I've gotten them twice now on my Miata but never from a real cop. Its been parking tickets in my neighborhood each time. I've never had a problem parking anywhere else so apparently the parking enforcement here just hates me/my car. My solution? Park in my driveway and leave the front plate off.
thank heavens NC hasn't figured this revenue generating method yet...
Well, its not ideal, but there's always the mini-plate:
saved a pound, too... (from here: http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/1645/project-miatabusa-part-3--let-the-weight-weenieing-begin.aspx)
I also got pulled over a couple weeks ago in my Solstice. Small town and the cop gave me a warning and said next time he'd ticket me. So I put it on, and man is is ugly! I tried to figure out a better way than the oem way, but everything I could think of was going to take more work than I was willing to do. Thing blocks my intercooler, too. 
I wonder if this front plate thing could be challenged in court. In Ohio it's illegal for me to not have a front plate, but anyone from a state that doesn't require one, like nearby PA, can drive through Ohio legally without a front plate. Doesn't something seem wrong about that?
Well I went with a stock front bracket, which requires no holes in the nose. While not pretty, I do think it looks better than the offset mounts. Those just look silly to me.
Rather like the notion of the sticker licence plate. Hadn't ever considered that. That could work well and maybe even be incorporated into some racing stripes or such. A sticker front plate opens up a whole bunch of new ideas.
I have a buddy with a S2k who got dinged for the same thing. He ended up making his own mount. He took a large diameter black PVC pipe, slit it length wise and opend it up. which gave him a sturdy backing plate. When he screwed the license plate into it, the whole assembly nearly matched the curve of his front bumper.
I have another friend who has an F-body trans am that put the license plate down on the front cross-member.
The guy who makes our butterfly brace is working on a new multipurpose doodad that incorporates a plate bracket. I think it's going to be pretty cool.
I got a factory bracket from a guy on Miata.net. It mounts to 2 holes under the bumper, and the plate is about 3/4" away from the bumper. The bracket can't weigh more than a pound.
I've seen a few guys around here put them on the window visor. Flip it down to pass the draconian checks by the rent-a-cops at the base gate, back up once you're through.
I can't do it. No front tag on the Miata, M3 or Sprite. I carry 'em under the front floor mat and display on the dash when parking in DC where enforcement is rabid. Otherwise (and I'll undoubtedly regret saying this) I haven't been hassled by The Man in years.
I saw a guy yesterday or sunday with a brand new camaro. He had a bracket that he hooked onto the grill when he parked with the plate attached. nifty idea on a car with a grill.
here's a totally goofy idea, mount it on a spring loaded bracket on the hood (obviously not bolted to the top). it would stand up right at a stop and lay down at speed. add an actuator and get an air brake (up) or mini front spoiler (down) 
I settled on a tolerable solution, thanks to another GRM'er who suggested it.
I bought a used bracket, sandblasted and painted it, and bent the license plate 1 1/4" up from the bottom to match the angle of the bracket. It doesn't block as much of the radiator opening and I think it looks kind of cool. Not as good, of course, as running without a plate and bracket, but it should keep me legal.
Thanks, Tim.
I still have my tow hooks. I modified my stock front plate bracket to slide into the tow hook, and use a single zip-tie to keep some tension on it so it doesn't shake. Works great, including highway speeds.
Lousy pic but it shows where and how the plate sits. Basically, I cut off one "leg" of the stock bracket, and thread the other one through the tow hook.
I used to run my front plate like this:
Even though I think it looks better, I recommend NOT doing so, because 20 minutes of so of highway driving on a hot summer day caused my coolant temp to creep higher and higher. I switched to the offset bracket mainly to help the engine stay cool, rather than for the mad tyte JDM yo looks.
I spent the money and bought a Garage-Star license plate bracket. It's the best constructed offset plate bracket I've seen. It's better than my own home-brewed bracket, or the Tuckin99 bracket that I've used on other cars. It's $45 shipped. They offset to the left side, but I had one special made for the right side.
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=28216
I never really understood people getting worked up about this. The worst are guys with '90s GM products that have those horrid little cut-outs designed to hold a license plate, and they'd have some stupid non-license plate there and then bitch and moan about getting a ticket.
I dunno, I agree that most cars look better without a front plate, but I mean, are you really that inconvenienced? And they really do make it a lot easier to get a number off somebody.
I live in PA now, so it really isn't a concern of mine anymore.
You'll need to log in to post.
