OK All -

IIRC - with some 60% of the total 914 production coming into the USA, & 40% of the total going into California ALONE for first sale new - & with more Cali 914s surviving due to the milder climate out here ... . . .... that's a big chunk of the 914s still around today!

There have been several posts with questions on how to (re-) register your 914 with expired reg. &/or old plates, etc.; as well as those who have somehow managed to hold onto their original issue plates & wondering if they can go back to them or keep them when registering their 914 for the road again.

Well, apparently Cal DMV & our illustrious Legislature have decided to clarify & expand a couple of programs for re-registering the original plates, as well as extending the date for the "Original Year of Manufacture" plates program to at least include those from 1969 build dates.

I too have an early 1973 MY 914-2.0 with its original plates, which has been out of registration & PNO for most of the time it's sat in my garage awaiting resto since 5/85 (no PNO since 12/92), so I went searching on the DMV website for more info., & found the following which may be helpful to the rest of you out there.

These are mostly hidden away in corners of the DMV website requiring some time searching, so hopefully I've saved you some time searching them out. If you've looked at them before, then please note that these were revised in mid & late 2009.

Got your old plates? ... bringing a former Cal 914 back? ... want to get repro Black & Gold plates for your 1969 Manufactured 914-6 or 914 (-4)? ... want to try out Historical Vehicle plates? ... read on & link out!

REASSIGNMENT OF OLD PLATES:
- NEW CHANGES ALLOW VEHICLES ON DATABASE TO GO BACK TO OLD PLATES:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vehindustry/vin_memo...009/09vin20.pdf

YEAR OF MANUFACTURE PLATE PROGRAM:
- ONLY UP TO 1969 my FOR AUTOS, BUT IN LATER YEARS THEY MAY EXTEND THIS FURTHER OUT AGAIN:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/lad/pdfs/yom/new_text.pdf
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vehindustry/vin_memo...009/09vin09.pdf

HISTORY OF CAL PLATES & DMV:
- FOR THOSE ASKING WHEN WHICH PLATES/COLORS & NUMBERING SYSTEMS CAME IN:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/plates/licenseplthistory.htm
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/profile/milestones.htm
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/profile/history.htm

HISTORICAL VEHICLE PLATES:
- ANOTHER OPTION FOR 914s TO THE CURRENT "WHITE PLATES":
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc5004.htm

DMV HOME PAGE:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/

Additionally, DMV has apparently expanded what their "Business Partners" (e.g.: AAA, dealers, etc.) can now do with these areas above, because before it changed at the end of 2009, AAA had told me they couldn't do these services, but apparently now can do at least some of them in some cases. So there may be an upside to DMV's cutbacks of service with the state's budget crisis!

Cheers!
Tom T
Orange CA
///////

great research Tom thanks for sharing

I really wish they would extend this to cover my model year '74. I'd really like to get a blue plate for my car. State is always looking for ways to make money, this wouldn't do it but it would help some. I troll ebay occaisionally in search of a nice set incase they open it up.

Kev

My dad has the yellow background black letter plates on his 57 t-bird. DMV gave him ZERO problems. Don't know about the blue ones.

Anyone want to buy a 57 Tbird?

I hate my NEW plates. My car is 4/70 so no luck for me.

Kev, if you know or can find out what the original plate # was (should be in the past reg. records or your paperwork), then you can petition under the first one posted - which has no year limits. However, the plate no. cannot be reassigned.

The recent change in 09 was that you can do it, even with the car registered with another plate (previously that stopped you from going back to the old plates)

Can't hurt to try on your 74!

Not so, see the first program & my reply to Kev.

Again, as I read the Reassignment of Old Plates option, you can petition for that if the original plate no. hasn't been reassigned to another vehicle. It sounds like they can reproduce the plates under the Original Year of Mfgr. program, so why not for this.

Ask DMV or at AAA.

Do you know which program he went under - Reassignment of Old (Original) Plates or Year of Manufacture?

