Black license plate

[72.4me]

Just sharing a cool picture of my license plates that have never been used.
I may put them on my 72...

[ETsC10]

WOW!

Those are beautiful!

[72.4me]

Thanks..I've seen used ones on flea bay but never new ones..

[jayoldschool]

Are they truck plates or car plates? I can't remember the difference. I still have my Cali black plates that came on my 65 Impala. Can't bring myself to sell them...

[74baggedbug]

I came across these for my truck.. Even had the paper Inbetween the plates

[Nitis]

Nice score! Just got my dad his legacy plates they look cool too but not as cool as yours

[leddzepp]

Those are car plates. You won't be able to use them on a truck...but you can get big $$$ for them on eBay as they would apply to Chevelles, camaros, vettes, ...

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Those are car plates. You won't be able to use them on a truck...

Help me out here..... I thought one letter and five numbers means it's a truck plate. That's how it is on mine..... or maybe they have to be in a certain order?? Mine has 5 numbers followed by a letter.

[bpatrol]

I also don't think you can put 63 plates on a 72 . It has to be exact sale year. That's how it is in Texas and I believe caifornia is the same.
So cool for corvette owners.
good luck

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by Stocker

Help me out here..... I thought one letter + five numbers means it's a truck plate. That's how it is on mine..... or maybe they have to be in a certain order??

I thought they ended in a letter? All of mine have. They may be commercial plates after all but when I checked into it you had to use blue plates for trucks after 1970. You also need to have the correct sticker. It is best to check with the DMV and see what they say. Don't assume anything. Six different people will tell you six different things

[68bowtie]

those are gorgeous!! they are truck plates. but dmv only lets you use them if they are matching year of manufacturer (YOM). those should be around 1963 since they start with A. there's a really good thread on here with lots of good info.

[68bowtie]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

I thought they ended in a letter? All of mine have. They may be commercial plates after all but when I checked into it you had to use blue plates for trucks after 1970. You also need to have the correct sticker. It is best to check with the DMV and see what they say. Don't assume anything. Six different people will tell you six different things

the truck plates started with A and went thru Z. then around 1967 switched to one letter at the end, starting with A and so on... your trucks are prob 68+.

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

the truck plates started with A and went thru Z. then around 1967 switched to one letter at the end, starting with A and so on... your trucks are prob 68+.

I agree. Also, the black car plates were three letters followed by three numbers.

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

the truck plates started with A and went thru Z. then around 1967 switched to one letter at the end, starting with A and so on... your trucks are prob 68+.

Ahhhh...now I remember. And yes my trucks have been 68+, my current 68 ends in A and my 72 ends in K. I agree they are gorgeous plates and worth big $$ to the owner of the correct year truck they can be used on.

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

the truck plates started with A and went thru Z. then around 1967 switched to one letter at the end, starting with A and so on... your trucks are prob 68+.

I generally agree with this, but there are a few oddities I've noticed. New '63 trucks with new black plates usually start with M at the beginning of the sequence. A thru L beginning sequence black plates seem to be on older pre '63 trucks that were issued newer plates or used trucks issued new plates if they were lost etc. W was the last letter used on commercial trucks. I never seen a X, Y or Z. Around 1968, the letter A was introduced on black plates, this time at the end of the sequence. 1971 was the last year of the black plates on commercial trucks, at this time it ended with H. 1972 was the first year of blue plates on commercial trucks, and they ended in K. There will be some deviations on some year model trucks due to being sold very early or very late in the year.

[Gromit]

I can attest that the year digits stamped into the upper right corner of the plate in California do not necessarily correspond to the actual manufacturer year of the truck.

My truck is a 1970 but my plate is stamped with a mid to late 1960's number (sorry don't recall the exact year)

But my plate ends with the letter "G" and in California my truck at least was listed as a commercial vehicle..

I still have the original 1970 black & yellow plates - I think that yellow paint had ground glass in it to make it reflective - would love to have the actual recipe so I could make some touch-up paint...

Does a person have to go hold up a liquor store so he can get quick access to prison to learn about California license plate technology? :-)

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

when I checked into it you had to use blue plates for trucks after 1970.

Based on prior discussions, there was apparently a period of time when they used either blue or black plates -- maybe just using whatever was on hand until the black ones were all gone? At any rate, my '72 has always had black plates.

And yes, 6 people will give at least 6 different answers!

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by Stocker

Based on prior discussions, there was apparently a period of time when they used either blue or black plates -- maybe just using whatever was on hand until the black ones were all gone? At any rate, my '72 has always had black plates.

And yes, 6 people will give at least 6 different answers!

Yes I agree. Yours is the only 72 I've "seen" with original black plates. Every 71-older I've seen has had black plates. Factory stocks post explains the cross overs. If your truck still has the original plates issued 40-plus years ago then you just keep on renewing. If you are newly registering a truck with cleared OEM plates there is a lot of criteria to be met. I picked up a set of blue commercial plates at a yard sale, and when I called the DMV to see if they were cleared (out of the system) I was told they were, and also they could only be used on a 71-72 truck.

[Steve Hafner]

. . . .

Here's two more to think about !!!

. . . .

[yuccales]

That old Charger will be making it's last gas station stop real quick now!

[72.4me]

This pretty much answered most of my questions..I hope it's ok to post...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EARLY-1963-C...3D221907126609

[hooverfish]

EBAY also has published a 'guide' on this subject:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/DMV-Clear-Ca...0961771/g.html

[Mapearso]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Yes I agree. Yours is the only 72 I've "seen" with original black plates. Every 71-older I've seen has had black plates. Factory stocks post explains the cross overs. If your truck still has the original plates issued 40-plus years ago then you just keep on renewing. If you are newly registering a truck with cleared OEM plates there is a lot of criteria to be met. I picked up a set of blue commercial plates at a yard sale, and when I called the DMV to see if they were cleared (out of the system) I was told they were, and also they could only be used on a 71-72 truck.

My '72 has its original black commercial plates, sequence 62 345 G. But I know that some '72s came with the blue plates.

Just a guess, but I believe it may have had to with WHERE in CA the truck was originally registered??? Big cities may have churned thru the black plates faster while some places still had a stock of older plates.

I have definitely seen this with cars -- all my original, one-owner black plate 66s (2 chevelles, a GTO and a Skylark) were from LA and Orange County and had a sequence of Rxx 123 or Sxx 123. The 67s were Txx 123 and Uxx 123 and so on. But when I bought an original, one-owner 66 from up north in little Eureka, CA the plate was BXR 123....

[Mapearso]

Originally Posted by 72.4me

Just sharing a cool picture of my license plates that have never been used.
I may put them on my 72...

BTW -- Those are sweet!!

[72.4me]

Wow lots of good info..I'm leaning towards selling mine on ebay..I could use the $ on some needed parts...