After 40 years, state gears up for a new license plate format.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

The end is near.

No, not the end of the world, silly - the end of Oregon license plates as we know them.

The state first issued the current configuration of three letters followed by three numbers in 1964, with yellow characters on a blue background. But all of the combinations have just about been used up, and the batch of plates that begins with "ZZZ" is expected to run out in February, according to the state Department of Transportation.

After that, the system will flip-flop to a numbers-first pattern, which the state used for its limited-edition Oregon Trail plates in the 1990s, starting with 001-BAA (Plates 001-AAA through 999-AZZ were used for the Oregon Trail plates.)

But no one will get that last plate - ZZZ-999. It's destined for the historic license plates display case in the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services' lobby in Salem.

And people are actually calling to find out how to get a "ZZZ" plate, DMV spokesman David House said.

Good luck.

The plates will be available at 20 of the DMV's 64 field offices across the state - including the Eugene office at 2870 W. 10th Place, which is getting 50 sets, beginning Feb. 5. But they'll be issued on a first-come, first-served basis for those registering vehicles, buying new cars or replacing lost, damaged or stolen plates. And sorry, no reservations for specific numbers.

"It doesn't happen very often," House said of the first format change in 40 years.

"And we won't need to do this shuffle for at least a couple of decades."

Although the letters-first format lasted four decades, the numbers-first format won't have a similarly long life-span simply because of Oregon's growing population, House said.

And what happens when the numbers-first system expires - no more plates? Hardly. "There's a couple of ways we could go," House said.

California, the nation's most-populous state, went to seven-character plates at least a decade ago, he said.

OREGON LICENSE PLATE TRIVIA

13 million: Approximate number of Oregon license plates with three letters followed by three numbers issued since 1964

17,558,424: Number of combinations possible using three letters followed by three numbers; but state doesn't use the letters "I" and "O" to avoid confusion, so only 13,810,176 Oregon plate combinations are possible

Bad combos: State also avoids "really bad" letter combinations that could be misinterpreted as swear words

3.3 million: Approximate number of registered vehicles at end of 2000

80,000: Approximate number of vehicles with personalized plates

1974: Year switched from blue plates with yellow letters to yellow plates with blue letters

1988: Statewide contest led to the present white plate with blue letters and green tree in the middle

- State Department of Transportation, Driver and Motor Vehicle Services