California License pPates

[babarsheikh]

I have a 1970 280 SL and when I bought it it came with and old beautiful blue CA plate for the back.

Do I have to put a plate on the front?  And if I do can I get another blue plate?

Any help would be appreciated...

Bobby

[Douglas]

Bobby,

That's a question for your state's DMV. Not sure what the law is in CA. In NY, you technically need a front plate as well, but it's not a law that's aggressively enforced.

As for finding a second plate, you could have one reproduced. There are lots of sites on the Web that reproduce plates.

Douglas Kim
New York
USA

[J. Huber]

Hey Bobby. As far as I know, getting a second blue plate is not possible. Just like the even more rare black & yellow, once the DMV switches styles -- thats it. I could be wrong but doubt it.

As for having your plate on the front, it is the law and you can get cited for not having it. This said, I have a vanity Euro-style plate in the front and the cops in my small town just wave and think "hey nice car" (At least thats what I think they are thinking!)

James
63 230SL

[J. Huber]

quote:Originally posted by Douglas

Bobby,


As for finding a second plate, you could have one reproduced. There are lots of sites on the Web that reproduce plates.

Douglas Kim
New York
USA

Never thought of that. I meant the DMV probably can't get you a replacement...

James
63 230SL

[dldubois]

One option would be to find another set (2) plates for CA from 1970.  Readily available on Ebay.   I've got a mint set of 69 TX plates and paid about $100.

I just took them to the tag office and registered them to the car.

Dana DuBois

1969 280sl auto
blue (906)
Corinth, TX

[65auto230sl]

i recently saw a pagoda with mint condition black and yellow plates from the 1964 era. the owner got the plates made by a reproduction company on the internet. the neat part about it is that he didn't have to regester them with the dmv. what he did is order personal plates from the dmv that were a series of 3 letters and 3 numbers. the plates obviously came as the new style. he then had the repro company make up the black and yellow plates with the same number series. it was pretty smart i thought.

[babarsheikh]

I just called the DMV and I am not allowed to put some other old plates on the car unless it is pre-1963.  So I guess my best option is to get a front plate reproduced.

It seems like some of you have done this before so please let me know who you used.

Thanks,

Bobby
1970 280 SL

[Douglas]

(If you reproduce a front plate, I wouldn't go out of my way to tell the DMV it's a reproduction. Strictly speaking, that's probably not allowed.)

Douglas Kim
New York
USA

[Bob G ✝︎]

As long as you have one plate the DMV will reissue you an new set of plates qith the same numbers & letters.

Bob Geco

[babarsheikh]

Now I need to find a good reproduction plate company.  Have looked around and there are some that do vanity plates but not sure if I can get a vintage reproduction.

Anyone know of any company?

[65auto230sl]

douglas,do you know wher i can find a company to reproduce the black and yellow plates? i can't find anything on line at all! thanks bo

[Chad]

The state of CA will reproduce the legal YOM plates for your car if it's 1962 or 1963 or earlier. No w113 chassis car will qualify for that. There are companies on the net that will produce a 2nd CA plate from a photograph of the 1st one. They usually do not ship to the state of CA directly. I believe these are not by the letter legal for use on the roads, unfortunately.

The 356 forum has a lot more information on this subject. I believe this is explained by the fact that the YOM plate laws of CA allow pre-A and 356A vehicles to take advantage legally, whereas later cars such as the 356C and the w113 SL cars can not.

BTW, I believe that if all YOM plates were obtainable, which they are not, the black/yellow plates would only be correct for 230 snd 250 SL. I think the style changed in 1968 to blue/yellow, but I could be somewhat wrong about the exact date. I have the black/yellow plate that came with this 230SL, it is currently well-preserved in a box of oily/grimy rags. If I sell the car, it should go with it.

Again, I am not completely sure about any of this information... it's probably all changed.

1967 230SL (Manual)

[Douglas]

I have no experience with this company, but try this one:

http://www.licenseplatesonline.com/

Go to the custom license plate link. Seems like they know what they're doing.

Douglas Kim
New York
USA

[babarsheikh]

I did some research and I think this site is the best if you want authentic looking plates with raised letters...

http://www.licenseplates.tv

Click on USA/State Plates on the left, choose the state and then click on the design you like and then click to customizewith your letters...

It's a little pricey $75 but its the most authentic plate site I have found so far...

I have to have it shipped to a non-Cali address though...

[Ed Cave]

Here is yet another license plate site. These people collect plates from mostly US States but also have some Canadian, Caribbean and South American plates. They don't make 'em, they just collect old plates and sell 'em. All appear to be authentic.

http://www.plateshack.com/

As of yesterday, they had over 14,000 to choose from.

How great is the internet?  

Ed Cave
Atlanta, GA


1971 280SL
1973 911S
2004 A4 3.0
2006 GS430