This article has a picture of one of Steve Jobs' actual cars with no plates at all (temporary or otherwise). It explicitly talks about a "new" requirement for new cars to be issued temp plates. Before that, brand new cars from the dealer had a 6-month grace period.
> "From 2019, California joins most of the other states in the nation by requiring newly bought cars to be issued temporary license plates."
Right, not a plate: the 6 month temporary operating permit was taped inside the windshield, not on the back of the car, but was still ticketable. On the other hand, the car pictured is from after his death; all of his were black.
> "From 2019, California joins most of the other states in the nation by requiring newly bought cars to be issued temporary license plates."
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/07/steve-jobs-loophole-clo...