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Ore. Vendor Switches

Oregon Non-Passenger Variations

Here is a look at many of the non-passenger Oregon license plates of the last fifty years. By no means does it list every type thereof; rather, I've limited myself to plate types that are either permanent or revalidated by stickers, have sequential serials, and for which multiple variations exist.

Each type is listed with information on specific layout and die variations and the confirmed serial ranges thereof. Originally many plate types had divergent color schemes; however, colors were more or less standardized at blue on gold following the adoption of reflectorization in 1973. Some non-passenger plate types have been made on optional graphic bases such as the Oregon Trail and Salmon issues; however, the issuance of these has ceased as of 2004. Since the Trail plates used the same serial prefixes as ordinary issues, they are covered here.

If you have any additional information, feel free to let me know (although honestly, this crazy project is one that I've all but relegated to the back burner since the initial burst of enthusiasm). Yes, and I know I need bigger photos.

The majority of license plates issued in Oregon are and have been made by the Irwin-Hodson Company of Portland; however, some other suppliers have made Oregon plates as well, most notably the now-defunct Polyvend Corporation of Arkansas in the 1980s. "Tall" Irwin-Hodson dies as referenced here are those used on most Oregon passenger plates from 1955 to date; "short" Irwin-Hodson dies are those used on the "Pacific Wonderland" base of the early '60s. Polyvend's "tall" dies are straighter-lined than Irwin-Hodson's; their "short" dies, meanwhile, match Irwin-Hodson's style much more closely. The most reliable way of identifying a Polyvend-made Oregon non-passenger plate is by the dies of the state name, which are typically much more rounded and closely spaced than on equivalent Irwin-Hodson plates.

B: Bus

By Oregon's definition, a bus worthy of receiving these plates is "designed and used for carrying passengers, baggage, and express for compensation." Designs parallel those of farm and truck plates, although bus plates are issued in far fewer number. There should be other variations I haven't yet documented as well.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Blue/aluminum; ORE and sticker box over PACIFIC WONDERLAND Short Irwin-Hodson B 883 Orange/aluminum; OREGON over sticker box " B 3-138 to B 3-931

C: Trailer Coach

Breaking news: I finally figured out what vehicle class "C" prefixed plates were used for. The fact that the stickers on them carry the "Trailer Coach" designation ought to have been a dead giveaway. Not to say the mysteries are over, though: This type of plate hasn't been issued in years. I assume this was a precursor of the Travel Trailer type, although I could be wrong.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Gold/blue; ORE and sticker box over PACIFIC WONDERLAND Short Irwin-Hodson C12-167 to C55-509 Gold/blue; ORE and sticker box Tall Irwin-Hodson C76-010 to C108243

D: Disabled Veteran

Some of these plates have a wheelchair symbol under the "D;" others (with newer, higher serials) don't. According to the Oregon License Plate Manual, these plates "do not allow special parking privileges:" I guess they changed their mind.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Blue/gold; PERMANENT over OREGON; VETERAN at right; wheelchair under prefix Tall Irwin-Hodson D 00084 to D 01584 Blue/gold; PERMANENT over OREGON; VETERAN at right; no wheelchair " D 06079 to D 07887 Blue/gold; OREGON over PERMANENT; VETERAN at right; no wheelchair " D 11513 to D 17945

E: Publicly Owned vehicle

The all-purpose government-vehicle plate wasn't always thus: In the '50s the state went overboard with specially-captioned plates for all sorts of entities: Counties, Schools, "Irrigation Districts," and so on with little serial blocks dedicated to each. (The ALPCA Archives make mention of a "City Owned" plate somewhere in the E70-000s too, for good measure!) The captions were standardized under a "Publicly Owned" umbrella in the Pacific Wonderland era, and the series has been steadily chugging along since then. Some plates of the '80s employ Polyvend's straighter-lined dies; whether this variation proves to be scattered or not remains to be seen.

Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Black/aluminum; OREGON-SCHOOL DIST./OWNED Square Irwin-Hodson E 3-583 Black/aluminum; OREGON-CITY/OWNED " E 8-384 Black/aluminum; OREGON-COUNTY/OWNED " E15-272 Gold/blue; OREGON-PUBLICLY/OWNED Tall Irwin-Hodson E38-238 Gold/blue; OREGON-IRRIG. DIST./OWNED " E40-007 Gold/blue; OREGON-SCHOOL DIST./OWNED " E50-798 Gold/blue; OREGON-COUNTY/OWNED " E71-914 Gold/blue; OREGON-STATE/OWNED " E80-607 Gold/blue; OREGON-PUBLICLY/OWNED over PACIFIC WONDERLAND Short Irwin-Hodson E90-106 to E93-032 Gold/blue; PUBLICLY OWNED over OREGON Tall Irwin-Hodson E47-521 E98-225 to E108-705 E114259 to E117571 Blue/gold; PUBLICLY OWNED over OREGON " E123776 to E220840 Blue/gold; PUBLICLY OWNED over OREGON Tall Polyvend E151858 Blue/gold; PUBLICLY OWNED over OREGON Tall Irwin-Hodson E168346 to E193217 Blue/gold; OREGON over PUBLICLY OWNED Short Waldale E230335 Blue/gold; OREGON over PUBLICLY OWNED Tall Irwin-Hodson E237961

F: Farm vehicle

The stickered green-on-white (or pale green, if you prefer) series came about in 1959 following a series of quarterly issues. Since the numbering overlaps with that of subsequent issues and the sticker stacks on the plates always seem to end in "61," it seems overwhelmingly likely that the plates were replaced at that time.

I originally assumed that the numbering had been continuous since then, but my recent "discovery" of an orange-character plate with a lower number than some blue-character plates suggest that the numbering series restarted when the blue-on-aluminum plates were (presumably) replaced in 1965. A few more variations have come out since then (settling on the blue and gold in the 1970s), analogous to the changes on truck plates.

Another recent "spotting" is a recently-manufactured plate using new and substantially different dies for both the state name and serial. The dies in question are similar to those Irwin-Hodson has used on Newfoundland & Labrador license plates, and may set the trend for other types as well.

Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Green/white; ORE and sticker box Tall Irwin-Hodson F10-135 to F36-109 Blue/aluminum; ORE and sticker box over PACIFIC WONDERLAND Short Irwin-Hodson F14-436 to F20-876 Blue/aluminum; ORE and sticker box Tall Irwin-Hodson F42-471 Orange/aluminum; OREGON over sticker box Short Irwin-Hodson F35-788 to F64-179 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box " F71-722 to F74-311 F108nnn to F142345 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box Short Polyvend F 99999 to F110917 (scattered) Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box New Irwin-Hodson F157805

H & HC: Motor Home

This type of plate has been a bit convoluted in terms of serial progressions and the like. The earliest numbers seem to be in the 900000s; however, the various numbering series have changed more than the plate since then, with the 900000 block followed by 100000-block plates; followed in turn by "HC" prefixed plates followed by five digits. These "HC" plates also seem to be issued primarily from high serial blocks, with lower numbers doled out to issues stamped on optional Oregon Trail bases in the mid '90s. These plates have been issued separate month and year stickers since the 1980s, although the single heavy vehicle-style sticker box was maintained well after that.

Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Blue/gold; ORE and sticker box over MOTOR HOME Short Irwin-Hodson H900722 to H938387 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box " H953286 to H962118 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box Short Polyvend H974121 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box Short Irwin-Hodson H988491 H118615 to H133562 H/C 67503 to H/C 96039 Oregon Trail graphic " H/C 06019 to H/C 16162 Blue/gold; OREGON at top Tall Irwin-Hodson H/C 44069

K: Camper

Camper plates are issued to "structure[s] with a floor designed to be mounted upon a motor vehicle but not permanently attached" and "providing facilities for human habitation or camping:" Make of that what you will. These plates were originally issued in a unique black-and-white design, although things have undoubtedly gone blue and gold in the decades since then.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range White/black; ORE and sticker box over CAMPER Short Irwin-Hodson K706482 to K742755 Blue/gold; ORE and sticker box over CAMPER " K769482

M: Motorcycle

The first postwar multi-year Oregon motorcycle plates were issued in 1966, and renewed the year thereafter with a sticker. Some late registrations received high-numbered plates dated "67." Although there appears to be every indication that these plates ceased being valid after that, I did spot a '66 plate that inexplicably carried a 1982 sticker not long ago on eBay (see photo).

The current series of Oregon motorcycle plates, in any case, dates back to 1968. Early plates (up to 85000, if what the Oregon License Plate Manual says is any indication) had straight numeric serials, although an "M" prefix was implied in vehicular records. Narrower, squarer dies came into use in the early '70s that allowed easily for five digits plus the "M." The "M" and first digit began to be stacked from the 200000 series on.