BTW - since the latter only goes up to 69 (72 for trucks/comml' vehicles) - they were black with yellow lettering.

56 & 57 were the best Birds ever! The recent retros were nice modern renditions of them too, for those who want all the modern conveniences, but they could've used the hotter SVT or Cobra V-8's for a hot Luxe package.

Cheers!
Tom

He went with year, the plates were '56 and correct for the 57 year. He bought them at a swap meet, got lucky finding yellow plates, even has a 057 number on them!

Hell, that car has power windows and seats, with an autotuning radio! Very modern for an old car, adjustable steering wheel, and it's a frame up resto.

Yup - the Bird was the American Luxe sports car/cruiser of the day, while the Vettes were more non-nonsense ones, along with the Porsches & upper-end Austins, etc. Of course the Brit beasts didn't run without constant tinkering & a mechanic on retainer, & heaven forbid if you want to drive one at night - pray the lights work that time!

Well I suppose one could "source" a "new" set of old black/yellow or blue/yellow plates off the wall of those BBQ & other themed restaurants & pubs with plates on the walls!

good research tom, i had an experiance that may add some additional help

i went thru simular dmv battles in the early 90's. before the computor stored record days the files on non current cars were tossed after 3 years. this particular car hadn't been registered since 79'. they wanted me to register the "black plates" under Y.O.M. (year of manufacture) with an additional yearly fee. at the time smogs were required on pre 73's and it gave no exemption ect... just additional yearly cost on a car that i had proof the plates came origanally with. after pressing on they finally hooked me up with a special unit in sacramento that dealt with outside the box issues. bam, got someone with a full set of teeth it's done no problem. at least at that time they just wanted proof that linked the plates to the car, like a past registration.

DMV is the apitomy of government run business

by the way i'm a bit of a liscense plate nut so if your interested read on. california plates were yellow (49'? thru 61?), black (62? thru 69'-very few 70'), blue (70' thru 86'), white (87' on). you also can read roughly the year of the vehicle by looking at the number/letter order (only if they were origanally put on the car new in ca.). the black plates for example, "AAA111" would be the first and "999ZZZ" the last. my 67 is "TTY890". blue plates ran out of 6 digit sequences and added an extra # to the front around 81'. example "1AUU625".

hope i've encouraged C.W. liscense plate sickness

mike

Hell, i might even have the black yellow ones hanging up in my garage. A little bit of trivia on the Yellow/black writing ones, DMV pulled them all in about 63 and gave everyone the black/yellow ones. The yellow plates had the year stamped in them, and they wanted to switch to the stickers instead.

Mike, I recall all the changes, cuz my Grandparents came out here in 57 & had the old yellers on their 57 Ford & my Uncle on his 58 Vette, then they made them change to blackies when the changed to year stickers in 63 - as Underthetire was saying. We moved out in 63 so all ours were blackies up until my 73 914-2L.

Someone else on here awhile back was questioning the 7 digits on a 914 with blue/yellows, but that's exactly what they di was use a "1" in front up through the first years of the whites!

So I shouldn't have any trouble re-registering my blue plates?

Yup - I remember my uncle fought them for a year plus on his 58 Vette, then he took it off the road, & made it into a dragster & hung the yellows in their Santa Ana garage - may still be in there!

He held speed/time in class for several years at OC Raceway (next to former El Toro Marine Field), then he sold it & started on a Rail!

Come on Rob - you KNOW it's the MV & they LIVE for making the public's life difficult!

However, if that no. was on the car originally & hasn't been reassigned, then you should be able to use their process! ... as for "any trouble" - that depends on who you get at DMV, & - as Mike said - how many teeth they've got, or grey cells still active!

