A Quiet Boom

[quote]Originally posted by perry951:
<strong>Illigal in Ohio, been pulled over 5 times for it. I always get it thrown out of court becuse mine has no provisions for the mount from the factory. Flies every time.

Downside.. I am always getting pulled over.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Yup, same for me in Ohio, although I think running historical plates has something to do with the fact that I've never even been ticketed. My usual response to the officer is a very polite "it's a 35 year old car with no place to mount a front plate, believe me if I didn't have to drill holes I'd mount one" this usually starts a conversation about how they can't believe it's that old etc. etc.

Tremelune

Front plates? No way. I've never had a front plate on any of the cars I've driven, and I've never had it mentioned in any state even after being pulled over for something else. Knock on wood.

pedro951

it is required here in TX and i have been pulled over for it a few times. each time i give the officer a "gee golly it didnt come with any so i didnt know i need one. where can i get one? oh yes ill get that taken care of right away"
always gets me off with a warning.
but i dont even have a bracket & i couldnt cover part of the intercooler hole.

Mongo

I've gotten 5 fix-it tickets for no front plate on my 944 because I have a Porsche plate up front. My 928 has no bracket up front so I say screw it. hell not even my mom's 300E has a plate on it!!! Keep them fix-its comin!!!!!

<img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

deni durrell

i have one. the car came with it and i know it looks ugly, but i don't give a crap. if it came without one i would feel the same way. but now, since it has a PNO (permit for non-op) i will be taking *both* of them off. you heard it here first, folks. deni's car will be in storage til i can get my **** straight. sad but true; at least it won't get confiscated any time soon. life is cali can be brutal.

Zeloy

Here in PA it isn't required to have a front plate, but I was considering buying that black one with the Porsche Crest in the middle. I have an NA so it would fit right inbetween those 2 bumpers. There are already 2 holes drilled in there for a plate and many small rock chips so I thought a black front plate would cover it up and look good with my red car. I never got around to buying one, they cost like $60! plus brackets! think I should buy it or just stay with the two holes and rock chips?

Brian Wilson

Yes, and as you all know, they are about 2ft wide and a nice eyesore. However, not as bad as those nasty big extra black foam bumper things that you NA guys have to run!!!

Micah

In some old Porsche sales literature, I spotted a narrow front plate on an NA (narrow as in it just covered the front part of the bumper... maybe 4 inches wide, 6 inches long?) that read "944" and looked great. It looked as if the plate mounted over the factory "holes" and like I said - it was pretty small. I liked it especially because it tastefully filled up the space between the front bumper guards.

Never been able to see one in the flesh. May've just been a promo thing.

Micah

nib5

I feel for US drivers of Euro cars, having that misshapen lump of tin strapped to the front does tend to spoil the lines. The Euro plates fit proportionally in the rear between the lights and fit within the depth of the front bumper. Running w/o a front plate in the UK would result in a stiff fine and points on your licence.

However, I saw a Ford Expedition here recently (the owner must be insane with gas at the equivalent of 5 bucks a gallon), and I can say that if anything it looks worse the other way around.

Mind you, the only thing that would look good on an Expedition is a good sized limpet mine.

PrerYDoG

Here in VA it is illegal to run without a front plate. But alas, I break far too many laws to give a rats *** about this one!

I don't put a front plate on for several reasons.

1. It uglifies the car (I don't tell the cop this one)

2. The plates are sooooo large, it partially obstructs the cooling ducts (my excuse to the officer, worked 7 times and counting)

3. I don't put on the county decals either, so why bother with front plates? I'll take my fine if need be.

4. Without a front plate, police have a really hard time bouncing a radar beam off my car (I like this)

5. While I do have HOLES up front, I have "lost" the mounting bracket, and don't think I'll be "looking" for one anytime soon. (I sometimes have to use this one with the officer too).

Front plates, IMHO, are unconstitutional (I'm a believer in strict interpretation, and front plates are NOT in there, so therefor, not required by law!).

Gundo

Here in Connecticut, I don't run front plates on any of our cars. In the past, CT only required rear plates, but the law has changed.

Cops don't really seem to care though.

I got pulled over just this morning in the 951 and the cop (after a frontal radar shot) didn't even mention my lack of a plate. He actually let me off with a written warning. I've never heard of such a thing!

tifosiman

I went for 15 years here in Ohio driving without a front plate on ANY of my cars, and then moved last year to my current location in Bellbrook and got pulled over twice in one week for it by Bellbrook police (in my daily driver, not the Porsche). So, I dug out the original bracket and mounted a front plate on the daily driver, but the Porsche will not be molested if I can help it.


Tifosiman

IanM

Well, up here in BC it's illegal not to run a front plate as well. However, I don't have mine mounted, I hate how it seriously impedes flow into the intercooler. I keep mine behind the rear seat. I've been pulled over a couple times, and when asked about it, I pull it out from behind the seat and explain that I just got the car back from the body shop, but it hasn't been mounted yet because the shop didn't have the proper screws, but they are on order. Gets me off every time.

TaboII

I have the fiberwerks front end on my car and run in MA. It may be a nono but damed if I'm going to put holes in a fiberglass front end just to add a plate. Hey I dont have factory mounts for thep late on the car just like Corvetts I carry mine with me but will never put it on.

bs

maybe i'm pushing my luck but i have never had a front plate on either of my cars, and i have spent time in mn, vt, ny, ca and made many road trips in between those states. i've been pulled over for other things and not had it mentioned... i've even been pulled over a few times in the porsche recently and not gotten tickets. like i said maybe i'm asking for it but the cops really don't seem to care.

i saw a 951 at thunderhill that had a cali plate with the top and bottom sawed off mounted in front. it still had all the numbers visible but didn't block flow to the intercooler.

deni: that's absolutely tragic... are you gonna work on her while she's off the road?

prerydog: speed radar frequencies will reflect off of the sheet metal or fiberglass of your body work or even your windshield. having no front plate only reduces your succeptibility to "lidar" or infra red laser speed measurement because that relies on a surface which reflects visible or near visible radiation... ie retroreflective coating on a license plate.