? California Plates - 1967 corresponding letters ?

[CNorton]

I will see that car again, I am sure. It was driven to the show. I can not say 100% it had current stickers. It is possible the owner just puts the plates on for shows. It is also posible they are original depending in which county the car was first registered. Read my post #3 above. The plates were not issued in sequential order.

Based on almost 50 years of casual observation it's my opinion that an "E?? " California black plate for a 1967 car is a real stretch for originality.  As we geezers are wont to say, "Back in the day....," I had a '62 Ford Galaxie 406 that was sold new in Los Angeles County that carried plate #FHA-0--.  My point is that, county of origin notwithstanding, to have an "E" plate on a car that was not manufactured until approximately 5 years after that would be beyond extraordinary.  I understand that anything can happen and that truth is stranger than fiction.  This particular plate number is a million-to-one shot on a '67 Camaro. 

c

[genminmar]

GaryL , I can understand that logic in as far as a possilble sale of a car in a county like Modoc in northeastern California and where maybe the car dealer is a small one and in that day they were selling 12 cars a month, so realistically the DMV in that county may have been sitting on older stock with earlier alpha prefixes. If and when you see the car again get down to particulars and see if the POP is with the car and find out which dealer it was sold from. My Nov. 66 car was first registered in L.A. county with high numbers of sales and my Oct. 66 car was first registered in Tulare county with low sales numbers. For being six weeks apart in build dates they are certainly following a pattern. As for getting a set of plates I can understand your concerns for aligning a build date to the three prefix letters and at the prices they are getting for them you do not want to pay and then find out that the possibility of being correct for the period is not working out. Kind of like a manifold date that follows the engine block VIN portion by four weeks. Keep studying and keep us posted when you see that ECS car again ... good luck genminmar

[genminmar]

Backing up  CNorton "The Veteran" on his comment and an explanation as to why. And this goes for any research you may be doing if you are going to try and apply the older black plates to a car between 1962 and 1970. You have to get it in the right window. CNorton was saying that an ECSxxx for a 67 year car is a real stretch for the sequential order. This will answer his reasoning. #1 There were a lot of cars in California in 1962. In this year they changed from yellow plates to black plates and in order for all the non commercial cars to be outfitted with black plates. For what ever was on the road plus all the new ones being sold, they had to start at AAA 001 and it ate up a lot of letters and numbers in the sequential format. #2 They then had to continue each year 63", 64", 65", 66", and to 67" with all the new cars and whatever was transferred into the state from elsewhere.  As for some of the few that have been presented in this topic we can see that a 67" car could possibly be in the area of maybe RAAxxx and forward. It appears that the earliest car in the topic is a 66 build with the SWUxxx plate. We could use more input from others with 64", 65", 66", cars, they do not have to be Camaro's.......Do not put the plates on and pay the big money unless you have got the letters and numbers close enough to work. There are hounds out there that will gladly take the money! And there will always be the wiseacre that will spot it and let you know you have egg on your face.

[GaryL]

..........Do not put the plates on and pay the big money unless you have got the letters and numbers close enough to work. There are hounds out there that will gladly take the money! And there will always be the wiseacre that will spot it and let you know you have egg on your face.

That has nothing to do with the YOM code. All you need is a plate with a "correct year sticker" to get it on the car. DMV does not keep track on what is the "correct" sequence. You can buy repro stickers for any year from plate dealers or from ebay. If that ECSXXX plate was never on that car originally, he can get it on legally starting July 2009.

[genminmar]

Thanks GaryL   Veteran,,    Yes that is true that In July 2009 it will be legal to apply black plates to any car that was built between 1962 and 1970, correct me if I am wrong on the years. No problem, a lot of people are going to do it. My point is, that getting a set of plates being close to the date of build is a task if you want to be "Correct" or "Near Correct". And some purist out there will snicker knowing all the facts and criteria. He may belittle you at the next place you show up with the car. It just happens that for at least twenty plus years now, through, Hemmings, (where I first noticed), auto traders magazines, Barret-Jackson Auction and on e-bay, people are relying heavily on advertising these vehicles as "California Black Plate Cars".  I guy will drop down an extra few dollars just to have this. Years back a guy I know was dealing on a car in Oaklahoma . When he run those plates through DMV, they told him they were from another vehicle. Bottom line is, some people will want to be spot on, when trying to put a black plate on. This by being close to letter order and build date. Others do not care, they just want a "California Black Plate Car". And then there is the scalper who will take advantage of the upcoming  law and put the plates on a vehicle he buys in Minnesota and then resell it as a bonafied "California Black Plate Car" and get the big bucks and the new owner will have to find out sooner or later he got Boned!  Anyhow it will become a hot topic after July rolls around,  good luck!    genminmar

[KurtS]

He could also have bought the plates and then got a custom plate of ECSxxx. Set those aside and run the black plates.
Not quite legal, but it's been done and who would ever notice.

I've never seen a 67 with anything even close to an E plate - I doubt they are originals.

[GaryL]

I will back to you with his story after the next time I see the car.