Vehicle registration plates
- Thread starter 40fordpu
- Start date
blucar
Well-known member
If you are talking about California, '40 CA plates were yellow with black letters, the corners are very round in lieu of square like the '31-39 and '56, later.
The only way you can have a black/yellow plate on a car in CA is if the car was registered in CA prior to '73 with a black plate, that being when the blue/yellow plate came out. The registration would have to have been kept current or been on a non-op.
A black plate can be registered to a car in CA as a Year of Manufacture (YOM) however, the year of the vehicle has to be consistent with the years that the black plates were in use, 1963-73 and the validation stickers have to be the same year as the car the plate is being used on.. e.g. '66 Chevy, black plate with '66 stickers.
If you purchase a vehicle in CA that has black plates, the DMV will try to take them away from you, the clerks are instructed to do so. You might have to dig your heals in and resist the clerk, asking for a supervisor. If the registration fees have expired you are out of luck... A friend of mine just went through this on a '56 Ford.
I had a problem with my '36 Ford a couple of years ago, I have owned the car over 56 years... I had the car on a non-op and decided to renew the registration. Through a mistake the non-op had lapsed. The DMV wanted to take my black CA plates which have been on the car since 1963. The car has a '56 CA title.. I resisted... very strongly... To make a long story short, I took the CA validated registration cards from 1956 to 1998 and the non-op certificates into the DMV along with the Idaho Bill of Sale dated 1952, to prove I had owned the car since 1952.. I got to keep my black plates.
The only way you can have a black/yellow plate on a car in CA is if the car was registered in CA prior to '73 with a black plate, that being when the blue/yellow plate came out. The registration would have to have been kept current or been on a non-op.
A black plate can be registered to a car in CA as a Year of Manufacture (YOM) however, the year of the vehicle has to be consistent with the years that the black plates were in use, 1963-73 and the validation stickers have to be the same year as the car the plate is being used on.. e.g. '66 Chevy, black plate with '66 stickers.
If you purchase a vehicle in CA that has black plates, the DMV will try to take them away from you, the clerks are instructed to do so. You might have to dig your heals in and resist the clerk, asking for a supervisor. If the registration fees have expired you are out of luck... A friend of mine just went through this on a '56 Ford.
I had a problem with my '36 Ford a couple of years ago, I have owned the car over 56 years... I had the car on a non-op and decided to renew the registration. Through a mistake the non-op had lapsed. The DMV wanted to take my black CA plates which have been on the car since 1963. The car has a '56 CA title.. I resisted... very strongly... To make a long story short, I took the CA validated registration cards from 1956 to 1998 and the non-op certificates into the DMV along with the Idaho Bill of Sale dated 1952, to prove I had owned the car since 1952.. I got to keep my black plates.
OLD...BILL
Well-known member
Hay 40; Google lic plates, old lic plates, or collecting lic plates, you will find a load of info.
look at all of them, some you bid for but watch it for a while, and find someone here in California, my guy here Ventura I'll find his address for you, if you find a set of plates, DON'T REPAINT EM, and you will need a clear DMV number, good information on Google ............OLD....BILL
look at all of them, some you bid for but watch it for a while, and find someone here in California, my guy here Ventura I'll find his address for you, if you find a set of plates, DON'T REPAINT EM, and you will need a clear DMV number, good information on Google ............OLD....BILL
blucar
Well-known member
I have seen several blue/yellow CA plate painted black/yellow... The number sequence gives them away, black plates had the letters first, them numbers. Blue plates have numbers first, them letters.
If a person is thinking about a color change on a CA plate, you should get them registered to your vehicle before you repaint them.
Of course the original question was about a plate for a '40 model car... The '40 CA plate is yellow with black letters.... A good set of '40 CA plates will set a person back about $350.
I found a set of '40's that had the same number sequence as the CA '39 plates on my '39 conv cpe.
If a person is thinking about a color change on a CA plate, you should get them registered to your vehicle before you repaint them.
Of course the original question was about a plate for a '40 model car... The '40 CA plate is yellow with black letters.... A good set of '40 CA plates will set a person back about $350.
I found a set of '40's that had the same number sequence as the CA '39 plates on my '39 conv cpe.
Charlie Stephens
Well-known member
Look for license plate collector clubs. I purchased one for my '31 Model A at less than the price in the old car market from a plate collector.
Charlie Stephens
Charlie Stephens
blucar
Well-known member
Generally speaking, if the fees and/or non-op is not kept up to date, the plates and vehicle "fall out of the DMV system in seven years", however, there are variations to this rule. If the vehicle was reported as stolen or had a lien recorded against it, the numbers stay in the "system" until the vehicle is recovered.
If a vehicle is purchased with black/yellow CA plates, and the registration is current, the purchaser can retain the plates, it does not matter what year vehicle they are on.
To register a black CA plate to a car that the plate does not belong to requires that the plate be a YOM, Year of Manufacture of the vehicle, and the plate must have the correct DMV sticker... e.g. '63 car, '63 sticker..
As I wrote earlier, if you can't prove to the DMV that you owned the plates prior to your attempt to re-register them, the plates become wall hangers.
If a vehicle is purchased with black/yellow CA plates, and the registration is current, the purchaser can retain the plates, it does not matter what year vehicle they are on.
To register a black CA plate to a car that the plate does not belong to requires that the plate be a YOM, Year of Manufacture of the vehicle, and the plate must have the correct DMV sticker... e.g. '63 car, '63 sticker..
As I wrote earlier, if you can't prove to the DMV that you owned the plates prior to your attempt to re-register them, the plates become wall hangers.