1938 YOM Plates
Apr. 29-30, 2007
 "New" 1938 plates installed on Penny. Isn't that cool? |
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Lynn was handed this flyer at the BAHCC Swap Meet in February.
The man handing out the flyer, apparently a member of the Northern California Chapter of the OCA, encourages
Lynn to attend the Vallejo meet and connect with other Olds owners.
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Hoping to connect with other northern California Oldsmobile owners, Lynn takes Penny and Jeanne to the Vallejo swap meet, sponsored by the Northern California Chapter of the Oldsmobile Club of America. It is his good fortune to connect with a number of owners. Even more remarkable, he meets not one, but two families of 1938 Olds owners.
Dave and Pat Kennedy (Roseville, CA) are the owners of a 1938 L-38 4-door touring sedan. Former residents of Livermore, their beautifully restored car was featured in an article entitled "1938 Oldsmobile: The Might-Have-Been LaSalle" that appeared in Special Interest Autos, No. 117 (June, 1990). Lynn takes the opportunity to ask Dave a number of questions about the proper restoration of Penny. A particularly helpful bit of information is Dave's confirmation of Lynn's plans for refinishing the grill.
Lynn also connects with Alan and Jeanie Marsden (Mantica, CA). They own not one, but two 1938 Olds. Alan intends to use the parts for the two cars to create one good car. As he plans to "rod" the car, many of the original Olds parts will be surplus. Lynn makes plans with Alan for a future visit to look at his parts.
One item that Lynn thought was really neat when he negotiated to buy Penny was the 1938 Oregon plates that she was sporting at the time. Some states, including California and apparently Oregon, allow owners to register their cars using vintage plates. Also known as YOM (Year of Manufacture) license plates, there are some important restrictions to their use. The year of the plates must match the model year of manufacture of the vehicle. Further, the numbers on the plates must not match any other plates that are already registered.
For Penny, the plates need to be from 1938. The style of the numbers on many 1938 plates match numbers that California has more recently been assigning to motorcycles. This increases the probability that a perfectly good set of 1938 California plates can not be used to register Penny. This definitly drives up the cost of doing business!
At other swap meets, Lynn has looked at, but not purchases 1938 California plates for Penny. The $200 or more that had been asked for the plates was too high for Lynn's sensibilities. He has also been watching the auctions on ebay, but hasn't spotted a suitable pair, yet.
Wondering through the stalls of the vendors, Lynn spots some 1938 California plates for sale. Lynn is assured by the seller that the plates have been checked with the DMV and are clear and can be registered. Lynn thinks that maybe this means a better than 50% chance that he will be able to register the plates and that maybe he is buying something that he can only use on Penny at shows. In spite of this, after some negotiations with the seller, Lynn is the proud owner of a set of vintage 1938 plates for Penny at a discount from what he's been offered in the past.
The very next day Lynn makes an early visit to the local California DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) office and applies to register Penny under his "new" 1938 plates. He is given a temporary registration tag and the application is sent off to the central DMV for processing.
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Penny is now officially registered in California under these plates.
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Lynn has been holding his breath, hoping that the State of California will permit him to use the plates with Penny. On May 29, exactly one month after acquiring his new plates at the swap meet, Lynn receives his new California registration in the mail. California also includes two metal daughter plates with the registration. These daughter plates are bolted to the YOM plate to hold the little month and year expiration stickers. Yahoo!
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Last updated: May 24, 2009