Originally the plates were validated with unique, small stickers. These were replaced by gigantic heavy vehicle-style stickers when staggered registration commenced in the late '70s (which did a number on the plates, covering up their sticker box in the process), and eventually separate month and year stickers.

A rare variation from the early '70s with a white/blue color scheme, squared dies, and "M" prefix allegedly exists. Early plates in the stacked M/2 series have a much wider "2" die than later examples. Finally, some plates in the '80s were made by the Polyvend Corporation in Arkansas, and feature much more rounded serial dies.

Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Green/aluminum; OREGON 66 at bottom Rounded Irwin-Hodson 2505 to 35073 Green/aluminum; OREGON 67 at bottom " 47158 White/blue; OREGON over sticker box " 980 to 67426 Gold/blue; OREGON over sticker box Squared Irwin-Hodson M 93065 to M177944 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box " M189156 to M199828 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box; stacked prefix (wide "2" die) " M/2 01448 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box; stacked prefix " M/2 15083 to M/2 42631 Blue/gold; OREGON at top; no sticker box; stacked prefix " M/2 57657 to M/5 68462 Blue/gold; OREGON at top; no sticker box; stacked prefix Polyvend M/3 28663 to M/4 05625 (scattered)

R: Travel Trailer

Another class of plate that originally had a unique (pistachio!) color scheme; "travel trailer" plates are issued to trailers that "provide facilities for human habitation"...basically the wheeled, pull-behind version of a camper, if you will. Separate month and year stickers replaced the combined heavy vehicle-type stickers in the 1980s. High serial blocks were reserved for issues on the Oregon Trail graphic base.

Variation Dies Confirmed serial range White/green; ORE and sticker box over TRAVEL TRAILER Short Irwin-Hodson R413268 to R479612 Blue/gold; ORE and sticker box over TRAVEL TRAILER " R499688 to R563863 Blue/gold; ORE and sticker box over TRAVEL TRAILER Short Polyvend R570888 Blue/gold; sticker box over OREGON Short Irwin-Hodson R578166 to R748249 Blue/gold; sticker box over OREGON Short Polyvend R583155 to R604663 (scattered) Oregon Trail graphic " R999030

T: Truck

"T" prefix plates like these are issued to trucks in excess of 10,000 pounds; lighter trucks, presumably, get the same spiffy tree plates as ordinary cars. Like farm vehicles, trucks have been issued a number of different plate styles over the years; the numbering seems to have been fairly continuous since the "Pacific Wonderland" series replaced the green-on-white issue in 1961 (although I recently came across an inexplicable plate in the post-Pacific Wonderland blue-on-aluminum style with a lower number. Oh well.)

Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Green/white; ORE and sticker box Tall Irwin-Hodson T107294 to T154881 Blue/aluminum; ORE and sticker box over PACIFIC WONDERLAND Short Irwin-Hodson T141110 to T137517 Blue/aluminum; ORE and sticker box Tall Irwin-Hodson T127509 to T159128 Orange/aluminum; OREGON over sticker box Short Irwin-Hodson T203801 to T346076 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box " T348318 to T455707 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box Short Polyvend T460849 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box Short Irwin-Hodson T494473 to T550039

U: Utility Trailer

These "regular" trailer plates are issued to light boat or utility trailers. Separate month and year stickers began being used in the 1980s; the descriptive caption was removed by the time Polyvend made their run. This class is noteworthy for being one of the only non-passenger types of plate routinely made on the graphic tree bases used for passenger plates.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Blue/gold; ORE and sticker box over TRAILER Short Irwin-Hodson U012864 to U025136 Blue/gold; sticker box over OREGON Short Polyvend U076303 Blue/gold; sticker box over OREGON Short Irwin-Hodson U085316 "Dead tree" graphic " U112741 "Live tree" graphic " U155497

Y & Z: Apportioned

Oregon joined the International Registration Plan, a road tax fee-handling agreement for interstate vehicles, in 1975. Apportioned plates began to be issued immediately thereafter. "Y" prefixed plates are issued to trucks; "Z" plates go to trailers. These plates use the same small dies used on Oregon's infamous P.U.C. plates; Polyvend-made plates are easily identifiable in part to the use of a closed "4." These plates generally use leading zeroes; however, some strangely don't.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Blue/gold; OREGON over APPORTIONED and sticker box Extra-small Irwin-Hodson Y 002371 to Y 110147 Z 004671 to Z 72468 Blue/gold; OREGON over APPORTIONED and sticker box Extra-small Polyvend Z081854 to Z088576 Blue/gold; OREGON over APPORTIONED and sticker box Extra-small Irwin-Hodson Z 094156 to Z 106291

