Annapolis cars and coffee

ED.....Did you want your license plate to be bent and sort of slapped on ? Like, on purpose ?  I already have concerns about how I will mount the front plate on my Spyder.  Since I will have a radiator up there I don't want the plate to cover those openings down there.......Bruce

Bruce, you can put it off to the side. I'll bet you could come up with a nice aluminum bracket that goes under the turn signal. And of course, make a dummy round spacer for the other side to match.

Or, you could make it removable and carry it in the car and NEVER mount it. I did drive around with it on once just to get dead bugs on the plate so it looked used. That worked for me.

On my old car, I installed a couple riv-nuts in the body. Then I left 1/4-20 bolts in the plate along with 1/2" nylon spacers and an O-ring on each bolt so I wouldn't lose the hardware. Sorry officer, I left it off after the last car show, please forgive me?

The riv-nuts look best if they are installed prior to paint, like they belong there.

@aircooled posted:

ED.....Did you want your license plate to be bent and sort of slapped on ? Like, on purpose ?  I already have concerns about how I will mount the front plate on my Spyder.  Since I will have a radiator up there I don't want the plate to cover those openings down there.......Bruce

Eh. I got it on there, is all. My original method was a bracket that hung it off to one side and straight down. The plate scraped when I went into and out of my driveway, so I went with the two quarter/20 rivnuts and "conformed" the plate to the body.

A few years ago I was stopped in my Speedster for not having a front license plate.  I didn't have it in the car so the officer gave me a $50 ticket. He said if it was somewhere inside the car he would not have given me a ticket.  It's been under the passenger-side floor mat ever since without any stops.   

If you're willing to take a chance on getting a $50 ticket, put the plate under your floor mat.  If you get stopped explain that you just haven't had a chance to install it yet but have it with you.     

Has anyone ever pursued a “paint on” version of a plate like they use in UK?

If allowed, it seems like it would be pretty simple to get a vinyl “plate” and apply/remove as needed.

Here in Utah, it’s not legal. Only “official, state issued” plates are allowed, although I’ve had no problems with my repro plate on the rear and nothing up front.

ps: Damned if Spyders aren’t gorgeous in white. I wonder why more people don’t choose it.

That’s a Dutch plate on the white 550…..

I had a Mini plate on the front of my 2cv Citroen.
the 85 year old owner took the stock plate to Kinkos and had a 70% size one printed , Then he sealed it in plastic ,  and put it on the front bumper ,

legal…..ummm no……but he was 85 years old so no cop was going to give him a ticket !

I've wondered , How do the authorities know if a painted tag is authentic to the registered vehicle?

@americanworkmule posted:

I've wondered , How do the authorities know if a painted tag is authentic to the registered vehicle?

The same way they know your license plates are authentic to yours, the database.

From what I understand, in the UK you register your vehicle and it’s your responsibility to source the plates. And, like CA, registration number follows the vehicle, not the owner, so painting the front “plate” on makes sense.

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@dlearl476 posted:

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...Has anyone ever pursued a “paint on” version of a plate like they use in UK?...

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Unfortunately, here in sunny California, only the CHP pursues such versions.

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@East Coast Bruce posted:

If you're willing to take a chance on getting a $50 ticket, put the plate under your floor mat.  If you get stopped explain that you just haven't had a chance to install it yet but have it with you.     

Or, like I said above, put two riv-nuts in the front to either directly mount the plate or a bracket. Then keep it in the car. If you get stopped, apologize and tell the officer you forgot to install it after a car show. Put it on the car in front of him if he'll let you. Ticket avoided...

Most of us have either gray or no hair. We're old compared to the young buck with the badge! He'll believe you that you forgot.

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@DannyP posted:

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...Most of us have either gray or no hair. We're old compared to the young buck with the badge! He'll believe you that you forgot.

Especially if you toss him a quarter and tell him to buy himself a phosphate at the soda fountain.

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He'd probably take you in for a breathalyzer and a drug test. I'd bet he would think you were insulting him.

I've been thinking about imbedding a couple steel discs  about 1" diameter under the fiberglass up in front where I'd like my plate to be. Then install two super strong, rubber coated magnets on the back of my plate with a couple of nylon machine screws and nuts.  This would allow me to have a quickly removable front plate again.......Bruce

@dlearl476 posted:

ps: Damned if Spyders aren’t gorgeous in white. I wonder why more people don’t choose it.

Yup, I like them that way too. There were quite a few raced that way.

My two favorites:

1) Dutchman Carel de Beaufort and American Ed Hugus running Lemans in 1957 in a 550a. American-owned cars were often painted white. They placed 8th overall. Notice that HUGE steering wheel!

2) Italian Umberto Maglioli winning the Targa Florio outright(beating Mercedes and Ferrari) in 1956, driving the entire 12 hour race himself! Car was painted white in the pits with a brush. The organizers would allow only Mercedes to wear silver paint.

@dlearl476 posted:

The same way they know your license plates are authentic to yours, the database.

From what I understand, in the UK you register your vehicle and it’s your responsibility to source the plates. And, like CA, registration number follows the vehicle, not the owner, so painting the front “plate” on makes sense.

This is what I was kind of getting at. Same tag different cars. But I guess in this situation it is some kind of Manufacture's tag.

California has been considering a vinyl appliqué for a front license plate. They've also considered a digital rear pate instead of the metal rear plate. Update the tags over the internet. Probably last as long as it takes someone to hack the system and renew everyone's tags for free.

The thing I think to notice about the real cars and painted on front tags is this: The license plate goes between the top of the grill and the bottom of the hood's edge—not over the grill.

Since we don't run oil coolers up front it's not an issue for air cooled replicas. But it is for Suby guys.

The trouble I had was: USA license plates don't fit in that space. Only yerpeen ones do!

@Sacto Mitch posted:

Especially if you toss him a quarter and tell him to buy himself a phosphate at the soda fountain.

A quarter would have gotten 2.5 cokes at the counter at Duke Welty's

Exactly!

The extra 15 cents goes right in the cop’s pocket and no one’s the wiser.