re: license plates

[Joe Elliott <jee@domain.elided>]

There's a second-gen MR-2 in my hometown (Alfa content: the owner's 
husband drives a '91-'93 Spider) that has--get this--a Euro-style 
sticker on the hood, in the same colors (blue on white) as the 
standard Ohio plate, but it's only as tall as a Euro plate, and has 
the "OHIO" and "BUTLER" [county] written vertically at either side of 
the numbers, which match the rear plate.  It doesn't have the 
registration sticker because in Ohio we only put those stickers on 
the rear (at least that's the case with the Collecter plates on my 
vehicle).  This car is her daily driver as far as I know, and I see 
it driving around all the time.  Since it has no front license plate 
bracket, and has this sticker on the hood, it must work pretty well. 
But maybe elderly women aren't huge targets for the police, even when 
they drive bright red turbocharged MR-2's.  Your guess is as good as 
mine.  I suppose it gets through the biannual (when the legislature 
feels like it) inspection though.

At 7:52 PM -0500 2/17/02, alfa-digest wrote:
>Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 11:31:15 -0700
>From: alfacybersite <acs@domain.elided>
>Subject: European license plates
>
>I've often wondered what would happen if someone purchased a set of
>vanity plates, then had European plates made with the same numbers /
>characters. Then using double stick tape and without peeling off the
>backing on the yearly tag, applied it to the upper right (at least in
>CA) corner of the Euro plate. Unless the size has changed in recent
>years, I wouldn't mind installing a small Italian plate on the front of
>my car.
>
>Admittedly one might get away with this longer if the car is more of a
>weekend special.
>
>Trust me, I'm not implying police are stupid, but if the number matched
>the one on the registration, and one could possibly convince the officer
>that the car is used primarily for show, one might get by with only a
>fix-it ticket, or maybe just a verbal warning.
>
>The owner has paid his registration fee plus the vanity plate fee. If
>size of plate is a factor, then motorcycles should have to have the same
>size as on cars. If color is critical then CA and other states should
>offer only one color combination. As it is in CA there are the white and
>blue (?) historical plates, reflective plates, Veteran's plates, dealer
>plates, older yellow / black plates, and blue / yellow plates, etc.
>
>Also, how important is the information on a license plate to carry the
>name of the state? If one is speeding for instance, does it matter to
>the officer whether he's pulling over someone from Idaho or from
>Indiana? Should the car be stolen, I'd think it would certainly be
>easier to spot a car with Euro plates than a common plate with say XYZ
>726.
>
>Biba
>Irwindale, CA USA

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