Can a California plate # history be traced ?

[Jim Stephenson]

Trying to find some history on my old Speedster and I have a six digit California plate number it was registered with some 30 or so years ago. Does anyone know if California will provide a plate history of ownership ?

Thank You

[Mike Wilson]

I tried going down this road as well, Jim. I tried DMV, AAA, and even a contact in a local police department. Records only going back 7 years (I've owned the car since 1999). All were dead ends. Unfortunately, the previous owners did not keep copies of the registration slips as they would have had the original pate number. The only thing I could determine is the range of letters for a black plate issued for my car, a '63, in 1963, In the area where the original owner lived, Santa Ana, the black plates issued went from IEA### to IIN###. My option would be to find a pair of original 1963 black plates within that sequence that are DMV clear and register the car with them surrendering my blue plates.

Hopefully others who have gone down this road were successful and can share their experience with us.

Mike

[Ron Dohmeyer]

If you want the same exact letter/number you can get it on Etsy here. Not official but have seen on many vintage cars at cars and coffee and owners say they’v never been questioned. Or if you want a year correct authentic plate google THE OLD PLATE GUY , he has restored and non restored plates dmv cleared.


https://www.etsy.com/listing/581339484/ ... gIJcfD_BwE

[Jim Stephenson]

Back in 1995 I had contacted the California DMV and they replied with limited information.

Owner name shown 10 years prior in 1985 as Larry Padilla with a bank listed as First Interstate with locations on San Luis Obispo and Millbrae and a plate number starting with WJE followed by three numbers.

If anyone has any thoughts please let me know .


Thank You

[Mike Wilson]

Old Plate Guy is a great resource. eBay also has a lot of plates for sale, some already restored. There is also a site on eBay that says they can create a plate for you. They are located in Asia. I guess you could always have a custom plate made, WJE 356 checking first to see if it is DMV clear. BTW, DMV will only allow you to register vintage steel, not aluminum plates. No logic behind that as far as I can tell.

Mike

[Jon Schmid]

"The only thing I could determine is the range of letters for a black plate issued for my car, a '63, in 1963, In the area where the original owner lived, Santa Ana, the black plates issued went from IEA### to IIN###. My option would be to find a pair of original 1963 black plates within that sequence that are DMV clear and register the car with them surrendering my blue plates."

Sorry, Mike, you're not getting my Roadster plates. Issued through the SA DMV when we lived in the Santa Ana region (Lemon Heights) we were assigned IEC166. Our long gone station wagon had IEC165. My coupe plates are not original to the car as they begin with YQ which means they were issued sequentially (like now) from Sacramento in 1969 just before the changeover to the blue/yellow plates.

[Mike Wilson]

Dang! Ha! Lucky you to have the original plates for your Roadster! Interesting you had sequential plates for your two cars. My mom and dad had sequential black plates on their cars as well: IST 765 and 766.

The info I found that after 1963, black plates were issued going down the alphabet.
1963: AAA -Mxx
1964: M,N,O,P,Q,R
1965: N,O,P,Q,R
1966: R,S,T
1967: T,U,V
1968: V,W,X
1969: Y,Z

My '58 coupe which originally would have had yellow plates, was XCM 850.

Mike

[Edwin Ek]

There is a CA DMV form INF-70 that can be used to trace the history of a car. It works with a VIN for sure- I have used it that way myself a few times. If memory serves, searches can be done with license plate numbers also.

One search I did provided information more than seven years old. But the chain of ownership started more recently than that.

The fee is small, and the form requires a reason for the search. I have always used: I have information about the car which would be of interest to the current owner. Once I called the 800 number and somehow got a hold of a very helpful agent who happily searched for a dozen VIN's right then on the telephone. I got the strong impression the reason you give for the search is not very important.

Another time I called a private detective about searching for a California car. He said searching with a license plate number is the easiest thing in the world to do. I didn't ask for specifics because our conversation took a different turn.

[Mike Wilson]

Ed: any idea on how far back a search either DMV or P.I. can go? I used a DMV form and it only went back 7 years.

Mike

[Edwin Ek]

Mike,

On one DMV search, my ownership began in 1988. The search provided the name of the previous owner (which I already knew). His ownership started in circa 1978. I know that the owner before him was in California also, but the search didn't provide any information.

I did that search about five years ago. Maybe the parameters have changed.

[Mike Wilson]

I know the the previous owner and met the one prior to him and have the name of the original owner. I'm not comfortable trying to contact him or any family members as it has been a long time since he owned the car. I was hoping to find out the original license plate number but, as I previously indicated, the previous owners did not keep hardly any records including copies of registration.

Mike

[Edwin Ek]

Mike, you should try to get in contact. Imagine if you were in his shoes- it would be a kick. Remember, Porsche 356 cars were cool and different when new. Owners too. I bet he would be very glad to hear from you. What is the worst that could happen? Not much.

About 4 years ago, I called out of the blue the previous owner of my car. There had been no contact for the 26 years since I bought it. He was a hardass lawyer then, and I was a kid. He sorta scared me when doing the deal. When I spoke to him 4 years ago, he had become an old man and a pussycat, a little uncertain.. I suggested that when my car was roadworthy again, I could swing by and we could go for a drive. He said I would love that. I would love that.

[Mike Wilson]

Not sure if the original owner is still with us. I did locate his daughter through census/Google search but she most likely wouldn't have any info on the car.

Thanks for the tips, Ed.

Mike

[Jon Schmid]

Dang! Ha! Lucky you to have the original plates for your Roadster! Interesting you had sequential plates for your two cars. My mom and dad had sequential black plates on their cars as well: IST 765 and 766.

The info I found that after 1963, black plates were issued going down the alphabet.
1963: AAA -Mxx
1964: M,N,O,P,Q,R
1965: N,O,P,Q,R
1966: R,S,T
1967: T,U,V
1968: V,W,X
1969: Y,Z

My '58 coupe which originally would have had yellow plates, was XCM 850.

Mike

So, your plates were issued out of the Torrance DMV office.

[Mike Wilson]

Jon: according to my research, they were issued out of the Santa Ana office.

I had done some research using tge 1940 census. The original owner lived in Santa Ana and Whittier then at some point relocated to Arizona where he and his wife passed several years ago. His daughter would have been 28 when he bought the car. Doubtful she would have any info on the car even if she is still with us.

Mike