You can tell if it is really a "black Plate CAr" by looking at the registration and checking the numbers with the numbers on the car. No, you can not get black plates and put them on another car. If the car was not originally registered in California when black plates were being issued by the State of Californai, it can not carry the black plates. If the registration was ever allowed to lapse after the black plates were originally issued, then the new registration must use the currently issued plates. If you are in California, another thing you must watch for is failure to pay the non-registration fee. The state might just require you to register it for all those years it was not registered, even if it was not your car then. JOhn