SNM Specialty Plate arrived!

[Skip Lackie]

The actual Day, Month & Year is at the Top that it expires, so does that mean that Plate is Trash Next Year, or gets a Sticker, is Lifetime or what?

Usually if it's Dated, with no way to hide it, it's junk next year! What a Waste.

I have no personal knowledge of Indiana registration and license plate rules, but that hasn't been the case in a long time, if ever. A number of states date new issue plates with the expiration year embedded, but then issue annual stickers for them thereafter. Modern flat-plate technology (which is used for the Stude Museum plates) provides a flat surface for the later stickers. It also allows the plates to carry the exact expiration month and day.

[BobPalma]

Instead of an "unsold state plate"...why not find out who's doing the plates and contract with them for a similar looking SNM "Studebaker Tribute" plate. My state and many others do not use a front license plate and many of us use the space for custom tags. The space reserved for the license number could be used for personalizing with year of your car or model name. Where it says Indiana, the Museum plate could say "Made in Indiana USA."
They could keep the red Studebaker badge where it is and the Studebaker Museum at the bottom where it sits now. Perhaps there's a buck or two to be made by the manufacturer and the SNM.

That wheel has pretty much already been invented, John.

Both Studebaker International and The Studebaker National Museum Gift Shop sell a variety of front "license plates" to be used on vehicles in states where a front plate is not required. At least a couple of those plates are similar enough to the Official Indiana SNM Specialty Plate that it would be duplicitous to make yet another one.

Your suggestion, the space reserved for the license number could be used for personalizing with year of your car or model name...is a good one. Perhaps one of those vendors could pick up on that additional idea, since the basic dies and such already exist where those plates are being made. BP

[BobPalma]

I have no personal knowledge of Indiana registration and license plate rules, but that hasn't been the case in a long time, if ever. A number of states date new issue plates with the expiration year embedded, but then issue annual stickers for them thereafter. Modern flat-plate technology (which is used for the Stude Museum plates) provides a flat surface for the later stickers. It also allows the plates to carry the exact expiration month and day.

That's true in Indiana, Skip; we only get annual renewal stickers for several years after an initial plate is created and issued. BP

[BobPalma]

Does anyone have a clue what those 2 Digit Numbers are in the Lower Right Corner?
Maybe a County Code?

What Jim said in Post #7, Rich. The two-digit figure in the lower right is a county code. Indiana has 92 counties, so the codes were created years ago in alphabetical order; 1 through 92.

Jim and Gene (Post #4) live in St. Joseph County; 71. I live in Hendricks County; 32.

Alphabetically, Marion County, which is essentially Indianapolis, is 49. However, they ran out of numbers because there are so many cars in Marion County, so some Marion County plates are 93; the first two digits available after they had used up all the digits for the state's 92 counties. BP

[jclary]

That wheel has pretty much already been invented, John. ...Your suggestion, the space reserved for the license number could be used for personalizing with year of your car or model name...is a good one. Perhaps one of those vendors could pick up on that additional idea, since the basic dies and such already exist where those plates are being made. BP

Bob, I realized that there are existing plates for that purpose, but here, since I think it is an attractive plate, it's all about the formatting. This design provides an opportunity to draw attention to the Legacy of Studebaker, and the region from which they came. Also, I have a past experience that inspired me to suggest "Indiana USA" on the plate. I was out in my '51 Land Cruiser when I was approached by some college students. They were taken by the bullet nose design, V8 engine, and plush interior for a car so old. One asked me where they were made? I responded, "Indiana." Next was a question that astonished me..." WHAT COUNTRY IS THAT IN?" (Perhaps Indiana needs to get their name in some video games?)

Since it is an attractive format, it might become popular on those merits as an alternative to those currently being offered. Heck, for those wanting to add their personal touch to the space reserved for official numbers...vinyl numbers & letters are available at craft stores like Hobby Lobby.