Tom,
From what I've read its not enough to know the original plate number, you have to actually have BOTH plates as well and the sticker. I've read on threads on other forums the DMV is very adept at spotting reproductions of plates as well as stickers. Fakes are immediately tossed out. I believe you have to surrender the plates and Year/Month sticker to the DMV. They review it make sure everything is in place then return them to you to use IF you meet all the requirements. They then send the old plates back for you to put on your car. On top of that you have to have your car registered as a "collector car" which means no modifications.
I'm boned.

Mike, mine was put in the garage on blocks in 5/85 & I kept it active registered through 89+/- until the next smog was due, then I went to PNO realizing that with 2 little ones the repair/resto was NOT in the near future, as I'd hoped.

DMV then failed to send me a PNO renewal in 92, which I din't catch until Dec. - but after the renewal date 12/26 with all the holidays hullaballoo. So I contacted them in Jan 93 & they blamed it on me, and wanted me to bring it back in for a fresh smog & & full registration - not PNO, plus wanted $1600+ in fees, penalties, late charges (bribes?) etc.!!!!

So since it hadn't run in 5 years at that point, & it was $5 vs. $1600 - I said screw it & let it sit. I won't give a run at re-registering it again, until I'm done with the repairs & resto!

Click to view attachment

on yearly reg. didn't they give yellow plates new year stamped corner pieces to bolt under the upper left corner?

extra trivia the sought after white "sunset plates" were the first 2 years only i believe

Kev - IIRC it says you don't surrender them unless they deny & issue new plates, & that the "Collector Car" is any over 25 years old by MY. You've got it made by both counts. Check your 914's records for the original plates, & see if it's not there on the old reg cards.

If not, then put in an Information Request form with DMV, where they'll pull the records as far back as they go on their database (for a fee of course). If it has changed plates but not fallen out of registration, then they may have it all the way back.

If you want the old blue plates back on it, then it's worth some time & effort & fees.

I had the sunset plates on my first new car I ever bought! An 86 Escort GT! I liked those. The new plates are so ugly. I don't know about the bolt on tags. I was born at the tail end of the black/yellow plates.

Don't recall the bolt on year pieces. IIRC - the original year was stamped in one corner, then you got a new sticker every year with payment of fees - but they couldn't tell which month - ergo the change to left month & right year renewal stickers.

I have the sunsets on my 85 BMW 325e 2dr. from new, & I think it was 87 that they switched to plain red block lettered California & our 88 Westy has that since new. They catually cover all that in the milestones & plate history links I listed above.

More Trivia - pre-DMV days (pre-1922??) had dark Red Plates (more like Burgundy), & we have a few old Model A's & T's around Orange with them!

I was 10 when we moved from Pittsburgh PA to San Diego in `63 - you're just trying to make us old farts feel old!

My first car in Fall 1969 - a 1968 Opel Kadette 2dr. 1.1L Sedan - had Blackies!

Click to view attachment

Clip from the DMV website you provided link to, note the last bullet...no go.

Additional details on definition of a "collector vehicle"

Click to view attachment

AA flares, big wheels...boned on count 2.

o.k. i stand corrected. the white sunsets started in 85' but i know they ran into 87 as i had a -shall i admit- 87 tempo with them

I'm not tryin at all. Figure you'd know it after wrenching on the 914 all day. I can remember my dad saying how sore he was in the morning and said he must have slept wrong. As a kid i thought how can you mess up sleeping? Now I know. Some comedian is telling that as a joke now, dam it.

I don't remember my 88 mustang GT convertible having the sunset plates.

Nope - changed the year before in 87, according to DMV site. We got our 88 Westy 4/16/88 with plain ole red block lettered "CALIFORNIA" at the top,as I'm sure your `Stang had.

1. Tell them it came with the flares & tires - like they' know the diff.!! And one could make the argument that it IS per the Porsche M471 spec, as that's what AA's are modeled after!

2. Find out the original number & create some or hunt them own ...... or maybe pay some old timer who made them at San Quentin back in the day to make you one!

Actually, it says that they are from the same type of vehicle (aiuto, truck or motorcycle) - NOT necessarily original to your 914, so maybe ANY blue plate set F&R will work. Underthetire said above that's what his Dad did with his 57 T-bird & just got a mtaching set at a swap meet.

