Author Topic: Front License Plate  (Read 23041 times)

UJJ

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Front License Plate
« on: July 25, 2013, 12:58:09 »
Massachusetts is one of the states where a front license plate is required. I think this looks quite ugly in front of my car and I am wondering if any of you have some experience either with our law enforcement friends and/or with passing the annual safety inspection if the front plate is removed or replaced by more appropriate sign. 280SL 1968 would be nice!

I see many Pagodas, including cars registered in MA without any front plates or with plates of their owners liking, so there must be a way.
I try to avoid driving around carrying bribe doughnuts in the case I get stopped. :D
Have any of you got harassed doing so?

Urban Janssen
Grass Valley, CA
1968 280 SL - 4speed manual
173 anthracite grey

kampala

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2013, 13:19:10 »
California has the same law - front plate required.   It used to be no big deal and was not enforced ... however I have received a ticket for not having a front plate on a daily driver.  It was a fix-it ticket that was a real pain to get cleared up.   In the past few years, I have known several friends who have been ticketed for this ... we believe the reason they are now enforcing this is because of the many cameras installed at traffic lights.  Many of these take a shot head-on and capture the plate and the driver in one-shot.  Again, this is California ... the state is very hungry to keep the funds rolling in ...

Also, many large USA airports have a few police stationed at the entrance ... ready to stop anyone ... and in Los Angeles they are stopping and ticketing for lack of front plates at the airport. 

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280sl - 1971 - Auto - LSD

ctaylor738

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2013, 13:44:41 »
On my various old cars I have put the magnet tape that's got adhesive on one side on the license plate.  I attach the plate if I drive in Arlington County or the District, where the police are mercilessly detail-oriented.  Fairfax County where we live seems to be more tolerant about such things.
Chuck Taylor
1963 230SL #00133
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Falls Church VA

bogeyman

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2013, 14:58:14 »
My State (NE) recently adopted a category called "special interest."
It is for collector cars that aren't used as daily transportation.
Costs $50/year which includes personalized message plate and no required front plate.
Rick Bogart
1970 280SL Black(040)/Parchment
1969 280SL Silver(180)/Green
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49er

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2013, 15:09:31 »
 Seems like Vettes and Porsches have a free pass here in CA. Never see a front plate on those cars. Always had a plate on my SL but drilled a couple of holes in each side of the plate to center it on the bumper. Have got used to it being there over the years :)

John
1969 280SL 003820
Un Restored, All Original, including the paint
Original Owner, Purchased September 18, 1968
4 speed manual, PS. 77217 miles
7280 miles since awoken from her 20+ yr "nap" in 2010

mdsalemi

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2013, 15:24:14 »
Many states have, for cost reasons, eliminated the front plate requirement.  Maybe CA still has too many in prison and they need to keep them busy?
We don't have a front plate here, but some buy them for fun!  Not required.
Speaking of cost reduction, Massachusetts, in a fit of wisdom and cost reduction, stopped sending out driver's license renewals; you have to remember yourself and do it yourself. When in Massachusetts last February, I polled the people at a party I was at.  All pulled out their licenses, and fully 50% had expired!

Monday saw a run to the registry!  :D
Michael Salemi
Davidson, North Carolina (Charlotte Area) USA
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pj

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2013, 16:20:11 »
Ontario requires front plates. You're right, the traffic cams and homeland security issues probably motivate the regulations nowadays.

Benz Dr put a bracket on my bumper that holds the plate a few cms in front. I like the effect of the "floating" licence plate.

If we were permitted to lose the front plate, I would ask you all about the flat section of the front bumper. With no plate, wouldn't our cars look even better if the front bumper were all one piece and didn't have the smushed in portion?
Peter J
1965 230SL #09474 named Dagny
2018 B250 4matic named Rigel

Rolf-Dieter ✝︎

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2013, 19:33:31 »
Peter, I think our cars would look even better without the concave section to allow the mounting of Euro plates. A full continues front bumper would give our car more class. This has been discussed many a times in other car forums. I guess most European car manufactures have gone away from this front bumper concave plate mounting area. I remember back as far as the 80s my German cars all had the continues bumper up front. In Alberta (as well as other Provinces) we needed no front plates.

