Why has Calif had the SAME license plates for over 20 years?

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Art and beauty inspire. Joln the war against the drab and the hum-drum. Celebrate diversity!

Or put your head down, step back into line, and cease making all this trouble with your flashy plates. Bland Forward!

[recycled]

^^^^ Of course, bland is beautiful - I like the plain & simple CA plates. Luckily mine are 12 years old and don't have anything written along the bottom edge. Occasionally I spot a car from the early 1980s with the limited edition 1984 LA Olympics license plates. Those are one of the few special issue plates that I like.

I don't like the other special plates with the darker images in the background. It's too cluttered looking, and I guess cops hate them because it is hard to read the letters or numbers if they are not well lit.

I think TX did good adopting the same plate design that you see in most countries in Europe, white plate with black letters. Simple, clean and easy to read.

[Babe_Ruth]

Yeah, I basically like the current (clean & plain) CA plates.. But California's alternate/specialty plates are paltry compared to a lot of other states. The Commonwealth of Virginia offers over 200 different special interest plates (& they're typically cheap, around $20).
Selling alternate plates seems like an easy, voluntary method for state fundraising.. which makes me wonder why CA isn't doing more,.. maybe someone knows or elaborated more, earlier in the thread (?)

[cliff_costello]

Well, if you liked the old Black and Yellow California Plates, they are coming back via the California Legacy License Plate program. There are three kinds proposed, Yellow with Black characters, Black with Yellow characters, and the Blue with Yellow characters. Each one has to hit a pre-ordered minimum of 7,500 by 12/31/2014. So far, only the Black plate with Yellow characters has exceeded that number. The Yellow plate and the Blue plate are far from hitting that 7,500 minimum, so they may not be produced if that threshold isn't hit by 12/31/2014. I did talk with the DMV and they will be a black reflectorized background, with embossed Yellow characters and "California" will also be embossed Yellow characters at the top of the plate. The DMV will be using the old press molds for the plates, and they will be slightly heavier gauge that the current white plates of today. Since the minimum threshold was hit in May of 2014, we should be seeing the new California "Black Plate" on the roads within 9-12 months, per the DMV. So, if you want the good old look from the 1960's, these are available to anyone for any year car/truck/motorcycle/trailer. Here's the link to the DMV website: CA Legacy Plates

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Art and beauty inspire. Joln the war against the drab and the hum-drum. Celebrate diversity!

Right. Who wants a dull world where everything is the same.+

[blauskies]

Originally Posted by wehotex

I remember that the current plates came out about 1993 or 1994. I thought that they were cool at the time, but why can't they change it up a bit? Imo, the gold lettering on blue background were the most attractive ones. I think that those came from the early 70s or so. Does it cost more to produce colored plates? I know that other states do so, like New Mexico, New York, Ariz, Pennsylvania.

California plates are not that bad even if dated, the specialty plates have a sense of class. Being a native of Pennsylvania I can tell you the plate designs are lame and have been for years, I had one of those "You Got A Friend" plates back in the 80's and I hated it worse slogan ever.

The newest design is really bad in Penn Dot colors. They have a few specialty plates that are not bad, best one they ever made that they stopped producing after a few years due to law enforcement complaints that visibility was poor was the Flagship Niagra plate.



Florida has the most plate,some are nice and the funds benefit wildlife and etc and some are ultra cheesy and they are always bringing out more.

[sourdough]

Be glad you're not in Washington State, they require you to purchase plates with every car, new or used. Plates stay with the owner, when you sell your car you keep the plates. LOL, that being said, I want to buy new plates for my '91 vehicle. They look old and weathered, the car still looks new.