What is the significance of a "California black plate" car? People talk
about them as if they are somthing special. Thanks, JL
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It means the car has a pedigree of being registered since the '60s in
California and the plate is probably as old as the car.
The California climate (except for the beach) is very gentle on cars since
we don't salt the roads and it never rains, thus less rust. I'm told that in
California you can no longer get old plates and register them onto the cars.
They are trying to remove old plates from circulation due to their
non-reflective nature.
However, a car with newer plates could also have the same pedigree, the
owners just wanted newer or vanity plates. When looking for my current BJ8
I was told by many that an original California BJ8, garaged, was worth
$5,000 more than Eastern cars everything else being equal. I have no idea if
this is true.
I'm the third owner on a black-plate 67 BJ8 and had the plates "restored" to
original and it just "goes" with the car since that's how they looked when
new. I've seen some hotrodders get new "vanity" plates with three letters
and three numbers then send them off to someone back east who repaints and
changes some small features to make them LOOK like original black plates.
Not legal but they seem to be getting away with it.
Ron
67 BJ8, California
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