My memory says black/yellow plates were issued in the 50's and 60's, but not real sure. Can anybody provide some history? When did the Sunshine State switch to the blue/yellow plates? And when did blue change to white (if I have the sequence right)?
I just bought a 914-6 with blue plates. Could they be original or were the plates black in 1970?

yellow
black
blue
white

blue could be original.

Ahem..... FLORIDA IS THE SUNSHINE STATE... Thank you very much...

Although we have seen only thunder and lighting and rainclouds lately....

my car had its original license plate- blue w/ yellow

Of the original plate cars I know of:

My grandpas 65 Pontiac had black/yellow plates.

My 67 T3 fastback had black/yellow plates

My 74 914s both have blue/yellow plates

I think our 80 Audi hade blue/yellow plates

My wifes 91 minivan has white plates

An internet search may locate more specifics...

Pardon me Karl, but when you live in Oregon, California is the "sunshine state" too! Now I gotta ask what CA's motto is! Oregon is the Beaver State (should be moss, mold, mildew......100 degrees on Tue. though, must be summer).

I think it's the "Golden Fruits and Nuts" state. But I could be wrong.

The switch to blue plates was right around 1970. I don't remember when we went to the modern flavor of 7 digit white plates but it was around 1980.

http://www.calpl8s.com/cpfaq.html

Base OK for YOM


Bases NOT for YOM

The Year of Manufacture law, frequently referred to as YOM, allows you to register an old California license plate which matches the year that your old vehicle was made in.

Currently, this type of registration is only available for vehicles that were made in 1962 or before. That means that only the 1956 black on yellow style plates, which were used through 1962, and older styles, are available for YOM. The 1963 yellow on black style plates, and all bases that came after them, are currently NOT available for YOM registration in California.

Confusion as to which bases are available for YOM registration stems from the fact that all the bases shown here can still be seen on the road. However, any old plate still on the road is only valid because it has been continuously registered to the same vehicle since it was originally issued. The CA legislature has attempted several times in recent years to extend the YOM law past 1962, but it has been vetoed by the Governor each time. There is currently no pending legislation to try again.

1956 style and older plates for YOM use can be purchased from plate collectors, at swap meets and garage sales, and on eBay. The old plate must have a number that is not currently in use on a California license plate. This is called being "clear".

To find out if a plate is clear, visit your local DMV office, or call the DMV Special Processing office in Sacramento, and ask if the plate number is clear for YOM. If they say there is no record, or the number is not in the computer, then it is clear. The phone number for the DMV Special Processing office in Sacramento is (916) 657-7606 or (916) 657-7654. There is no website access for this info.

CA is the Golden State...

AZ is the Grand Canyon State.

As self appointed license plate guru of the 914World.com BBS I will try to fill in the details. Black plates were issued from 63 - 69. Blue plates were issued from 1970 - 1983. In 81 the format changed from 123 ABC to 1ABC234. CA switched to white plates in 84. First was the small Sun graphic at the top for two years. Then came the embossed state name. And after that the 'lipstick' script. Recently there has been the '150 Sesquicentennial' plates. Any of these plates can be currently seen on the road if they have been continuously registered to the same owner. There have also been several special issue graphic plates in the last 10 years. (The rarest is the 'Bill of Rights' plate. I still need one for my collection. Anybody got one?)

MikeZ provided the correct info. regarding YOM.

All 914's would have originally been issued blue plates by the Calif. DMV.

If you need more info - let me know.

pictures worth a thousand words... year on plate is year of introduction

Thank you all. Guess I should have figured I could do a web search, but many of us learned some trivia this way. I just bought the Irish green six on Ebay and it is represented as having been owned for many years by a gentleman now deceased. It has blue plates first issued in '74 when CA added a month sticker. Prior blue plates which began in '70 had no month sticker. They will soon go on my garage wall since car is coming to the Beaver State.
The project six which I snatched from under Brad's nose will soon be on the block.

Here's MY special plate.....

I would have expected no less....Mr. Z........... ... Dad..