[xk] CA liscense plates YOM - ALL THE NEWS!

XK
1

California lisc Plates – the real scoop:
Here’s some info that has been sent to me

1951 (1951-1955), BLACK PLATES WITH FAT YELLOW NUMBERS 1A23456
1956 (1956-1963), YELLOW PLATES WITH BLACK NUMBERS: AAA 123
1963 (1963-1968). BLACK PLATES WITH YELLOW NUMBERS: AAA 123

At the end of 1950 there were approximately 4 million cars on the
roads in California that had to be replated in January of 1951.(NEW
PLATES WERE ISSUED YEARLY) To meet that requirement meant that 20
percent of all possible combinations were issued in early 1951. The
1951 California base plates are designed with a number, letter, and up
to 5 numbers (e.g. 1A23456). But the numbering on these plates was
not issued in sequential order, i.e. they did not start at 1A and
progress to 8x by 1955. Many of the “high” numbers were issued early
(1951 and 1952). And there is a regional issue as well as some kind of
pattern that isn’t just a straight numeric issue. In fact, there are
lots of 9-prefix plates, but all the 7-digit 9’s have letters A, B, or
N. So knowing what was issued in a given year, say 1954, is
complicated.

Anyway, the letters A through L were assigned to Northern California
and M through Z to the 10 counties that comprise Southern California.
The letter Z is associated with San Diego County.

  1. For the 1951 base, the annual starting number sequences are not
    well known. Apparently they have been hard to isolate so far. The
    plate guys are also working on the problem using known data from
    original cars/plates/owners. When/if I hear more, I’ll let you know.

  2. 1956 base.
    1956 AAA to Mxx were used during the first year.
    1957 to 1962 the annual starting alphas are not well known.
    Different colored tags were issued each year and affixed to the
    plates.

  3. 1963 base.
    These plates are quite well known.
    1963 AAA to Mxx were used during the first year.
    1964 M, N, O, P, Q, R (lots of overlap in 1964-65) plus a “year”
    decal, i.e. 1964
    1965 N, O, P, Q, R (lots of overlap in 1964-65)
    1966 R, S, T
    1967 T, U, V
    1968 V, W, X
    1969 Y, Z

that is all i know.
ronOn Sat, Dec 27, 2008 at 6:13 PM, F. Ronald Rader <@ron_rader_LA> wrote:

I am looking for California cars with the correct original year of
manufacture plates for several cars.

I want not only the correct color plates but the correct number
sequence that was issued that year.

I looked for a list on line but only found the year ranges.

If you have a CA license plate that is original to the car between the
year 1954 and 1967 I would like to know your plate number. Although CA
only allows YOM thru 1962 on July 1, 2009 this will be changed to
1969.

I will create a list and share it when I am finished.

Thanks
ron rader

1954 Nash Healey
1961 XK 150
1967 E FHC