/ Yellow digits:

10 566 A

Note the spacing.

That's the exact format of the original California plates on my '72 (Fremont) K20, including the colors. They are still on the truck.

[FirstOwner69]

I'm not sure if adds anything to this thread, but here is a picture of the plates that were issued in Orange County for my new '69 truck purchased and registered the last week of November, 1969.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by Stocker

That's the exact format of the original California plates on my '72 (Fremont) K20, including the colors. They are still on the truck.

Case in point, though I'm kind of surprised that the black/yellow plates were still being used in '72. Given the strange things we see from year to year with our trucks, I shouldn't be surprised, I guess.

[HotWheelsFan]

I had a 74 truck in Ca. it had blue with yellow letters/numbers and plate was 1L26450, or close to it.

Bob

[KQQL IT]

If you're purchasing plates check for back registration fees prior to purchase.

I bought this pair. And they have 547 in fees to re-register.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbo...icense-plates/

[PbFut]

In California a c10 does not require a commercial plate. All c20 require commercial unless a permanent camper was mounted. If a c10 has commercial plates it is because the truck was likely registered in a corporate name and used as a commercial vehicle. If you have a c10 registered as commercial you can save a few bucks a year by changing to private.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by PbFut

In California a c10 does not require a commercial plate. All c20 require commercial unless a permanent camper was mounted. If a c10 has commercial plates it is because the truck was likely registered in a corporate name and used as a commercial vehicle. If you have a c10 registered as commercial you can save a few bucks a year by changing to private.

It's always been my understanding that California requires commercial plates for all pickups (including my wife's Tacoma) unless the bed is covered at all times.
For instance, if your truck has a tonneau cover or a camper shell, you can get non-commercial plates.

[pjmoreland]

The CA title on my C/10 says COMMERCIAL on it. For some reason, it's got blue & yellow plates. My assumption is that it spent the first few years as a government vehicle (CalTrans), in which case it would have had exempt plates that were then replaced with regular plates when it was sold off. My blue & yellow plates are 66 069 L. From what I've found, the L series is from approximately 1972.

[KQQL IT]

Originally Posted by PbFut

In California a c10 does not require a commercial plate. All c20 require commercial unless a permanent camper was mounted. If a c10 has commercial plates it is because the truck was likely registered in a corporate name and used as a commercial vehicle. If you have a c10 registered as commercial you can save a few bucks a year by changing to private.

No, that's incorrect. My gmc sonoma is commercial.
Camper shell or bed cover can get car tags with hoops to jump thru

[Steeveedee]

Even a Chevy Vega Panel "truck" has to have commercial plates. I bought one, and if I had known before I went to the DMV, I'd've popped the panels and put in some windows that I had. My 3/4T truck is registered as a "housecar", so has non-commercial plates. This required bed(s) and a toilet, as a minimum, as well as a "permanent" camper shell- bolted on, as opposed to easily removed with camper jacks.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

My blue & yellow plates are 66 069 L. From what I've found, the L series is from approximately 1972.

That's something I never thought about. FWIW, my '72 K20 ends with J.

Also FWIW -- mine is an early '72, built in August 1971. No idea when it was sold and first licensed, though.

[Steeveedee]

Plates are distributed across the state to DMV offices, so it could be tough to tell what year a plate got matched with a truck.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

Plates are distributed across the state to DMV offices, so it could be tough to tell what year a plate got matched with a truck.

Definitely a lot of variation out there. Here are some commercial plates I found on Craigslist.

[desert-rat]

I bought my '87 G20 van from my neighbor after he was using it for landscaping and it had commercial plates, one letter and rest numbers. It now has regular passenger vehicle plates 1ABC123 but the DMV said had to mount at least one seat and belt in the back for passenger plates. It has a folding rear bench now that folds flat. DMV had to inspect it in order to change registration and plates over to non commercial.

[desert-rat]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Definitely a lot of variation out there. Here are some commercial plates I found on Craigslist.

Yup, one letter plates are commercial.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Definitely a lot of variation out there. Here are some commercial plates I found on Craigslist.

Hah! I saw that Dodge van on there just yesterday!

[Chevyland]

Typically (not always) 72 trucks came with
Blue and yellow plates
The last digit was K L M N O, sometimes P
71 trucks (usually ) would have ended H I J
73 ended in P or above

Much of this depended what county the truck was originally registered in
I've had 72 trucks registered in a rural counties
That had Black and yellow plates ending in J
(Most likely because that DMV office didn't use up their commercial plates as fast as a DMV in a populated county would)
Hence, why most 72's came with BLUE and ended with K or greater

[PbFut]

Originally Posted by KQQL IT

No, that's incorrect. My gmc sonoma is commercial.
Camper shell or bed cover can get car tags with hoops to jump thru

Interesting. The emissions rules do not corrolate to the licensing rules. I incorrectly applied emissions logic to the plates as well.

[KQQL IT]

Originally Posted by Chevyland

Typically (not always) 72 trucks came with
Blue and yellow plates
The last digit was K L M N O, sometimes P
71 trucks (usually ) would have ended H I J
73 ended in P or above

Much of this depended what county the truck was originally registered in
I've had 72 trucks registered in a rural counties
That had Black and yellow plates ending in J
(Most likely because that DMV office didn't use up their commercial plates as fast as a DMV in a populated county would)
Hence, why most 72's came with BLUE and ended with K or greater

Solid information.

I've always figured dad didn't re register the 68 until he had to. Hence the black J plate on it.
I finally quit looking for a pair and got a personalized black plate.
Also seems like for hire commercial trucks. Began with a single letter where a pickup ends with a letter.