[JLO]

Ok, I think your memory is better. What was the one that had the gas tank opening behind the back license plate that had to be flipped down?

Thanks in advance. (Was it an Olds?)

[par4]

Darn near every full sized car in the 60's had a flip down license plate that exposed the gas neck, I kind of remember that my '65 Chevy Impala SS (in Evening Orchid, no less) had that system. The license plate was held in the vertical position by a couple of springs. When they went bad (or were delibrately broken), the plate dropped down parallel to the ground and became unreadable.

This is only conjecture on my part, but since that long filler neck was right under the bumper, it was pretty exposed in a rear end crash and may have been very subject to snapping off, resulting in the government forcing a redesign and subsequent relocation of the filler to the rear quarter panel on almost all cars.

Of course, that's only my opinion, your actual mileage may vary, warranty void when exposed to the light of day etc.....