I was running an auto shop in Commiefornia back then. If a vehicle had title problems, a DMV office could assign a number, which was attached to the body or chassis on a tag. ("tab", maybe?) Since it's got windows in the panel truck body, and possibly 2nd. and 3rd. row seats, some state employee probably called it a station wagon. Back then, it was also necessary to get an emission control inspection every year, before renewing the license plates! That was a money-maker for the shop owners who could afford to buy an exhaust gas analyzer and pay the fees to become an "official inspection station"! Later on the smog check was only required when a vehicle changed ownership, and yes, the tag stayed with the vehicle. I'll bet that one's black and yellow, right?
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!