I don't know why they don't make it a standard across North America and do away with that front plate. I guess they want to keep the boys busy in them prisons :) Oh well.
DD 2011 SL 63 AMG and my 69 Pagoda 280 SL

Cees Klumper

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #8 on: July 25, 2013, 20:19:48 »
Interestingly enough, I don't know of one country in Europe that does not require front plates. They all do AFAIK.
Cees Klumper
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49er

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2013, 21:33:29 »
 Maybe CA still has too many in prison and they need to keep them busy?
You might be right there Michael, but things are looking up here in the Golden State these days. At least no salted roads so our cars don't exhibit too much rust. And as to Pebble Beach always being cold and foggy. That is true certain times of the year and usually only when a certain a famous Golf tournament is played and sometimes during the Concours. Otherwise it is a spectacular place! Still, way too many people in the cities but up here where we live in foothills of the Sierras, life ain't bad :)

John (A California native, if you couldn't tell)
1969 280SL 003820
Un Restored, All Original, including the paint
Original Owner, Purchased September 18, 1968
4 speed manual, PS. 77217 miles
7280 miles since awoken from her 20+ yr "nap" in 2010

UJJ

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2013, 11:50:54 »
[Benz Dr put a bracket on my bumper that holds the plate a few cms in front. I like the effect of the "floating" licence plate.

pj:
That sounds interesting. Do you have a picture of it?
Thanks, Urban
Urban Janssen
Grass Valley, CA
1968 280 SL - 4speed manual
173 anthracite grey

pj

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #11 on: July 26, 2013, 17:19:52 »
this is before I put a clear plastic cover over it, but I think it shows what I was talking about.
Peter J
1965 230SL #09474 named Dagny
2018 B250 4matic named Rigel

UJJ

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #12 on: July 26, 2013, 17:59:40 »
Thanks for the picture. It certainly looks better.
Urban
Urban Janssen
Grass Valley, CA
1968 280 SL - 4speed manual
173 anthracite grey

Flyair

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #13 on: July 28, 2013, 01:50:39 »
to echo what Cess said about Europe, while all countries here require the front plate, some in the past were wise enough to make it less obtrusive.

I was aways envious of Italian front plates that were very small, thus much less noticeable than those from other countries. Also, Belgium and Luxembourg used to have smaller sizes than elsewhere. Unfortunately, the EU unification craze did not miss the opportunity to impose that member states have the same size… obviously being the largest possible one :) and put on both ends of the car.

BTW, T think that the best looking plates used to be those from Monaco, but then their rarity has been in direct relation to the size of the country… No idea what is the present situation as technically, Monaco is not part of the EU.

Some EU countries have adopted special rules for vintage cars, evidenced by specific plates. In Poland these have yellow background (as opposed to white in general case). There is also a vintage car sketched on the plate, which I find amusing but of questionable relevance to Pagodas and other Porches that have more contemporaneous features than that.
  
« Last Edit: July 28, 2013, 03:03:26 by Flyair »
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49er

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #14 on: July 28, 2013, 02:29:07 »
 I remember when I saw a Jaguar E Type in London back in ’65 with the large front plate mounted on the bonnet. Painful to look at.

John
1969 280SL 003820
Un Restored, All Original, including the paint
Original Owner, Purchased September 18, 1968
4 speed manual, PS. 77217 miles
7280 miles since awoken from her 20+ yr "nap" in 2010

Paul & Dolly

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #15 on: July 28, 2013, 07:25:01 »
That used to be quite common here, on cars with aerodynamic front ends - they were "stick on "  plastic sheet plates,
to which you then stuck the numbers and letters on .

Paul
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Garry

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #16 on: July 28, 2013, 08:25:20 »
Like this on my Jag last year.  Easy to stick on and can be removed.  The hard plate was really difficult to fit and always scraped on the ground when you opened the bonnet/hood

Garry Marks
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tobacco

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #17 on: July 29, 2013, 04:03:45 »
I'm not required to have a front plate on my Pagoda anymore, so I don't.  I used to leave the front license plates off all my cars and just pay the Illinois fines -- they totaled about the same dollar premium annually as would a vanity or personalized plate.   So aesthetics ruled over the law or even the 'origin' argument that if Germans all put front license plates on their German cars, then that's the way it should be; and I should put one on the front of my German car, too.

