You know it’s been on the road a long time…..

[SanJosesSteve]

…….. when your stack of registration stickers is this thick. 1959 GMC. I think California did away with the original yellow license plates in 1962. Might be 65 tags in that stack! -SF

[KQQL IT]

Originally Posted by SanJosesSteve

…….. when your stack of registration stickers is this thick. 1959 GMC. I think California did away with the original yellow license plates in 1962. Might be 65 tags in that stack! -SF

Paid more for tags than they did for the truck.

[MikeB]

Nice truck! Where in San Jose do you live? Back in the mid 70s, we bought a new house on the southeast side of town near Taffy Dr. and Peppermint Dr. We paid mid-$30K for it and sold it for $55K only 2-1/2 years later.

I see where it's now worth $1.3 million, and it's just a 1,200 sq ft starter home! Might have been a good investment, but we needed the equity to buy a house in AZ where my job took us to.

[SanJosesSteve]

I’m in Nagle Park, but my wife grew up on Quimby, very near your old place. Sadly, nothing with a 2 car garage in SJ is under $1.2M

My Grandfather bought his truck new in 59. Cheapest one on the lot. No cigarette lighter, no arm rests and not even a heater. I bet it was under $2K. So yes, the cost of the registration stickers probably have cost more than the truck! I very likely spent over 5X the original purchase price just to rebuild the 270 in it last year. I buried that receipt as soon as I got it to preserve my marriage! Ha!

[KQQL IT]

Originally Posted by SanJosesSteve

I’m in Nagle Park, but my wife grew up on Quimby, very near your old place. Sadly, nothing with a 2 car garage in SJ is under $1.2M

My Grandfather bought his truck new in 59. Cheapest one on the lot. No cigarette lighter, no arm rests and not even a heater. I bet it was under $2K. So yes, the cost of the registration stickers probably have cost more than the truck! I very likely spent over 5X the original purchase price just to rebuild the 270 in it last year. I buried that receipt as soon as I got it to preserve my marriage! Ha!

Great truck to have.

[dave6672]

That's neat, and neat truck!

[70STOVEBOLT]

How many years can you use the same plate in CA???!!! Holy ****e!

[Steeveedee]

The state used to change plate characteristics every 7 years, but some time in the '70s ('77?) when they went to white reflective plates they let all the older ones be, instead of recalling them all for new plates like they used to do.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by 70STOVEBOLT

How many years can you use the same plate in CA???

Good question. Can you simply get a new sticker for them? Or were the metal plates stamped with a year?

In Texas, we have been using stickers since 1975, but before that we got new metal plates every year. We certainly kept those prisoners busy!

My truck recently got a pair of stamped 1969 metal plates that had never been issued. $80 for the plates plus a trip to the DMV, and I'm back in the 60s!

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by 70STOVEBOLT

How many years can you use the same plate in CA???!!! Holy ****e!

Normally the plates issued stay with the vehicle for life of the plate (not wrecked, stolen, etc.) up until 1969 which I believe was the last year of the original black plates. A few years ago, they brought back the black plates for an added fee, you see brand new cars with black plates. But Kalifornia also has a "Year of Manufacture" plate program that you can have old plates, (you must have both) assigned to your vehicle; once the DMV clears/certifies the particular letter/number has not been reissued, and the era of the plate fits the vehicle licensing at the time of manufacture.

I have a set of 1940's on my 40 Coupe.

[54blackhornet]

Steve thanks for posting something we can discuss other than how to fix something ! I have a license plate on my wife’s Subaru that goes all the way back to the early 90’s. The yearly stickers are about a inch thick now.

[SanJosesSteve]

Once I get the truck painted, I’m going to have some reproduction license plates made to match and start a new sticker stack. See if Law Enforcement ever notices the aluminum black repo plates.

To further muck up the water, I keep 2 registration cards in the glovebox. A current one and the one when from when my Grandfather last drove it in 1988. That one is laminated and adhered to the inside of the glovebox door.

[MikeB]

Why do you guys stack the stickers? Is it the law?

[zicc1835]

Originally Posted by Sheepdip

Normally the plates issued stay with the vehicle for life of the plate (not wrecked, stolen, etc.) up until 1969 which I believe was the last year of the original black plates. A few years ago, they brought back the black plates for an added fee, you see brand new cars with black plates. But Kalifornia also has a "Year of Manufacture" plate program that you can have old plates, (you must have both) assigned to your vehicle; once the DMV clears/certifies the particular letter/number has not been reissued, and the era of the plate fits the vehicle licensing at the time of manufacture.

I have a set of 1940's on my 40 Coupe.

where can I see more pictures of your coupe ......that is a beauty

[KQQL IT]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Why do you guys stack the stickers? Is it the law?

Technically illegal.
However nobody cares, you know who lives in a bad neighborhood when they razor blade an X in the keep from being stolen.

Per dmv

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) recommends removing expired registration stickers before applying new ones

[BRL]

Originally Posted by KQQL IT

Technically illegal.
However nobody cares, you know who lives in a bad neighborhood when they razor blade an X in the keep from being stolen.

Per dmv

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) recommends removing expired registration stickers before applying new ones

Yep, a policeman recommended stripping away the old stickers every year and then adding a couple vertical slits so that if someone tries to peel it off it will hopefully break up and become useless.
Been doing that for about 30 years now.

Peace of mind.

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by 70STOVEBOLT

How many years can you use the same plate in CA???!!! Holy ****e!

The plate stays with the vehicle in CA. So, potentially, the plate can be used until the car or truck is totaled, salvaged, or whatever other issue takes it off the road permanently.

[KQQL IT]

Since 63 they've stayed with the truck.
Truck probably came with yellow with black characters in 63 everything went to black w yellow characters.

[MikeB]

Got to thinking about it, and found this photo from around 1970. The plates were yellow on a blue background.

Wish I still had that Nova! It had the basic 255hp/350, Saginaw 4-speed, no power anything, no A/C. I added a Motorola AM/FM stereo and Firestone radials.

[KQQL IT]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Got to thinking about it, and found this photo from around 1970. The plates were yellow on a blue background.

Wish I still had that Nova! It had the basic 255hp/350, Saginaw 4-speed, no power anything, no A/C. I added a Motorola AM/FM stereo and Firestone radials.

Depends on location on the sequence. But generally 69 was the end of black plates with a Z character.
Friends 69 camaro in YTN xxx
And from ive read on the forum mid 71 in trucks ending In xx xxx J

[Steeveedee]

There were also '71 vehicles from small towns that had black/yellow plates due to low registration rates. Those DMV offices just used them until they ran out. Rare, to say the least.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

There were also '71 vehicles from small towns that had black/yellow plates due to low registration rates. Those DMV offices just used them until they ran out. Rare, to say the least.

Yep. My '72 K20 was built in August 1971 and came with black/yellow plates. They're still on the truck.