Well, I certainly keep the folks making the generic Advil in business, between working on the cars, house & my old Rugby knees!

Mike - I think you had it right 84-87 with Sunsets!

That is the YOM program though and it only runs through MY '69 on cars, '72 for commercial trucks. This is the program I hope they will eventually open up for '74 because you can find plates on ebay to use for this program.

BTW, I'm not trying to be a PIA. Just that this has been debated here in threads in the past...i'm still not on the winning side of this arguement!

something i've heard and makes sense is the dmv issues the plates as they have them-until they are out. i've seen several 1970's cars with black plates? hey ever seen custom personalized black plates? i've talked to an owner of one. i believe he said they started in 69'.

As much as I would like to have period correct blue/yellow plates on my car, DMV is second only to the Post Office when it comes to employees who can barely remember their own name much less help people out (in my experience). It is like their people are recruited from a very special personality set....

UPDATE - Kev & All - I stand corrected on this program - it says you must meet ALL 4 bullets, so if you don't have your 914's actual original plates, then you're SOL! May be worth searching around for them, unless you're sure that they were turned in or destroyed.

ALL - I'll leave the rest of this post up for those who still have both of their original plates (like myself), & for the other info relative to DMV offices, & as to getting "any set" of period correct plates for the YOM program.


Kev, it's the 4th bullet from the Collector plates reassignment program which you pasted above, & I've copied below with the section title & highlighted to area below:

<snipped from DMV document - with emphasis added>
Reassignment of Old Plates to a Collector Vehicle
New Policy
Old California plates (regular series) may be re-assigned to a collector vehicle, even if the vehicle has a database record under a different license plate, when all of the following conditions are met:
•
Evidence is submitted to show that the old plates were once registered (assigned) to the collector vehicle in California (see new requirements below).
•
The old plate number is not on record or reserved as a special interest plate in the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database.
•
The old plate’s combination of letters and numbers do not carry any connotations offensive to good taste and decency.
•
The owner (collector) has both the front and rear old plates for an automobile or commercial vehicle or the single old plate for a motorcycle or trailer.
<end snip>

UPDATE - Note that while this is confusing wording on bullet 4 for plates from "...an automoblie", upon further reading it again, I see that it says you must meet all 4 bullets, so it implies that they must be from your car originally - not another set.

Note that it says F&R plates "...for an automobile" - NOT from the vehicle, which argues for any set of period correct plates. Am I correct in this interpretation - who knows for sure until you ask!!??

Underthetire's Dad used the YOM procedure IIRC, but the use of another "non-specific to the vehicle" period correct plate(s) would be similar under the above - as I read this, which covers all collectible vehicles of any MY (so long as they meet their definition which you's also posted above).

Most of our 914's meet the definition, & IMHO even your & other 914s which are modified within the range of factory specifications/options vehicles would arguably meet their definition as "...Collector Vehicle – is a special interest vehicle of any age which is unaltered from the manufacturer's original specifications."

As for bigger tires & wheels - I doubt that they would care if vehicle "X" has the exact as originally delivered tires/wheels on it, let alone know what was on them!

As I suggested, you could make the case for - including documentation here & from Jeff Bowlsby's website - that yours is an M471 Option Spec. example, as restored to present condition to you. If the unaltered killer were taken to the extreme - as some attorneys try to do with stuff in courts - someone could be wrongfully rejected for having a repro sheet metal rust repair! Is that a correct interpretation? - NO! .... Could a DMV employee try to reject on that basis? - Of course, they just all don't care!!!!

I became curious about this, when another topic like this on here had someone post that they'd successfully done so by going to a 2nd DMV office (after an initial rejection at the 1st) & successfully argued a collector car point to keep his original blue plates just last year. IIRC, he even had to take his 914 in for an inspection. I believe that this new/updated plate reassignment policy is why they eventually approved it!