But now I proudly display the front plate on my daily driver, a Tesla S.  Illinois EV plates are sequentially numbered and it's a kind of a signal to those who are interested of how long ago or how early in the production run I bought mine.  It's nice not to wonder when I'm going to get my next ticket -- but mostly it's funny how circumstances can completely reverse a deeply held point-of-view on something like this.
Bill Greffin
Chicago
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KevinC

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #18 on: July 29, 2013, 18:30:27 »
What's interesting and odd regarding this subject specific in Massachusetts is the fact that plates here have been red letters/numbers on white background for quite some time. There was a period however when plates were green on white and yes...only one plate per car was issued. Some of those plates are still registered so if you have a car with green/white, you ONLY have one plate and that obviously goes on the back.

Personally, its my belief that you PROBABLY won't get pulled over in Massachusetts for having just one plate or at least one be fined if you do. I would bet that if you were in an accident or had some alternate infraction then they could add the one plate thing to your ticket. But don't go by me...I've had my car hear since 2007 and never had a State inspection sticker either!

PS: I do lots of driving in Connecticut!   

zoegrlh

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #19 on: August 04, 2013, 11:57:38 »
Virginia is one of the states that require front plates too.  However, I run a german plate on front, and a Va. antique plate on rear.  Then I carry my front antique plate in my drivers door pocket in case of being stopped.  If stopped, I "forgot to replace my front plate".  Have been doing this for 11 years, and have traveled far, never been stopped.  Knock on woor.
Bob
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mdsalemi

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #20 on: August 04, 2013, 14:26:00 »
I guess it's like this: if the authorities approach you head on, and see no plate, they have no idea whether you are from a one plate state with no requirements, or a two plate state with.  By the time they pass you and look in their rear view mirror, make a determination, do they put their lights on, do a 180 and chase you down?  It's all kind of silly.

Once I got a ticket for [my intent was avoiding a huge traffic mess] for "use of private property to avoid a traffic control device." Months later at a city breakfast I sat next to district court judge who said "I'd have thrown that (dismissed) that waste out of my court in a heartbeat".

You never know what you will run into...
Michael Salemi
Davidson, North Carolina (Charlotte Area) USA
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cospinner

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #21 on: September 04, 2013, 17:42:44 »
In Texas, a new just started Sept. 1 that requires a front plate and a $200 fine if you are caught without it.  I was doing the same as Bob and had a French Euro plate on the front and an old 1970 Texas plate on the rear.  I am looking for a license plate bracket to convert the European wider holes in the bumper to the narrower US plate locations.  I would prefer one that is not the same rectangular shape as a Euro plate with extra holes, but instead a US sized backing plate with tabs or ears that reach out.  I can't find it online yet...any ideas?
Chip in Dallas
1970 280SL Euro

66andBlue

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #22 on: September 04, 2013, 18:31:28 »
Bud's Benz sells a nice front license plate holder:
http://www.budsbenz.com/catalog/200/N%20-%20Miscellaneous
Alfred
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mdsalemi

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #23 on: September 04, 2013, 18:58:46 »
Bud's Benz sells a nice front license plate holder:
http://www.budsbenz.com/catalog/200/N%20-%20Miscellaneous

The greatest value in the Bud's product is the nicely manufactured and angled nylon spacers.  Unfortunately that front "plate" that is supposed to back the license plate is sized for something I have not seen...maybe a German tourist plate or something but it is too small for one of those ersatz EU plates (like I have) or any standard US plate.

However, what I did was go to a metals shop with the dimensions of the plate I needed, had one cut out of hard plate aluminum, drilled it myself, and used the Bud's mounting gear.  If anyone needs the little useless plate I think I still have it... ;)
Michael Salemi
Davidson, North Carolina (Charlotte Area) USA
1969 280SL (USA-Spec)
Signal Red 568G w/Black Leather (Restored)
2023 Ford Maverick Lariat Hybrid "Area 51"
2023 Ford Escape Hybrid
2024 Ford Mustang Mach Ex PEV

rb6667

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Re: Front License Plate
« Reply #24 on: September 04, 2013, 20:03:05 »
Chip, If it were me, I'd take a trip to a "Pull your own Part Junkyard"  There are many imported vehicles that have the type of bracket you are looking for.  Look at the BMW'S and other imported vehicles.   Many of those have front brackets that I'm sure could be modified to work.  Just drill a few holes in the bracket and you'll be in business.


RB6667