What do your plates say about your car?

[Guest]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

Mine is RETRO TB

Blue Bird gets driving lighs.JPG

[V8 Cat]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

Ours is: LASTBRD (only get room for 7 letters in GA.)

[carnut]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

FUN-000

Got lucky - not a vanity plate! Just good timing

[joe166]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

That I paid for my renewal sticker.

[Leroy]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

I had a Indiana Vanity plate for my 70 Corvette roadster ( 70 VET ) but I have Housier Verteran plates on my 04 T-Bird, 04 GMC, and 1948 Willys. HV-6036 - HV-6037 - HV-6038. I have a Disability plate on the 08 Malibu.
Leroy

[RREDBRD]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?


What more can I say?

[Nicky-The-Squid]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

ICETEA - Ice for Ice Blue

[AZTB]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

the little dates in each corner
...tells the powers that be that I paid for the plates through June 2010.

[BirdsAndBugs]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

My MSG 03 Thunderbird has the standard issue plates. My 05 IG Thunderbird has vanity plates with "INCAGLD".

[TBD42]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

TBIRD 42

[MintTbird]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

i had HIPFAN but i loved them so much i put em on my daily driver!

[Will]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

[fits all? lol I wonder why there is a difference. I mean, if they are the same size...why not have it regulated nation wide as to how may characters are allowed.
Just curious.....[/quote]
At the risk of putting my audience to sleep, I shall now launch into my 3-hour lecture, (condensed version, formatted to fit the time allotted) on life, the universe, & license plates.
Ready?
First off, as to a national standard size: Plates are a state-by-state responsibility, so it wouldn't make much sense to have federal mandates over them. True, the size (6 x 12 inches) was imposed by the U.S. Congress, but that was at the request of Detroit, where the car designers were having a tough time figuring out bolt-hole spacing, or what size to make the indentation in the bumpers, or how much space to leave under the license plate light--there were 50-some different jurisdictions issuing as many plates, each of a different size. So in '56 Congress said that, beginning Jan. 1, '57 all license plates will be standard in size. Problem solved. Thank you, Detroit.
The length of alpha-numerics on a plate is left up to each state because each state sees itself as having different requirements. Basically, however, it comes down to 3 factors: population, die size, & border design.
In regard to population, Alaska & Wyoming obviously have an easier time of it than New York & California, for example, when it comes to making sure each vehicle has a unique number. Two-character plates are common in Wyoming as standard issue (e.g., L3 or J9, where the letter is the county code) & this will continue for some time. Arizona, by contrast, just reached the end of the line--ZZZ-9999--& has started over with some other arrangement. My own state is in the X series (like XMN-4321) & will soon have to start over with AAA-1111 or trade sides (1111-AAA) or something like that.
Die size is a state's own choice. Fatter dies = fatter alpha-numerics = less room for a long plate-number. It becomes a squeeze-play between legibility (from fat dies) & 8 alpha-numerics (thin dies). Many states are giving up stamping with dies, & switching to flat-plate technology: the whole colorful thing--design & alpha-numerics & state slogan ("Eat more beans!")--is printed on an adhesive reflective sheet from The 3M Company. (That's right! Your new license plate is gonna be a big piece of Scotch Tape! So stick it!) This allows character size to be minutely adjusted as needed. Dies, on the other hand, are steel blocks & stay the same size forever.
Border design is all the fun stuff--a cowboy, a peach, a slogan, a rainbow, Retired Navy, Save the Whales--that are subordinate to the primary info a plate is supposed to transmit: the license plate number, the name of your state, & year of validation; southern states include the county name. The farm scene, or what have you, is interesting, but it takes up space & necessitates a reduced size in alpha-numerics. Border designs are fun, so maybe it's time for Congress to legislate bigger license plates some day soon. Then we can have bigger peaches, & more of 'em.
I like to believe that each state takes pride in the design of its plates, & to allow Uncle Sam to issue orders in this department would be a bummer & would undercut the competition among the states to come up with great designs. By the way, an automotive interest group recently awarded its Best Plate of '07 honor to the new Misssissippi lighthouse plate. Perhaps your state will be the winner for this year. Perhaps your child will enter a contest & design the best plate for next year.
Does that answer your question?

[Goldwing]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

OH BIRDY on the T-Bird and OH PONY on the Mustang and 2WINGIT on the Goldwing

[Icebluebird]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

Mine is OFF2AHS

[NEW_BYRD]

Re: What do your plates say about your car?

RQT BIRD,

ROCKET BIRD, OFF LIKE A ROCKET

Or it could be "Our Cute Bird"