Different DMV offices have varying reputations for helpfulness or difficulty when dealing with the public. In our area Santa Ana is supposed to be one of the worst (& maybe Costa Mesa?), whereas Fullerton is supposed to be one of the better. We found this out after a couple of BS runarounds & an unwarranted (& not according to VC) "immediate failure" on a driving test, with our 2 kids a few years back at Santa Ana! It also varies from person to person (employee), time of day, type of day they're having (e.g.: let someone go ahead of you for the frowning employee & wait for the smiling friendly one at the counter stations).

Of course when you go there, if you use the line of reasoning which you're using here, you'll just help give them an excuse which they'd be more than happy to take up in order to avoid doing any extra work & not having to think for themselves! They're there at DMV to put in their time, collect a paycheck & hopefully last long enough to collect that generous state public employees pension which we're all paying for, and so will avoid any work or controversy or even having to "think" about something like the plague!!

Instead - you need to go in with all the rules, documentation, back-up & maybe even pix of factory M471 cars - & do EVERYTHING you possibly can for them - and it may take going to more than one person, office &/or submittal. If you're happy with the current white plates, then don't bother & avoid the hassle! If not, then go in well prepared, be persistent by going to several places/people at DMV if necessary, etc.

What more can I say!!?? ... it's now up to you to make a run at DMV .... or not!

It's called the Civil Service Exam Michael!!

Michael - with yours being a 71 6 & last year factory officially imported them to the USA to boot - I can't think of a better collector example to do this with on the plate reassignment avenue!

Find your 914-6's old Blues or buy a matching set at a swap meet & give it a try! It may take more than one try with various employees at different offices, but you're no worse off if they were denied ultimately.

But if you succeed - then you'll have your own "Blue Plate Special"!

Mike - according to this link, the personalized plates didn't start until 1972 - but then, the DMV website was done with their employees!
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/profile/milestones.htm

However, I've heard that before that some folks "who knew somebody" could convince (or bribe?) somebody to assign certain characters to black plates. IIRC State Sen. Carpenter had one on his 56/57 T-Bird back in the day, but you'll recall he left office in disgrace for various malfeasance issues in office!

According to this link, the white Sunset plates started in `82, & both Blues & Blackies were issued in 1970:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/plates/licenseplthistory.htm
I think it's always been state policy to use up the rest of the stock when new colors/series were issued, except when they went to the Month + Year renewal stickers on the Blackies & wnated the Yellows back.

More Trivia - according to this one, Cities & Counties issued plates 1901-05, then the Secretary of State took over....
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/profile/history.htm

Hey Mike - why no 914 on your bottom signature anymore? Did Kenny mash another one!!??
Oh wait - now I see it! This scroll down sig box is a pain when you have to scroll but forget to do so, but it saves space. Sorry Kenny!

OK - for those who have not linked to this document on the DMV website, here's the cut-n-paste full text for the DMV's new & updated policies on their Original Pate Reassignment program, which applies to all 70-76 MY 914s (& other collector cars). IIRC - this one only came out in Nov. or Dec. 2009 (or at the earliest, it was Aug.09) - so it is relatively new news on a new policy at DMV. Again - the original PDF is at this link: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vehindustry/vin_memo...009/09vin20.pdf

Of note, at the top paragraph on page 3 they unequivocally state that previous policy was to reassign the old original plates to a vehicle if both the vehicle & plates were no longer on their database records - and that is still the case under this new & expanded policy (see emphasis in bold which I added at pg. 3 top).

So one must ask, if that was the DMV policy all along - then why the "F" have they hassled folks for so long over keeping their original plates on their cars when putting them back on the road!!?? . . . . ...... Laziness &/or ignorance is/are the likely answer!

