The 96th Academy Awards are today, and fitting with the theme of Hollywood Stars is this California dealer license plate that was issued to Mercedes-Benz Hollywood. This dealership, then on Sunset Boulevard, right in the heart of Hollywood, surely saw its share of movie stars over the years.

A taped-up mess of paperwork on the back confirms its provenance: an insurance card for Mercedes-Benz Hollywood, Inc, and a business card for John B. Fleming, sales consultant.

Mercedes-Benz Hollywood had moved to its location at 6353 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood in 1985, sometime during this license plate’s time in use.

Below is a later plate also issued to Mercedes-Benz Hollwood (same dealer number, 5336). This plate was the 54th registered to the dealership, noted by the “54A” stacked at right.

It’s no coincidence that both of these plates expired in January 1996: Mercedes-Benz Hollywood closed in late 1995. I obtained both from an east coast collector a few months afterward, not knowing anything of their origin until finding the registration details on the back of the blue plate.

These two otherwise unremarkable California dealer license plates are among the favorite plates in my collection, due to their link to a prestigious and storied car brand in an equally prestigious and storied place.