Topic: California License Plate

[msoc28027]

Since I was originally from CA.  The black and yellow plates are as follows.  1965 could start with either P, Q or R then 1966 started with R, S or T then 1967 started with T, U or V and 1968 started with V, W or X then lastly 1969 st a rated with X, Y or Z.  Then in a 1970  California went to the blue with yellow letters and started with numb e rd instead of letters.
  Since I have owned and sold nearly 300 Mustangs through the years and kept most of the o
Original plates I learned a lot about them. I still have my original ones on my 1967 GT Fastback I bought back in 1981.  Since I now live in NC, I got personal plates here with the same numbers and have the CA Black and Yellow on the front and the NC one on the rear.

[J_Speegle]

Monroe since Calif is pretty large - what part of the state were you located. As mentioned it depended on the region office and how many registrations they went through in a period so specific first letters can vary a bit. Some of your letters do not include some that we have documented as originals (things like matching the original sales or owners manual for example). 

Did you happen to write the cars VIN on the license plates as a way to tie them to a specific time or maybe when and were they were first sold?  Without that its sort of a guess to match them up. For example a 67 left on the lot into 68 production would get a later license plate than an early 68 that came in and was sold quickly. Discussions earlier on other sites included DMV workers from the 60-70's which were helpful in explaining the whole allocation of plates to high volume and those other remove areas like behind the "redwood curtain" or the north east 

Examples - have even F and K's used on early 65 cars and have a number of N's and M's in later 65

Just saying have allot of documented ones that don't fit the pattern. The DMV people (ex employees) were allot of help explaining things 

[Josep]

Since Ralph is trying to get the original plates for his car, and this looks close to impossible to get, even that he has the title, maybe the best choice is to go to a repro shop http://www.american-number-plate.com/california-license-plate and get one with his preferences. Or go to eBay and try to find an original one the most accurate possible to the date of issue for his car. Assume, like me, that he just wants it for exhibition purposes, so any repro or original/close-to-date would fit.

(BTW, Fuel cap (65) has been removed and now has the correct one for 1966)

[Ralf]

Assume, like me, that he just wants it for exhibition purposes, so any repro or original/close-to-date would fit.

Exactly.

Here is mine I'm looking for to get an exact repro:

[Josep]

Ralph, check the website I posted before, they do repros. Thought these blue plates were introduced in the 70s.

[Ralf]

Ralph, check the website I posted before, they do repros. Thought these blue plates were introduced in the 70s.

Yes, right.
I did check it, but could not find the blues.

[Josep]

look for the:
California BLUE 1970-82 Metal from the list

[Josep]

 Can configure the text there

[Ralf]

Ahhhh....great, thx, might be that I need some glases ;-)

What about the year. I think I not gonna choose it. But will the plate than be flat in that area left and right, or is it "stamped/pressed" like the originals to put on the stickers there.

[Josep]

This is the one I ordered. Numbers are my today's legal plate, not the plate itself.
You can put a sticker on the right top corner, supplied by them as well.

[jwc66k]

The black and yellow plates are as follows.  1965 could start with either P, Q or R then 1966 started with R, S or T then 1967 started with T, U or V and 1968 started with V, W or X then lastly 1969 st a rated with X, Y or Z.   

My 65 GT Fastback has plates that start with "NIS". It was sold by a Ford dealer in Redwood City on 8-7-65 (I have the original dealer bill of sale) and the plates were issued on 8-27-65 (I have a copy of the original "pink slip") by the California DMV to the buyer. The "pink slip" includes a notation of the plates starting with "NIS".
There have been numerous write ups about what license plate number starting when and it is more complicated than your statement. In general, you are close but there is so much overlap in plates issued that no definitive statement will cover the variables.
Jim

[67gtasanjose]

This is the one I ordered. Numbers are my today's legal plate, not the plate itself.
You can put a sticker on the right top corner, supplied by them as well.

Your selection may very well suite your purposes I imagine, however in the actual usage of characters by the California DMV while using the black & gold plates on passenger cars (such as your 67 Mustang), there would typically only have been three letters followed by three numbers. (example ABC123), a total of ONLY 6 characters used. 
Later, when personalized plates became available (maybe somebody knows what time these plates became available, I do not), you could only use up to 7 characters and one half space. When I ordered a set of official (legal) personalized California license plates in 1984 for my 67 GTA, I was explained then the limits set up by the state. The list of choices or ideas I had come to the office with as options (I had 4 of them I recall, I wanted the year of my car, GT or GTA in some order or another, so people might quit asking me "What year is your Mustang?), all of the ideas I had were already taken at the time by somebody else. I found this out by looking through the "unavailable" catalog before filling out my application. I finally found one that wasn't taken and I purchased a set of the, then available  "Sunset" plates with 67GT4ME. I still have those plates and they are in good to very good condition.  Very much like your idea though, I ordered a set of reproduction plates in Black & Gold with the same characters previously used on my "street legal" personalized plates. Since these reproductions are for show purposes only, I do not intend to drive on them.

Keep in mind, license plates of any kind are not exactly "concours" in the state of California. New car owners left the dealership with a little piece of paper in the right front corner of the windshield, indicating to any police officer that the paperwork had been submitted (by the dealership) to the state. The plates arrived later.

[Ralf]

Found a shop. Asked them if they stamp in my original number. Waiting for answer. Cost $180 + $35 shipping + 25% tax and fees


Ralf

[C6ZZGT]

Washington state also has the same sort of overlap/before and after type of plate usage. King County --being the most populated,used the most plates,where some of the outlying smaller counties did not use as many. Counties also had prefixes assigned to them,check this out for a start  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Washington_(state)
Note the "wash 63" plates were used into 65 and some 66 depending on county.
We also now have the option of using YOM(year of manufacture) plates--since plates got replaced through the yrs (state used to mandate every 7 yrs) we can now find old plates and run them for a one time fee and NO annual fees.  http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/sprestored.html

[mustang6er]

I used this place out of florida with excellent results,(they are made out of aluminum) https://www.licenseplates.tv/antiquecollector.php
I dug up an old document regarding license plates in california, just a partial listing but it may help.