Love the nostalgia of “The Endless Summer” movie? If enough people feel the same way, “The Endless Summer” license plate could make its way to the highway.

The Surfing Heritage & Culture Center announced this week that it is applying to the state to create the special-interest license plate, an announcement made to a packed crowd with the launch of an exhibit at the San Clemente museum called “Bruce Brown: A Life Well Lived.”

There’s just one hurdle: 7,500 people have to apply within one year before it gains approval.

Given the popularity of the film, which is one of the most celebrated surf movies to reach a mainstream audience, interest could come from around the country.

Bruce Brown films Huntington Beach surfer Robert August during the making of the film “Endless Summer.” (Photo courtesy of Bruce Brown Films.)

Bruce Brown personally narrated “The Endless Summer” at the Chaminade High School Auditorium on June 30,1964, about a week after film’s premier at the Hollywood Encore Theater. (Photo courtesy of R. Paul Allen)

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Filmmaker Bruce Brown, director of “The Endless Summer,” was on hand for The Endless Summer book release in Huntington Beach on Saturday, April 29, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Filmmaker Bruce Brown during the making of his film “The Endless Summer” on display at the launch event for The Endless Summer book in Huntington Beach on Saturday, April 29, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)



“The Endless Summer” was created by Brown, who grew up in Long Beach, started his film career in the sleepy surf town of Dana Point, but lived out his later years in Santa Barbara. He died at age 80 of natural causes on Dec. 10, 2017.

When the film was released in the ’60s, theaters away from coastal communities were hesitant to show it. But when people started lining up in the snow in remote Kansas towns, there was no denying the film had struck a cord with the masses.

“The Endless Summer” featured two surfers following the sun. Brown tapped Huntington Beach’s Robert August, who had plans to go to college to become a dentist, as one of the cast, the other was Mike Hynson.

As the movie evolved into a worldwide phenomenon, it became clear it was about more than surf; it represented a sense of freedom, with viewers whisked away to a foreign land.

The license plate honoring “The Endless Summer” would show the movie’s well-recognized poster.

SHACC opened a pre-registration website to gauge interest and gather names for registration when the time comes. A pre-sale will start after the Coastal Conservancy files a letter of intent with the Department of Motor Vehicles and the proposed license plate is approved by the DMV and the California Highway Patrol.

If approved, a portion of the proceeds from the license plate will be donated to SHACC.

More information: surfplate.com.