Front License Plate Fiasco!

[Heisenberg]

Here in Wisconsin, we have a foolish law that requires all vehicles to display front license plates. Nonetheless, I did not comply with this initially, hoping to get a warning when I was finally stopped down the road. I have had friends tell me that they have had their cars for years without front plates and without getting pulled over.

The new T-bird however attracts a lot of attention and it only took a week and a half to be pulled over for said offense on the highway! Further offenses are charged at $100 a piece. Giving in to the long arm of the law, I decided to go home and put the front bracket on myself. When I read the "directions" (a picture) it appeared that you needed to drill into the car in order to put this bracket on!

My wife took it to our dealer to see what they could do. The accessories guy told her drilling was the only option, and we tearfully agreed to let them. As she began to wait, she told our problem to our salesman. He pipes up and tells her we only need a few zipties to attach the front plate. So, in the nick of time, just before the drill was taken to the car, the salesman busts in the shop and tells them STOP! WAIT! Holster your drill!

Using only one ziptie (attaching to the grill), I was able to attach the plate bracket very securely without drilling. Moral is: if you happen to live in a state that has one of these laws, do the work yourself without power tools!

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[tr cruiser]

Another license plate scofflaw here, but I have to wonder what's gained by wiring it to the grill. You still have to leave it on all the time and doesn't it look better mounted on the fascia down below?

 

[Heisenberg]

I probably wasn't clear. The plate is mounted to the fascia down below, just as the directions indicate. I drilled two side-by-side holes in the bracket and fed a black ziptie through them and around the lowest vertical posts on the grill. It only covers about 1" of the grill and I used a small piece of a 3M double sided foam strip (like weatherproofing) to protect the finish.

I'd like to hear about your front license plate story, tr cruiser? Did you get pulled over?

- Ric

 

[tr cruiser]

The only encounter I've had with the law was when I left the car parked in a residential lot near home. I came back to find two city cops leaning over the console. When I approached, however, they were all smiles saying how much they like the looks of the new Bird and how one of them planned to buy one for his wife. No mention was made of the missing front plate. After Paula's caution about stricter enforcement in San Francisco, I try to take the shortest routes through the City. So far, no problem there either - knock on the wooden gearshift.