I NEVER get tired of seeing pictures of your car. One of my all-time favorites!

 

Thanks DD !

 

That silver Z front plate setup (squarish) looks much better than the superman'esque one.

 

I also live in wisconsin and run a plate just to avoid the hassle. Never had an issue when I didn't, but decided it was not worth hassling with.

 

I don't understand why anyone would run a C5 with no front plate if it's required in your state. Last of the Vettes that actually look ok with a front plate. The C6 looks horrable with the factory mount as does the C7. C5 has the spot for the plate in the bumper.

 

The C5 still looks a lot better without a front plate. The cops haven't bothered me for 11 years and I have been stopped for speeding several times. Since I keep the plate under the cover, if a cop ever does hassle me about no front plate, I will remove the 2 screws and be good to go. I have decided to go without until that day comes.

 

Because it's our way of stickin' it to the man.

 

Same here....

 

Sure, most cars look better without a front plate, which would be great, but if it is required, I would just feel like another dork, with a good excuse to get pulled over. I would be just another "rebel without a cause". Anymore, I try not to attract more attention than needed. Just run the plate, and have one less thing to worry about. It doesn't look that bad on the C5 anyway. Better than most cars with just 2 holes in the bumper cover, and flopping in the wind. Might as well not run one in the rear either.

 

If a cop pulls you over for that alone he is the dork. Cops don't really like to pull people over for no reason and a Corvette already attracts more attention than needed.. They are just like everyone else and do just enough to get by and I really don't worry about it at all. I have been pulled over a half dozen times for speeding and not once did they mention that I didn't have a front plate. They didn't give me a ticket either.

 

Good job

 

What really kills me is some folks that display them in their front window, not only illegal but it looks worse then just putting it where it belongs. And cops can get bored too, just like anyone else and giving them any excuse to pull you over is not a good idea. Guess not a "fan of stickin' it to the man" because you will always loose in that contest unless you can outrun them.

 

I would wager the total number of tickets for failure to display front license plate in Wisconsin is close to zero. There are plenty of reasons to pull someone over to relieve boredom, but this really isn't one of them. If you guys don't feel comfortable not displaying it, don't do it. It doesn't bother me one bit. Cops probably really don't care either.

 

I went four years or so without displaying a front plate and never had a problem. Certainly not bringing attention to yourself (e.g. jack rabbit starts, aggressive driving) minimizes the probability of having a problem in my opinion.

 

the front license plate display. Fortunately, we mostly drive my wife's 50th Anniversary Convertible in Nevada and Arizona where you really only need one license plate on the vehicle.

 

I used no front plate as probable cause to pull cars over all the time, but never wrote a ticket for it. It's a good way to get a look inside a vehicle or check out a driver if something doesn't look right. The comments about Corvettes being cop magnets always make me chuckle. I can count the number of Corvettes I stopped during my 35+ year career on one hand. Typically, most Corvette owners are older and boring.

 

So if a guy is old and boring, not looking suspicious, doing nothing wrong and not displaying a front plate, would you pull him over?

I have been pulled over several times for speed and the cops never mentioned that I did not have front plate. They only gave verbal warnings for speeding.

 

Thanks Toque, your car was the inspiration for my solution.

I didn't intend for this to become a referendum on how LEO's deal with this issue, but it seems that it has. I have no problem with the officer that stopped me. He was doing his duty as he saw fit. I don't think he accomplished all that much, but that is his choice. In Iowa one really tiny plate on the back of a motorcycle is all they need to figure out who owns the cycle. So one big plate on the back of a car would appear to work also. But....Iowa law is what it is, for now anyway. He asked me "why don't you have your front plate on?" and I told him the truth "because it looks a lot better without it" and I could see the wheels turning in his mind. "Do I give this guy a ticket for blatant disregard of law?" but in the end I just got the warning ticket. He also said "I have seen you before" so I knew I needed to do something about it. I have a lot of respect for all that LEO's do. Very difficult job and getting more so all the time.

Somebody said my solution looks like an "afterthought" and I would agree. But it is better than no thought at all. There is nothing square or sharp on the front of a C5 until you remove the plate filler. Once it is out of the car, and a plate is in the recess, the car looks butchered in my opinion. Little bugs and other road gunk gets stuck in there. A plate cover, be it painted or otherwise looks better to me. So "to each is own" is how I will proceed, and I will keep it on, thank you. All the bugs wipe off that plate cover in a jiffy.

Somebody said it looks like "Superman" Well, what can I say, I like red corvettes. Don't much like black, white, green, yellow, orange, blue did I get them all?

have a good day to all! Have enjoyed reading the responses

steve

 

I have a difficult time answering the "doing nothing wrong" part of your question because if you don't have a front plate in a state where one is required, technically you're doing something wrong. To answer the other part of your question, no, I wouldn't pull him over.

Police officers use minor traffic or equipment infractions as probable cause to stop vehicles. I've seen large amounts of narcotics seized, weapons confiscated, and other major crimes cleared as a result of traffic stops for what the motoring public refers to as "chicken sh#t" violations. Unfortunately, if you stop someone for a minor violation such as no front plate and don't come up with anything, they think they're being harassed or that the officer is bored.

As I said, I haven't had a front plate on my car in over 15 years and I'm fully aware of the consequences. If I get stopped and/or ticketed for it, I have no one to blame but myself.

 

But you'd be surprised just how many "Douche's" are out there. As much as I totally agree with everyone that the front looks much better without the plate I'm not taking any chances with a LEO. NJ is a 2 plate state and I got hassled twice for not having one....much easier to run the front plate, in my book anyway. I do , how ever have a clear contoured cover on the front. Makes it look a little better.