[BobPalma]

Bob, I realized that there are existing plates for that purpose, but here, since I think it is an attractive plate, it's all about the formatting. This design provides an opportunity to draw attention to the Legacy of Studebaker, and the region from which they came. Also, I have a past experience that inspired me to suggest "Indiana USA" on the plate. I was out in my '51 Land Cruiser when I was approached by some college students. They were taken by the bullet nose design, V8 engine, and plush interior for a car so old. One asked me where they were made? I responded, "Indiana." Next was a question that astonished me..." WHAT COUNTRY IS THAT IN?" (Perhaps Indiana needs to get their name in some video games?)

Since it is an attractive format, it might become popular on those merits as an alternative to those currently being offered. Heck, for those wanting to add their personal touch to the space reserved for official numbers...vinyl numbers & letters are available at craft stores like Hobby Lobby.

Don't give me any ideas, John. BESTV8 might come about sooner than later! BP

[Skip Lackie]

What Jim said in Post #7, Rich. The two-digit figure in the lower right is a county code. Indiana has 92 counties, so the codes were created years ago in alphabetical order; 1 through 92.

Jim and Gene (Post #4) live in St. Joseph County; 71. I live in Hendricks County; 32.

Alphabetically, Marion County, which is essentially Indianapolis, is 49. However, they ran out of numbers because there are so many cars in Marion County, so some Marion County plates are 93; the first two digits available after they had used up all the digits for the state's 92 counties. BP

Obscure license plate factoid: Indiana license plates dated from 1963 though 2008 used the county code as a prefix (eg, 71-1234). County code prefixes were very common in the mid-West, and still hang on in a few states. But the conversion to the ABC-123 numbering format and semi-permanent plates in many states is eliminating it.

[StudeRich]

What Jim said in Post #7, Rich. The two-digit figure in the lower right is a county code./Cut/

OR, what I said PRIOR in Post #6!

Posted at 5:23 PM. I only added the sentence about cheating the system later at 5:57 PM

[JimsLeadCommander]

That's interesting, Jim. Note that your plate number is JM145 and mine is JM221. That probably means they sold 76 non-personalized Studebaker National Museum plates between when we each bought ours.

However, that doesn't mean they sold only 76 SNM plates because some of them, like Jim Turner's, have buyer-selected, personalized number/letter combinations. Those combinations cost an additional $45, so the total cost becomes $85 for an SNM plate with personalized numbers/letters. (If somebody else doesn't grab it first, I'm thinking of springing for the additional $45 next year to get an SNM plate that reads BESTV8. That is the maximum number of characters and will pass the review board looking for offensive/suggestive/illicit combinations. ) BP

Now Bob, IF you put that plate on your daily driver, followers will think you're suggesting THAT car has the "BestV8"

[BobPalma]

Obscure license plate factoid: Indiana license plates dated from 1963 though 2008 used the county code as a prefix (eg, 71-1234). County code prefixes were very common in the mid-West, and still hang on in a few states. But the conversion to the ABC-123 numbering format and semi-permanent plates in many states is eliminating it.

True, Skip. We were told (and it's believable) that they simply ran out of numbers to continue using the old two-digit prefix denoting the county. With the ABC123 arrangement, you can start all over with 123ABC...and thousands of combinations in between. BP

[Skip Lackie]

It took California, with its millions of cars and lots of turnover, seven years (from 1963 to 1969) to go from AAA-001 to ZZZ-999. As I recall, they omitted the letters I, O, and Q from the third position to prevent them from being confused with numbers. That's 15,548,000 numbers.

It only took 12 years (late 1969 to mid 1980) to go from 001-AAA to 999-ZZZ (new issues only, with all older numbers still valid).

[studegary]

It took California, with its millions of cars and lots of turnover, seven years (from 1963 to 1969) to go from AAA-001 to ZZZ-999. As I recall, they omitted the letters I, O, and Q from the third position to prevent them from being confused with numbers. That's 15,548,000 numbers.

It only took 12 years (late 1969 to mid 1980) to go from 001-AAA to 999-ZZZ (new issues only, with all older numbers still valid).

"Normal" NY plates have three letters and four numbers. Many more combinations. Of course you have to add all of the vanity and special plates to the count.