Black Cal Tag CSL on BAT,

Tony.dreamer

Tony.dreamer

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1973 BMW 3.0 CSL

Bid for the chance to own a 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #50,559.
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Whose car is this ? A forum member perhaps?
 
Black Cal Tag CSL on BAT
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While this coupe does have black license plates, it isn't a "black plate" car; e.g., one that was sold new in California and still wears its original plates.

- California stopped issuing the original black plates after 1969. This is a 1973 car.
- The original black plates all had six characters. This car's plates have seven characters, which is typical for the more recently issued black plates.

And yes, I am a license plate snob.
 
I saw the car in person when it was at SF Motorsports for sale in 2019. It’s a nice example. If I were in the market, this one would grab my attention.
 
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jmackro said:
While this coupe does have black license plates, it isn't a "black plate" car; e.g., one that was sold new in California and still wears its original plates.

- California stopped issuing the original black plates after 1969. This is a 1973 car.
- The original black plates all had six characters. This car's plates have seven characters, which is typical for the more recently issued black plates.

And yes, I am a license plate snob.
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Can you order 7 digits black plates from Califonia Authorities?
 
Tony.dreamer said:
Can you order 7 digits black plates from Califonia Authorities?
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Yes. They began issuing plates with a black background a couple years ago. They're sort of like vanity plates, or the extra-charge plates with special graphics. They look kind of vintage, since the 1964 - 1969 plates also had a black background. But the DMV will not issue plates in the same "letter-letter-letter-digit-digit-digit" format used back in the 1960's. The modern ones are typically something like "POOPSIE1" or "CATLOVR" or "CSL1973", so aren't easily mistaken for 1960's era plates.
 
New California Black Plates are referred to as "Legacy Plates". They are aluminum, not metal like the old ones.
You can order them for $50. for any CA registered car using the DMV form "Reg 17".
Right now they take about 4 months to process. You're allowed up to 7 characters plus 1 additional 1/2 space (for spacing only).
There are many restrictions regarding the plate configuration: Click here for the rules.
 
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jmackro said:
Yes. They began issuing plates with a black background a couple years ago. They're sort of like vanity plates, or the extra-charge plates with special graphics. They look kind of vintage, since the 1964 - 1969 plates also had a black background. But the DMV will not issue plates in the same "letter-letter-letter-digit-digit-digit" format used back in the 1960's. The modern ones are typically something like "POOPSIE1" or "CATLOVR" or "CSL1973", so aren't easily mistaken for 1960's era plates.
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Thank you for your response! Do you have to assign it to a car ? Or can you pay the fee and reserve the number?
 
Drew Gregg said:
I thought California cars had front license plates. There isn't a good place for one on this car.
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The DMV issues two plates, yes. But since robo red light cameras were declared illegal, the cops no longer enforce having front plates (they were never very diligent about this).

Tony.dreamer said:
Do you have to assign it to a car ? Or can you pay the fee and reserve the number?
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I'm not sure I understand your question. But I think the answer is "yes, you do have to assign a plate's characters to a car". In other words, you can't just reserve "BMW 30 CS" when you're 18 years old, and have them issue it to you twenty years later when you can finally afford one. However, once a plate is issued to you, you can move it between cars that you own. So our hypothetical 18-year old could order "BMW 30 CS" for his beater Toyota (assuming someone else hadn't grabbed it first) and then transfer it to his CS when Bitcoin reaches $100,000.
 
You can pay for and reserve a Legacy plate, there is a guy on eBay asking $500 for a whole series of plates with BMW on them, you just have to pay an annual fee to retain them. Every Porsche, Range Rover and Kia now wear these plates in CA. :(
 
So.....what if you repainted its 'vanity plate' blue after ya spend 6figs on it..?!

Anybody gonna pull ya over?

Yep, it definitely needs blue plates. ;)
 
CSL’s continue to under perform on BaT. Meanwhile, back to my carb CSL tribute. :D
 
Markos said:
CSL’s continue to under perform on BaT. Meanwhile, back to my carb CSL tribute. :D
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It’s a decent example but not superb so I think market correct. The underside is scruffy and I recall the firewall insulation looked crumbling when I saw it. Wrong kidney grill, and other details missing.
 
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