BrettStrikes

I have a 91 Toyota Celica GTS which has had a bumber cover replaced, aftermarket, with no holes. I have been pulled over twice and given a verbal warning each time. My second plate is in my hatch. Just in case. Both State Troopers told me that MA state law requires a proper display of a rear and a front plate. A front display, proper to them, is a plate on the dash if no screw holes are present or whatever. Maybe this will fly in your county for the Sheriff. I doubt for a $28 fine, anyone has fought the legal definition of proper display. But, it works in my Toyota. Stuck in the corner of my dashboard, cant see it.

Ron_H

OK, I'll go down next week and change my middle name to "Cynic". The rules have been changed and I must be prepared for that offense from the court. New game now. Not right. Not just. But the way it is until someone changes it.

Hey, I haven't received any citation yet; just doing my diligence and homework in case it happened. When it starts to rain, it is too late to start building an ark.

cobalt

Try attaching it to the sun visor passenger side with string. If you see a cop flip it down. If they pull you over tell them you are having a problem obtaining the proper braket from Germany. The cars haven't been produced Since '94 and they are no longer supporting cars that are more than 10 years old. Smile and tell them you will attach it to the front as soon as the braket comes in but it may take several months. It's worth a shot.

If you end up having to drill the bumper you can always cover it up later. Contact Eric at bumper plugs. He makes painted plugs that match most every factory color.

Here is a pic of my turbo with the plugs. Not great but better than the alternative.

fraggle

I gave up and put a plate on. Figured a front plate was better than a fake DUI if I had a beer or two and drove home. Not worth the risk. It also slightly obscures the Passport SR1 install I did below it...

Ron_H

I agree with Fraggle. Not having a front plate is just another excuse for getting stopped and questioned. No use giving anyone an excuse to pull you over, and that's all they need to do it.

cobalt

You know it may just be a Porsche thing also. How many vettes do you see without front plates and I never see them getting pulled over for not having one.

I have been driving in NJ for over 20 years without a front plate on my Porsche's, only got pulled over twice. In both cases it was the small town cop looking to throw his weight around and could find no other reason to give me a hard time.

The State cops I know could care less if you have a front plate. Most of them don't have them on their personal cars. The GTS has never had a front plate and I don't plan on drilling into the bumper for it if i can help it.

I find looking away from the cops as you pass helps. If they can't get your attention to pull over, most don't want to be bothered coming after you just for a front plate.

Shane

Brent get four of those suction cups like the ones that come with the V1, and mount that bugger in the front window on the passenger side, and drive on. This way when you are out of the range of duputy dog you can pull the sucker off and put it on the floor board. Keith Martin in Portland has been doing that for years with his '80, and is proud to say no tickets.

Myself I just pulled both front plates and inserted bumper plugs, I will not be going back to front plates, and will like Dave said just keep paying my tickets as the price to not having front plates.

Gretch

MA use to issue plates now affectionately called "Greenies", where you only got 1 plate. If you have a greenie, you have no front plate, and no requirement to mount one.......They stopped that quite a while ago....I think my greenie was new in 1987........

NH requires a front plate.......I decided not to argue, even put one on my '74 TR6..........

Brent 89-GT

Thanks for all the ideas and the validation of how stupid this whole thing really is. I have ordered a used front plate mount from 928 intl and I will be breaking down and finding a way to mount it when it comes. I might try the silicone trick to glue it on.

I am with fraggle and Ron, I don't need to get pulled over all the time, and that is what is most likely to happen. The road topography is such that I can not avoid a confrontation on at least a weekly basis. This particular deputy made it clear that he would be hounding me. I have a good raport with the rest of them, one is even my nieghbor. Unfortunately I am legally in the wrong and this guy is going to prove that to me as a matter of course.

