Out here in Mass you need a front and rear plate, you can get stopped for not having it but you don't get fined you have 10 days to produce it I have it in the car with me. But I never liked the way it looked so this is my solution. I've never been hassled by the police but I need to install the correct one when I get it inspected which I made a quick release kit for.

//www.europlates.com/custom-american-europlates

In Washington and Colorado it's supposed to be 30 days after you move there but there are no teeth in that law.  When I was in Colorado I brought my mini back from California but I kept registering it in California for a few years using my parents address.  Then one day I had it at the firehouse and one of the sheriffs deputies stopped by.  He about had a cow when he saw my plates. He said if he saw me on the road without Colorado plates he would take me to jail.  In Washington it is the same 30 day law but here I was able to buy collectors plates. They were about seventy something dollars.  With collectors plates I don't have to ever register the car again or pay anything each year.  I have had the collectors plates since before 2001.  I can't do the math right now but I would have to say that's a pretty good deal.  

Fix it on the grille in the right place and you have a splendid splashguard for free.

silly question :

How long can you drive or station a car with lets say Cali plates to another state lets say Texas..

Here in Europe we're not allowed to drive in another EU country or have the car stationed there for more than 6 months..

Cali can require front tags for vehicles registered there.  If you are registered in a state, province, country not requiring front plates you are good.  The problem will be when a cop wants to be a lower body part with a crack and pull you over for not having a front plate.  Have had that happen in states requiring front plates.  I just explain my state does not require it.  Same with my expired State inspection.  Have to explain that since it is state issued, only my State police can stop and fine for that.  Am military, claim my home state for residence, and have not lived there in yrs.

 

I bought a piece of 1mm thick stainless and made front and back supports. Here is the front one. After cutting, I bent it so it could fit out in front of the bumper and up, then sanded the edges and polished them and the front.

polished

bolted to car, waiting for plate

Similar for the back, but less bending, more cutting, and I mounted a LED light on it.

It is required to have front plates in California. Mine only came with a rear plate so oh well.. 

Interesting... do they have radar speed traps in Cal???  They always shoot you from the front here...with the number plate clearly visible.. If they waited until you went past no one would get caught here 

Cheers, Ian

I'm curious about the law in Cal.

In CA the front plate is not required...in fact, they only give you one plate when you register.
If I were to drive down to Cal....would I be pulled over/fined for no fron plate??

I have a buddy who had a truck with no windows. He got pulled over for not having a registration sticker on his windshield. The cop explained to him since he had no windows someone probably stole it. (Can't register without insurance) happens all the time. He asked the cop "So you you gonna catch these guys". The copy looked at him like he was crazy and handed him his citation. 

it didn't work out for him but if you get pulled over without a front plate ask the cop if he's going to track down the guy who stole it?  maybe he'll have sympathy for you. 

I also have an Inno and recently received my CA Heritage plates...Love them although I elected not to put mine on the front. I know it's required here but i like a cleaner look up front. Besides, it would be really tricky. I do and you may well also have front plate brackets under the bumper but it's for the Italian narrow plates so using them for the CA plates would require some modifications. Good luck!

I used a clear plastic plate cover complete with backing-panel. The backing-panel is bolted to the standard Mini brackets with solid plastic blocks as spacers. The licence plate and clear cover are bolted to the backing-panel with four 1/2" long stainless steel bolts and dome-nuts. There is enough flex in the long mounting bolts and spacers that the assembly will flex a little.

If your local regs don't permit covered liucence plates, then you could make a plate-shaped backing-panel for support and bolt the licence plate to it. 

This is how I did mine. Front is similar to what Craig said.

I might run a little motorcycle type light to under the rear plate if I get any grief from the cops.

The front plate is required in California. I really don't like it myself, but there it is. Many of us have been harrassed over the years for not having a front plate installed. I mounted mine by sliding it up behind the front bumper and drilling two holes through it to match the existing welded on brackets on my MKIII Mini. It's still there, which irritates me, but it is certainly less obtrusive and doesn't get scraped on the tarmac nearly as much as before.

Hi everybody, I just received brand new california license plates for my 74 inno mini 1000 I imported directly from italy. Just wondering what you guys do about the front plate. Leave it off? Mount it partially hidden under the front bumper? Not much room there... I'd appreciate tips and photos!