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Sun Jul 11, 2004 4:50 pm

I've been trying to get a straight answer out of the OR DMV about wheither I can use vintage plates on a car not originally equipped with them. I know that in CA you own the plates and can move them from car to car. I asked the DMV if that was the case in OR as well and was told no. Yet I have seen new cars with older plates on them, this leads me to believe that it IS possible.

Any one have info on this?

Sun Jul 11, 2004 5:28 pm

Hiya Frank,

Here's what I've found out about all this vintage license plate business in Oregon........

First off you could go into the DMV and get a "Special Registration" for your car (if it meets requirements - and most of ours will). This special registration allows you to place vintage plates on your car. In other words, you can go to license plate collector and buy a set of Oregon plates for your year and (after bringing the plate renewal current) place them on your car.

But there is a price, and I'm not talking about the fees involved. This special registration allows you only to use the vehicle for certain purposes and limits the yearly mileage to (IIRC) 2,500 miles. Not very practical for most of us.

There is a rather long and circuitous route around this special registration which will allow you to use vintage Oregon plates on your car as a daily driver. It works because Oregon DMV regulations allow the owner of two vehicles to switch plates on their cars (which is why some newer cars have older plates). So....... what one needs to do is to locate a vehicle with the vintage plates desired. Then the car either needs to be purchased outright (along with title and registration) or some sort of deal needs to be worked out with the present owner. Whatever the case, with title and registration switched over to your name, you can then legally switch the plates on your VW and the other car (after paying a $12 fee of course). And presto, your VW now has vintage plates.

That's what I'm planning to do for my Bug.

Mike

1970 AS Bug

Sun Jul 11, 2004 5:32 pm

My second beetle might be able to do that, as I'm going to use it just for sunny weekends and shows, but my primary beetle is going to be my daily driver so the first option won't work. The second way is about what I was expecting. Maybe I'll find some guy with a cheap ass junker that has good plates on it that I can use.

Question for you; Do you go to any of the local(PDX) VW clubs? If so, which one? I've been here a year and not gotten to one yet.

Sun Jul 11, 2004 6:07 pm

here is the trick!

get your wonderland plates or whatever year you are wanting, then get new personalized plates that say whatever your old plates say, then throw on your vintage plates. i have a few friends that roll this was in OR.

Mon Jul 12, 2004 5:33 pm

Hiya Frank,

I used to be active in the Rose City Volksters. If you'd like to check them out they meet at Rico's Pizza in Beaverton on the second Tuesday of each month. Meetings usually start around 7:00 pm.

Mike

1970 AS Bug

Wed Jul 14, 2004 10:31 pm

plates stay with vehicle in california - unless they are "special" ones like olympic,personalized and etc. san diego,ca. is where im from...

Wed Jul 14, 2004 10:37 pm

bill may wrote: plates stay with vehicle in california - unless they are "special" ones like olympic,personalized and etc.

Yeah, I had a 62 buick that ended up sold to a guy in the netherlands. I kept the plates and can use them if I ever move back to california. That law makes sense. Here, though, the laws are just damned silly.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 4:43 pm

If the license plate # is not being used, then you can register it as a custom plate and still use the old plates. I bought some old blue w/ yellow letters at a swap meet, and now have them registered on my car.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:09 pm

Not to hijack the thread, but it seems topical. Are "black plates" on a CA car something special? I have seen cars advertised as "CA black plate" with the black and yellow license plates. In Florida you can register a Year of Manufacture (YOM) license plate if you first send it to the DMV in Tallahassee and have it authenticated. Reason I ask is I just purchased a car that happens to have these black CA license plates and I was just curious.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 7:14 pm

rizzag wrote: here is the trick!

get your wonderland plates or whatever year you are wanting, then get new personalized plates that say whatever your old plates say, then throw on your vintage plates. i have a few friends that roll this was in OR.
i never thought of that! i'll bet that works in CA too.

the only thing "special" about ca black and yellow plates is a) they look good, and b) it either means the car has been registered every (or almost) every year since the car came out, or someone went to HUGE lengths to get the plates on the car. they look good, and its a huge pita to get black and yellows back on the car after its ben non-oped or someone changed the plates.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 7:47 pm

I don't know what you need in Oregon, but here in NY one only has to submit a picture of unrestored NY plates, with the correct sticker/tab to DMV to be allowed to use them.
I have a pair on my '71 Transporter, and will eventually put a pair on my '67 Beetle. Not one policeman has said a word, or stopped me from driving around in them, even in NYC! In fact, only one person at a local Drive-In's Saturday Night gathering even mentioned/asked about the vintage plates on my bus. :shock:
Personally, I think its great to be able to drive around with them on the car. To me, it just adds to the fun of having these neat, practical, driveable old cars. :D

Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:19 pm

ok this is what you have to do

I have done this to alot of my cars i have registered in oregon

You need to find the correct year plate that would have been on your car

for instance, on my 62 i had Pacific wonderland plates, they were for oregon vehicles 61-64. if you need help what plate you will need PM me i collect oregon plates ;)

you take that plate into the DMV, You only need 1 64 and earlier. Some DMV employees will fight and say u need 2 but you must refer them to the special interest vehicle registration page of the DMV bible

When you have the 1 plate you need to register it as a Special interest vehicle. What this means is it cannot be a daily driver. it can only be used to club meetings, car shows, parades etc
but they have no way of enforcing this, they just tell you that
with this registration you pay a one time fee of 85 dollars and you never have to buy tags ever again, which means you can run the YOM tags on your car like i did on my 62

the other option is like what rizzag said, get personal plates with the same numbers and run the vintage plates, but you will have to run current tags on them

hope this helps

here is my 58 i had registered too

:wink:

Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:14 pm

rizzag wrote: here is the trick!

get your wonderland plates or whatever year you are wanting, then get new personalized plates that say whatever your old plates say, then throw on your vintage plates. i have a few friends that roll this was in OR.

In Cali, if you ask for a plate that is close to old vintage ones for personal plates they will reject them.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:15 pm

bill may wrote: plates stay with vehicle in california - unless they are "special" ones like olympic,personalized and etc. san diego,ca. is where im from...

You can transfer YOM plates to a Cali car that is 62 or older, you also need a YOM sticker to go with it.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:21 pm

67 Florida Deluxe wrote: Not to hijack the thread, but it seems topical. Are "black plates" on a CA car something special? I have seen cars advertised as "CA black plate" with the black and yellow license plates. In Florida you can register a Year of Manufacture (YOM) license plate if you first send it to the DMV in Tallahassee and have it authenticated. Reason I ask is I just purchased a car that happens to have these black CA license plates and I was just curious.

The reason people love the Cali black plate is the fact they can't legally be transfer from one car to another, but I have seen it done. One loophole I know with the black plates are, lets say I sell you my black plate Cali car to you and you register it out of state, then a few years later I bought it back from you. If I have any DMV documents proving the black plates came on that car originally they will let me put them back on that car only.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:33 pm

67 Florida Deluxe wrote: Not to hijack the thread, but it seems topical. Are "black plates" on a CA car something special? I have seen cars advertised as "CA black plate" with the black and yellow license plates. In Florida you can register a Year of Manufacture (YOM) license plate if you first send it to the DMV in Tallahassee and have it authenticated. Reason I ask is I just purchased a car that happens to have these black CA license plates and I was just curious.

In CA, you own the plates for the rest of your life. When you purchase a new vehicle you can take the plates from your old car. Assuming you don't own that car any longer. I had original plates for my 62 Buick and dropped them on my 72 bug, no hassles.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:38 pm

Thornton wrote: ok this is what you have to do

I have done this to alot of my cars i have registered in oregon

You need to find the correct year plate that would have been on your car

Do you know if that applies to later cars? I've a 72 and a 67 that I'm trying to rustle up plates for. I hate new plates on an old car.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:47 pm

Frankenbeetle wrote: 67 Florida Deluxe wrote: Not to hijack the thread, but it seems topical. Are "black plates" on a CA car something special? I have seen cars advertised as "CA black plate" with the black and yellow license plates. In Florida you can register a Year of Manufacture (YOM) license plate if you first send it to the DMV in Tallahassee and have it authenticated. Reason I ask is I just purchased a car that happens to have these black CA license plates and I was just curious.

In CA, you own the plates for the rest of your life. When you purchase a new vehicle you can take the plates from your old car. Assuming you don't own that car any longer. I had original plates for my 62 Buick and dropped them on my 72 bug, no hassles.

Was the beetle brand new when you transfered the plates? In my above quote where legally they can"t be transfered. The reason I ask that is that I have seen brand new Olds/Buick's etc. with old men driving them with black plates, when I asked a DMV employee about she just shook her head and said sometimes they slip by the system or the car dealer transfered the plates, but they are not supposed to.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:50 pm

lonotch wrote:
Was the beetle brand new when you transfered the plates? In my above quote where legally they can"t be transfered. The reason I ask that is that I have seen brand new Olds/Buick's etc. with old men driving them with black plates, when I asked a DMV employee about she just shook her head and said sometimes they slip by the system or the car dealer transfered the plates, but they are not supposed to.

No, I wasn't even born when the bug was new. I had the Skylark, then sold it, bought the bug and took in the plates. I didn't get hassled. I was told that you own the plates in CA, unlike most states.

Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:55 pm

I own some black plates and they will not let me transfer them to any car I own, I tried to get them registered to my ghia and was told no, so I put YOM gold plates on them instead.

Where is your DMV office? :wink: I need to go there. :lol: