Harrell Camaro

[X77D80]

Are those California black plates in the 1973 photos?? If so, this car was registered in CA in 1969. Begining in 1970 CA went to blue plates...

[Belair62]

I was under the impression that 69 was a transition year from black to blue plates. Some 69's I though got blue plates if the local DMV was finally out of 63 Black plates and it was late in the year..The more populated areas got the blue plates first.An old friend told me this who went to Cal. regularly to bring back rust free(no charge for it) cars ! Most 69 cars with black plates I have seen started with letters very near the end of the alphabet.i.e. v thru z etc. Anyone from Cal can shed more precise info on this ? I like black plate cars.

[SuperNovaSS]

The original owner registered the car in California when he bought it new. He told me he registered in California then went to Kansas City got the car and drove it home. I am trying to get the black and gold plates back but I think the second owner turned them into the DMV.


Jason

[Chuck Norton]

Belair 62,

Your recollection is accurate. Cars licensed in California in 1969 may have had either the black plates or the new blue ones. The changeover came rather late in the year. One '69 I owned was tagged ZLP ### in black plates indicating that the cycle of available combinations was nearly exhausted. Conversely, one '69 Camaro that passed through my hands a few years ago had blue plates beginning with ### A?? . Note that the black plates had the alpha preceding the numeric and the order was reversed on blue plates.

C.

[X77D80]

There are some 1970 model Chevelles with black plates cruising the streets of CA probably because they were being produced and sold late in 69 as 1970 models. Because of the 1970 Camaro's late (Feb 70) unveiling, it would be highly unlikely you would find a 1970 black plate Camaro...
Back to the Harrell Camaro, the original owner bought it from Harrell, drove it home to CA and registered it!? ThatÃs very cool!!!

[SuperNovaSS]

Yep, the original owner was a funny car racer and knew Harrell through racing.I think he bought the car and registered it in California before he went to get the car.I talked with him today and he told me some more interesting things about the car. He went to Harrell's shop a day early and watched them finish putting the car together. He got the car with the 396 emblems still on the fenders and Harrell gave him the 427 emblems to put on himself. He never put them on because he didn't want anyone to know it was a 427.Instead, he nailed them to his workbench. He is a great guy and loves talking about the car.


Jason

[Edited by SuperNovaSS (12-31-2001 at 10:18 PM).]

[SuperNovaSS]

Were Vins stamped on turbo 400s? If so, where?


Thanks,


Jason