PAGE 1:
Vehicle Industry News VIN 2009–20

Reassignment of Old Plates to a Collector Vehicle

New Policy
Old California plates (regular series) may be re-assigned to a collector vehicle, even if the vehicle has a database record under a different license plate, when all of the following conditions are met:

• Evidence is submitted to show that the old plates were once registered (assigned) to the collector vehicle in California (see new requirements below).

• The old plate number is not on record or reserved as a special interest plate in the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database.

• The old plate’s combination of letters and numbers do not carry any connotations offensive to good taste and decency.

• The owner (collector) has both the front and rear old plates for an automobile or commercial vehicle or the single old plate for a motorcycle or trailer.

New Requirements
To put old, regular series California plates back on the collector vehicle, the original or a photocopy of the California title, registration card, or renewal notice must be submitted to the DMV to show that the plates were once registered to the vehicle (a copy may only be used as proof the plates were registered to the vehicle; a copy cannot be used for any other DMV purpose).

Procedures
To have the old, regular series California plates re-assigned to the vehicle submit:

• The proof that the plates were once registered to the vehicle (as noted above).

• A Statement of Facts (REG 256) from the vehicle owner stating in section G and signing in section H to certify:
— The old plate number to be assigned to the vehicle.
— The old plates will not be affixed to the vehicle unless DMV sends approval.
— The plates currently on the vehicle will be surrendered to DMV if the old plates are approved.
— Their daytime telephone number so the DMV can call if they have a question.

• There is no fee to reregister the old plates; however, any other fees or renewal fees due within the next 75 days must be paid.

• All the required original documents for the application (transfer, nonresident, etc.) in addition to old plate application requirements.

VR 2009-21 © 2009 State of California, Department of Motor Vehicles. All rights reserved. Visit our Web Site—dmv.ca.gov


PAGE 2:
VIN 2009-20 Page 2

NOTE: A collector who submitted all of their evidence that the plate was registered to the vehicle in a prior attempt to have the old plates assigned, and was denied by the DMV because the collector vehicle had a database record under another license plate number, may explain the previous denial reason and the reason they have no old plate evidence on the REG 256 in section G. The application will be reviewed and reconsidered by DMV headquarters.

Customer Information
Please inform your customer that processing may take approximately 60 days, and if the request to reassign the old plates is:

• Approved – a new registration card with the old plate number showing as the license plate number and new set of month/year stickers will be mailed to the registered owner. The owner must put the old plates with the month/year stickers on the vehicle and surrender the plates removed from the vehicle to DMV.

• Denied – a denial letter will be sent and the customer must retain their current plates on the vehicle, or if issued new regular series plates must put them on the vehicle.

NOTE: Due to database limitations, a plate that still has a record cannot be reregistered. Therefore, customers returning to California after registering their vehicle out-of-state cannot have their old California plates reassigned to their collector vehicle, if there is still an existing record of the old plate (unless the plate qualifies under the Year of Manufacture program).

Definitions

Collector Vehicle – is a special interest vehicle of any age which is unaltered from the manufacturer's original specifications. Because of the vehicle's significance, such as an out-of-production vehicle, or a model of less than 2,000 vehicles sold in California in any model year, it is being collected, preserved, restored, or maintained by a collector or hobbyist for purposes of restoration, maintenance, or exhibition.

Collector – is the owner of one or more historical or special interest vehicles who collects, purchases, acquires, trades, or disposes of such vehicle(s), or parts thereof, for his or her own use, in order to preserve, restore, and maintain such vehicle(s) for hobby or historical purposes.


PAGE 3:
VIN 2009-20 Page 3

Background
DMV previously only reassigned old, regular series California plates if both the collector vehicle and the old plate were not on the database record. Old, regular series plates (without a database record) may now be reregistered to a collector vehicle, whether the vehicle has a database record or not. Previously only an original California title or registration card was allowed as evidence that the plate was once registered to the vehicle.

Reference
California Vehicle Code sections
§5051, 5200 California Code of Regulations - Title 13, Article 3.1, section 170.00

Distribution
Notification that this memo is available online, at
www.dmv.ca.gov under Publications was made, via the E-mail Alert Service in August 2009.