To try and support the "Porsche harrassment theory" I am not fitting front plates to my trucks. Any bets on how many more years I can go without a ticket like this? I'm betting it will be a VERY long time

Gretch

Smart move..........human nature. sheesh.....but it dictates that there will always be a witch hunt....the key is to avoid being the witch......

FlyingDog

Find out where Barney Fife's favorite place to sit is. Get your wife or a friend to drive the G-wagon a mile in front of you. Then see which one he pulls over. It's not a valid defense, but you can make him look like as *** in court in front of all of his buddies.

Gretch

Flying Dog, While the bravado of the above idea may be fun for a few minutes, pissing off a cop has some longer term repercussions that may make the whole exercise a poor investment theme.......

Look at it from the cops perspective.....Brent told the cop he was gonna continue to break the law, in his face......what do you expect the cop to do, back down? Exactly how do you think that would look to his "buddies" once word of that got around....

Rules suck, and seemingly stupid rules can't suck enough.....But even Ron, the king of "edge-walking-with-the-constables" is smart enough to know you don't go LOOKING for a full cavity search......

Bravado is the most expensive form of entertainment...........Take it from someoen who has had to pay the "collateral damage" bill a few times.....

rob rossitto

brian!! I did the same EXACT thing on my shark about 5yrs ago!!! hahaha!! too funny!! mine fell off in the parking lot less than 1 min. after sign off by dudly do right!! I managed to keep him from noticing, and off I went w/no plate straight from the donut shop!!

yep, front plates on sharks are stupid and totally suck - unless you can get a custom euro style plate, just for grins... still won't satisfy our safety police's quest for justice and protecting us from freedom to the letter of the law, of course... after all, you could be a terrorist and no front plate could be a signal to other terrorists, fbi gun check or not...

of course "the good guys" like the revenue from photo radar stuff, so it's a big deal out here too - at least to some hyper-"safe" legal eagles...

just do a stick on... get it dismissed, take it off, go back to your life uh oh, was that a helicopter hovering out my window while I was typing this??? what? the thought police are here?

guess it's time to submit/confess: like gretch says - don't ****'em off... you've got it easy in CO - here in LA they seem to think it's ok to use cars for target practice (ie the SUV w/over 120 LAPD bullet holes in it/and even managed to eventually shoot the unarmed driver - just an "unfortunate accident") so you REALLY don't want to give'em the excuse to "serve and protect"

ok I submitted and confessed, just keep the rat cage off my face!!

bcdavis

You can't fight the system one on one.
You'll lose, even when it is just you and one local cop.
What you have to do, is do your best to be sneaky, and get away with what you can.
In LA, I have been without a front plate on my Euro for the 9 years I owned it.
Only been ticketed a couple of times. Most of them recently, since the whole
"photo-light" thing. But all I had to do, was the quick fake attached plate,
get it signed off, pay $25, then take it off the next day. And then drive
for another year or two before being pulled over. If I had a cop in my
neighborhood, out to get me, I would have to do some kind of simple
fix. Maybe the slim plate, or a flip up version, etc... You just have to
find a way to sneak past the law. Same with superchagers. Hide them,
disguise them, and try to get away with it. If you do, great. If they
catch you, then you have to take it off every two years. But drive
with it on the rest of the time... But you can't ride down the road
with a B&M popping through your hood, and hope they don't
notice... You gotta be sneaky!

Simon Jester

I also live in Colorado and haven't had any trouble. I do have a fallback position, though. I have a small "T" bracket hanging from one of the grill bolts. It's drilled for my plate with two little nylon bolts with enough thread left sticking out for a nut.

When I lived in California, I handled it the same way. I keep the plate under the front seat with wingnuts. When I got stopped, it was just a matter of saying "Thanks, officer! I must've forgotten to stick it back on last time I waxed the old girl." I whip out the plate and voila! I'm set. The worst thing that ever happened was a cop SO nasty he wrote me a fix-it ticket that he had to sign off as soon as he finished it.

I have collector's plates and that may have some reason I don't get stopped, but who knows?