HF: Heavy Fixed Load

Definitely one of the stranger plate types around. Tar kettles, backhoes, and road graders over 3000 pounds fall into this category. Most of the "HF" plates I've seen thus far are dated "Dec. 73" (Were these plates even revalidated after that?), but surprisingly this is still listed as a current plate type in the Oregon License Plate Manual.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Gold/blue; OREGON over DEC, sticker box, and 73 Short Irwin-Hodson H/F 02809 to H/F 03799 Blue/gold; OREGON over DEC and sticker box Short Irwin-Hodson H/F 06311

HP-HT: Heavy Trailer

These plates are issued to heavy trailers and semi-trailers (in excess of 8000 pounds). These seem to have started out as stickered plates in the "HT" series. Later on "Permanent Registration" decals were issued to existing registrations, and new plates began being made in the "HP" series ("H"eavy "P"ermanent?) with no stickers whatsoever. The series has continued from there, with a number of different prefix letters being used over the years.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Orange/aluminum; OREGON over sticker box Short Irwin-Hodson H/T 00-516 to H/T 05-600 Blue/gold; OREGON over sticker box " H/T 45773 Blue/gold; OREGON over PERMANENT " H/P 20239 to H/P 96503 H/Q 00740 to H/Q 78406 H/S 70398 Blue/gold; OREGON over PERMANENT Tall Irwin-Hodson H/U 27929

LT: Light Trailer

Uh-oh, not yet another type of trailer plate! These plates date back to 1968 and originally featured a unique black-on-aluminum color scheme and a number of different serial-spacing conventions. What became of them after that I'm less sure about...I'd expect that "LT" was folded into another trailer classification over the years.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Black/aluminum; DEC. OREGON and sticker box at bottom Tall Irwin-Hodson L/T 918 L/T 10-804 to L/T 33-390 L/T 3-8470 to L/T 5-1114 Blue/gold; DEC. OREGON and sticker box at bottom " L/T 7-2636

SC: School Bus

Pardon the lack of pictures (you can see one on PL8S if you like), but school bus plates have been made in two distinct styles: By Polyvend with short dies, and by Irwin-Hodson (the state's usual manufacturer) with tall ones. I can't help but wonder if the short dies were used in error, but this wouldn't have been the first plate order whose details Polyvend fudged up...

SP: Special Interest vehicle

This is an unusual class of vehicle: Special Interest plates are issued to vehicles 25 years old or more that are maintained as a collector's item and, presumably, are not eligible for Antique Vehicle tags. The two die variations are very similar and differ only in details: The Polyvend-made plate has straight Os and Gs in the state name and has the state name and serial stamped very close together; the Irwin-Hodson version, meanwhile, has oval Os and Gs, a slightly higher-stamped serial, a more shapely "S" in the prefix, and generally better-quality stamping.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Blue/gold; OREGON at bottom Short Polyvend S/P 01062 to S/P 01364 Blue/gold; OREGON at bottom Short Irwin-Hodson S/P 05132 to S/P 06486

Old Timer, Historic Vehicle, and Antique Vehicle

In spite of their divergent titles, Old Timer, Historic Vehicle, and Antique Vehicle plates appear to be continuations of each other. The classification is currently reserved for vehicles "older than one-half the number of years between the current year and 1900" that are maintained as collectors' items.

Steve Grove already has a page for Oregon on his Antique Auto License Plates website, so I'll try not to plagiarize it too badly. Essentially, the Old Timer series began with a similar format to passenger plates. The serial format originally contained an "A" prefix that was soon squeezed out by a fourth digit, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was implied in vehicular records after that. The "Pacific Wonderland" slogan seems to have been adopted for Old Timer plates a year or two after passenger ones, judging by the fact that tab slots had already disappeared by the time that base arrived.

The caption changed to "Historic Vehicle" in the mid-sixties, coinciding with the discontinuation of plate stickers. Some plates have a dash in the serial; others don't. After that series was depleted, an AQ-prefixed "Antique Vehicle" plate came out. Most of these plates have the vehicular caption on top and state name on the bottom; however, a photograph on the Plate Shack Y2K page shows a plate with the legends reversed. The serial dies are smaller and differently-proportioned from Irwin-Hodson's "short" dies too, leading me to wonder if it was made by Waldale in Nova Scotia.

I honestly don't know if Old Timer plates remained valid after the Historic Vehicle ones came out, or if either are still valid today.

Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Gold/blue; OLD/TIMER before serial; OREGON 56 with tab slots and holes at top Tall Irwin-Hodson A-35 to A-688* Gold/blue; OLD/TIMER before serial; OREGON with tab slots and holes at top " 1-069 to 1-337 Gold/blue; OLD/TIMER before serial; OREGON with only tab slots at top " 1-507 to 1-564 Gold/blue; OLD/TIMER before serial; OREGON with no slots at top " 1-674 to 1-810 Gold/blue; OLD/TIMER before serial; OREGON over PACIFIC WONDERLAND Short Irwin-Hodson 2-128 to 2-245 Gold/blue; HISTORIC/VEHICLE before serial; OREGON at bottom Tall Irwin-Hodson 3-735 to 5-086 5215 Blue/gold; HISTORIC/VEHICLE before serial; OREGON at bottom " 6-887 to 8-020 Blue/gold; HISTORIC/VEHICLE before serial; OREGON at bottom Tall Polyvend 9138 Blue/gold; HISTORIC/VEHICLE before serial; OREGON at bottom Tall Irwin-Hodson 9539 to 9796 Blue/gold; ANTIQUE VEHICLE over OREGON Short Irwin-Hodson A/Q 00008 to A/Q 01543 Blue/gold; OREGON over ANTIQUE VEHICLE Short Waldale A/Q 02578

*A-848 confirmed, but variation unknown.

Disabled Person

Disabled and handicapped-related plates certainly present some of the most perplexing mysteries in non-passenger Oregon platedom. Most of these plates tend to be gold on blue and are stamped with the month of expiration. There would seem to be evidence that different serial blocks were reserved for different months: Numbers invariably get higher as you go from January to December, and this would explain why a later blue-on-gold "DIS" plate has a lower number than some of the earlier gold-on-blue plates; assuming of course that it's from the same series.

The mysteries only begin there, however. Why do lots of "Disabled Person" plates look unissued, and why do sticker stacks always seem to end in 1976: Did something else replace them then? Evidence of later handicapped issues are limited to some Polyvend- and Irwin-Hodson-made plates with a "D" and wheelchair preceding the number (all of which seem to have numbers in a narrow range and "90" stickers, oddly enough) and an early '90s plate in the non-passenger style with "DIS" before the number...a number that does not form a continuation of the "DIS" series of the '70s, or seem to be accountable for in any other way!

Variation Mo. Dies Confirmed serial range Gold/blue; DISABLED/PERSON before serial; month, OREGON, and sticker box at bottom JAN. Tall Irwin-Hodson 31 to 47 FEB. 907 MAR. 1812 to 1835 MAY 3577 JUN. 4474 SEP. 7139 Blue/gold; DIS before serial; month, OREGON, and sticker box at bottom MAY " DIS 3639 Blue/gold; OREGON at top; wheelchair under prefix Tall Polyvend D 016142 to D 016290 Blue/gold; OREGON at top; wheelchair under prefix Tall Irwin-Hodson D 016544 Blue/gold; DIS before serial; OREGON over sticker box Short Irwin-Hodson DIS 393

Wrecker

Wrecker plates, issued to tow trucks and the like, are some of the stranger and more mysterious Oregon plates out there. Some versions have a non-passenger format with heavy vehicle-style stickers; others adhere to the format and colors of passenger plates. The serial formats diverge as well: From what I can tell these plates use the same numbering schemes as dealer plates, with a single wrecker service being assigned a number (i.e., 2145) and receiving multiple plates with consecutive letters (2145-A, 2145-B, and so on). Of course even then the serial formats aren't terribly consistent: The letters can appear as prefixes or suffixes, and later plates carry an "LW" prefix for good measure! I've sorted things out by the core numbers, which seem as consecutive as anything else. This type of plate is no longer noted in the Oregon License Plate Manual, although incidentally a "Towing Registration/Business Certificate" plate is.

	Variation Dies Confirmed serial range Blue/aluminum; sticker box over OREGON WRECKER Short Irwin-Hodson A-2001 to B-2130 Orange/aluminum; OREGON WRECKER over sticker box " 2145-A Gold/blue; OREGON WRECKER and sticker box at bottom Tall Irwin-Hodson 2158-B to 2164-A Blue/gold; OREGON WRECKER and sticker box at bottom Tall Polyvend L/W 2293-B to L/W 2293-D

The Network License Plates Ore. Vendor Switches

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©2007-09 Andrew Turnbull.
Last update February 17, 2008.