Contact
Call the DMV Customer Communications Section, at (916) 657-6560 for further clarification of this memo. Upon request, this document can be produced in Braille or large print.

JEAN SHIOMOTO, Deputy Director Communication Programs Division
End of Document////

If there are any questions on DMV's details, procedures & interpretations on this, then I'd suggest that you call the DMV Headquarters number above.
..... Oh boy a real live person number in Sacra-tomato none-the-less!

the example of personalized black plates i've got was a on a customers car i worked on alot. he was a ham radio operator fanatic. it had his call numbers. the additional weird thing was he had keep the plates and transferred them to his newer vehicle. makes me second guess my sanity.

how could the sunsets be issued in 82 when the white plates weren't out until 87'?note to self: it just dawned on me as i'm writing this in 82 i got personalized plates for my 442 in white "2hypr4u". i remember it was an option to get white so i did.

no but kenny has put a civic on it's roof since
Click to view attachment

Were his ham call numbers all numeric then - or alpha-numeric? IIRC - the call sign I got for the CB way back when were both. However, I don't recall ever seeing a black plate with anything but numbers on them. He must've had some pull somewhere, or else there was another personalized plate program which the DMV historians forgot about!?

Geez Mike - get a load of that hair! I used to have a mop like that too, back in the day!

My Grandfather would get a new 442 every year until he retired, then he got a Delta 88 until he passed. His the same year as yours was white with red-orange stripes on the hood & trunk. He'd scream that sucker around the country roads outside of Pittsburgh PA (Allegheny Mountains doncha know!?) - even in his late 60's!!

That's where my Mom & I got our Lead Foots! We had a 67 Chevy pick-up with a 327-2Bbl. like the black one in the background, with a cab-over camper shell as a family trip & around town vehicle (replaced the Greenbrier van) that the two of us got the most out of with our "heavy feet"! A few other classics in the background too!

I guess ole Kenny just hasn't figured out yet that the shiny side is supposed to stay up!

I keep seeing the words "collector car". Why does it have to be a collector car to assign the YOM plates? What I did here in Orgon was as follows (my story):

I went to the DMV here in Oregon with two YOM plates (they were previously on IIRC a chevelle and then out of registration for the last 15 years). My number was called and when I spoke to the lady about registering these plates on my 73 914 (the car was previuosly registered non-op in California) she told me all about the collector car laws for Oregon. I told her I don't want to register it as a collector car because you can only drive it a certain number of miles a year and can only use it for parades, etc, etc.. I told her I want to register the plates as personalized license plates? She gave me a puzzled look. I then asked her if I can have these exact characters (letters & numbers) in the exact sequence on my personalized plates? She said sure if no one else has them. After checking that no one did, I said I wanted to request that plate sequence. She handed me some paperwork to fill out and I then said "If I can have this same sequence than what would stop me from using these very plates"? She again looked at me with a puzzled look and said Well I don't know. I asked her to get her manager and then explained the whole thing again? I added that these were actual plates issued by the DMV and they were not on record to anyone. He shrugged his shoulders and said I was right. After he did some checking in the computer and in a few books he came back and said that there was nothing in his books that said I couldn't register them as personalized plates and furthermore that he could not find anything saying that I could not use those very plates. So instead of having to pay for new personalized plates to be made, I had to register the YOM plates as personalized plates (every two years) and everything is good!

I don't know if that will work in California but I actually didn't think it was going to work here either!

Good Luck

Click to view attachment


I like to think my plates stand for Hot-Fuchin-Rod-8(August,month plates assigned)-73 (year)!

Great Story - DMV's are similar everywhere, but OR's apparently ultimately CAN listen to reason! ..... unlike CA's DMV-doofs!!!!

In CA they only list limitations on driving it under "Historical Vehicle" plates, which is yet another classification & plate type. I know some folks who do a bit more than the defined driving with theirs & always have a good reason to do so!

