I had to put my plates on today. I thought I would try something a little different. I chopped the front plate down to the bare minimum size.

I think I'll do the same. here In Texas

Is this legal? and is the plate viewable from a short distance so you can't get a ticket if a cop didn't see it up close.

alot of people in my area (nj) tried it couple of years ago
and nobody got away with it. it pissed teh cops off cause all that was showing was
the plate# not the state or stupid garden state.cops hate it and i rather not have it on
i think they prefer that over here in jersey

Why wouldn't it be legal? You don't need to have any tags on the front plate and you can tell the state it is by the color. I did this on my other car (CJ7) about 2 years ago and I haven't had an issue yet. However, it wasn't a flashy red sports car either. So we'll see, I wonder what a cop would say..."fix it"..."well officer I can't, I cut it in half." lol

interesting... i'll have to wait and see how this pans out...

i know for a fact that cutting ur plate here in NY is illegal and will land u a ticket quicker then no plate.

crap... what about CA?

May be illegal, but cool mod!!

- Irish :cool:

Wait a while, get a ticket and take your battle all the way to the state supreme court. They'll likely find that it is criminal to put any plate at all on the front end of an 8, and the world will rejoice!!!

Bad idea. You'd be better off to remove the front plate. BTW, a "fix-it" ticket normally means you either fix the problem or pay the fine.

In MO:
Failure to replace a mutilated plate after being issued a "fix-it" is a misdemeanor; possible fine ($5-500) and/or jail (up to 1 yr).
And an ambitious cop might also tack on property damage since the plates are gov't property.

Chances are its illegal in California, because, well.. Cali is like that....

I know alot of states allow having just a rear plate, but in Cali you MUST have the front plate mounted on the front of the car (not even window), or else its a ticket. I think the reason is because if a stoplight camera takes a pic of your car, its usually aimed at the front bumper area.

Took my front plate off completely here in TX and so far so good.

Has anyone seen those license plates they have in Japan that is sort of like on a hinge that has the plate where it is here in the states, but when you go above 20mph, the hinge allows the wind from you driving to push the plate beneath the grill.

damn you all, j/k, i'm thinking about just taking it off all together after hearing all this. any more comments about CA laws?...can't someone else be the guinea pig?


i "fix-it" ticket doesn't go on your record... right?

In case I'll be harassed for not having a front plate, I'll rather try to get a sticker that exactly resembles the front plate (just a bit smaller, proportionally) and will stick it to the area directly beneath the left headlight.

Just have to figure out where can I get such a sticker done... probably in a shop that does decals or something.

You have 2 realistic front plate options:
1. Install the plate
2. Leave it off and accept the consequences

I think any other option (like mutilating the plate or creating a forgery) would just be asking for trouble.

Then there's always this thread (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=38156&highlight=front+plate). I've been thinking about doing this myself. Wyo H.P. does like to enforce the front plate rule.

I was reading about CA laws and it doesn't say anything that would make it illegal. what do you guys think:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=20753825136+7+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

Well I dunno if it's legal or not but you're more than welcome to try :) I do know from experience that not having a front plate at all, or mounting it in the windshield is illegal, and you'll get ticketed for that.

And nope, fix-its don't stay on your record once you get it fixed, so you've got nothing to lose except a couple bucks :D

What really pisses me off about this front plate issue is the amount of selective enforcement from cops. If you're going to have a stupid law, enforce it across the board for everyone, or repeal the stupid law. How many Ferraris, Porsches, Vipers, or Corvettes do you see getting stopped by cops for not having a front plate??

Believe me, I want to have a front plate on my 8 about as much as I want to see a big zit on Halle Berry's nose. I would rather see a zit on her ass because once you get to that point.....who really cares? ;)

With the type of luck I've had with cops stopping me for no apparent reason, the day I take off my front plate, I'll get jacked by the whole department. In other words, I'm just jealous of the people who manage to get away with it. I'm just not willing to take that chance (Big Zit or not!!) :(

Took my front plate off completely here in TX and so far so good.
dazygirl415 Good on ya! 4/6/2005 I did the same!!!