Texas 1975 Base Plate
1975–1985Texas · base
The end of the annual plate. Black on white, with the year reduced to a small box at the top right where a renewal sticker would go, because the plate itself now stayed on the car for years. The reference is a manufacturer's sample, which is why its serial reads as placeholder characters. The plate shown is a reconstruction carrying an invented serial, so no real registration is depicted.
One plate, several years
This design served from 1975 to 1985 rather than for a single year. A plate that stays on a car across several registrations cannot date itself, so the year is proved separately, by a tab or sticker in the earlier period and by a windscreen sticker later. It is the opposite arrangement to the annual plates, where the plate WAS the registration.
Stamped, not printed
Every character here is pressed into the metal and stands proud of the surface, along with the raised rim just inside the edge. Run a hand across it and you feel the whole design. The plate was struck from flat stock in a press, then the raised faces were rolled with paint, which is why wear shows first on the tops of the characters.
Sources
Reference photograph (CC BY-SA 4.0, Thegunkid). Annual issuing practice and the 1955 move to the 6x12 standard (CC BY-SA).
- Issued
- Standard issue
- The plate you received by default when you registered a vehicle.
- Serial format
- AAA★999
- Material
- Embossed metal
- Source license
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Reference
- View original