Here the "collector" definition really only applies to the type of vehicle under that definition posted above, & gives the lawmakers & bureaucrats the convenient excuse to otherwise limiting the reassignment of older "non-reflectorized" plates. As far as I can tell, there are zero mileage/driving limitations under this, and a new MY vehicle could qualify as their low production number vehicle definition aspect for collector car.

IIRC I was told in order to register as Collector Car in Oregon you have to show proof of Collector Car insurance.

If you want to use the YOM plates order the sequence as a personalized plate and then use the YOM plates instead? Keep your new ones in the car just in case?

BTW - I got some pretty good quotes on collector car insurance at a $20k stated value (what they cover to you less deductible - no questions asked) with <5000 mi per year (pretty generous. Both AAA & Hemmings were at $200 - 215 for me as sole driver! I was pleasantly surprised!

Now all I need is enough time & dry days to git er dun & on the road again!

Rob Sime has good info on insurance. I'm definately going to insure mine for a set value if possible to avoid the typical insurance BS...

Only way to go on these Rob - what with ever escalating prices for & ever more NLA parts!

AAA told me that they'd both inspect the car (as per usual on a new one added) AND the garage where it will be stored! So one must also clean up the garage!

IIRC, they &/or Hemmings also wants to see reciepts of any work/parts & comparable values of cars, but they basically accept your $$'s amount & charge you per that - assuming it's inspected as such!

What surprised me was that the $215 from AAA on a $20k stated value was 1/3 - 1/2 what the $3500 max value 88 Honda Civic was with our 2 kids as drivers, & the 85 BMW 325e & 88 Westy !!!!

Although this might be great for many of the folks that drive teeners here, it just doesn't work for for people like me that drive their 914's a minimum of 15,000 miles a year. It not really the mileage restriction that's the biggest problem, but the other restrictions that would greatly enhance the risk of having the policy cancelled should i be found to not be adhering to their limited allowances.

If this fits your driving habits, go for it. If not, be very careful before using a "collector car" policy.

Eric Read

That is the reason why I didn't want to go the "Collector Car" way.

Eric - -

One ALWAYS needs to read the full policy fine print for the restrictions in every case. You might be surprised as to what you actually get under a standard" auto policy - which can be far less than you can get it repaired for - let alone what you have into it - plus you LOSE the 914 if they total it at just 25% of avg book value, & most allow them to total & pay you off low-mid book value (read avg.) & THEY KEEP THE CAR!

I'm not sure about Haggerty's restrictions, cuz I was just checking on-line.

However, AAA (ACSC) told me that they basically "rate" it based on the "stated value" & initially on your stated mileage/then annual mileage checks at whatever you expect to drive per year - period. So expect that a 15-20k mi/yr DD "classic car" policy will be more than the 0-5k mi/yr which I asked about. Otherwise, the other policy parameters are the same - except you keep the car in a negotiated total settlement & start over with resto/repair or whatever you choose.

Fortunately, everything is pretty close to us here in Orange CA, my wife works 2 mi away, son's college is 5-7 mi away, I home office & only go out to meetings, etc. - so 0-5 or 5-7500 probably works for us - having 3 other cars to spread the DD chores over as well. If I needed more miles/year, then they'd just charge me more!

However, the AAA regions are separate entities & business units - so those in NoCal are under No. Cal. Auto Club, which may be different that our SoCal AC. .... same for others in other areas! .... need to check & not take my word for it.

Another good thing which fortunately is national with AAA - IIRC - is getting their Premier or whatever their top "Membership" is, so you get their 200 mi & 100 mi towing coverage!

Useful thread, Tom!

The original blue plates are still on my '74 and are current. However, they are in pretty tatty condition, especially the front plate, which looks like it's been hit by a stone at some point: half the blue paint is gone, it's rusty etc..

Is there somewhere that will make legitimate new blue plates, do you know? Or perhaps refinish them?

Julian