Euro plates on US soil

"Aremmes" (aremmes) 08/28/2019 at 14:45 • Filed to: Euro Plates, puerto rico

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Unusual among US territories, Puerto Rico’s government issues euro-style license plates with standard plate numbers to anyone who solicits them. I’m not sure of the rationale behind it, but it seems sorta popular among a certain subset of auto owners. However, instead of just lifting the design straight out of the standard EU number plate template, it looks like PRDOT phoned in the description and settled with whatever came out as a result.

The picture above shows the intended application, a typical European luxury car. Two issues are immediately evident: the narrow lettering is not much larger than the lettering on standard plates (could’ve been wider), and the background image doesn’t contrast well with the lettering (could’ve learned something from the Flagship Niagara plates). There was an older style without the background image but with the same number font.

The most common use case, though, is to put euro plates on economy cars. Luckily, this Elantra had an appropriately sized space for the plate.

Spanfeller is a twat > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 14:55

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some people “y u be like this” here too.

except here those are illegal.

Ash78, voting early and often > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 14:55

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I would love this in the US (you know, the rest of the US, I mean). I’m surprised PR was able to pull off this complexity for such a small population of drivers.

Cé hé sin > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 15:13

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These look nothing like any plates I’ve seen in any part of Europe. What makes them “euro plates”?

Aremmes > Ash78, voting early and often 08/28/2019 at 15:14

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The proportion of drivers here is relatively high due to mostly non-existent public transit.

Ash78, voting early and often > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 15:17

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So it’s just like most of the mainland US :)

To be fair, Alabama (5 million people) has over 100 license plate options. Technically they pay for themselves since they cost more than normal, but hey. But they’re all the same size and shape.

Klaus Schmoll > Cé hé sin 08/28/2019 at 15:19

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The dimensions.

Aremmes > Cé hé sin 08/28/2019 at 15:19

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Their size and shape, exclusively. The previous style was closer, but still not the same. They all look like they only copied the physical dimensions and ignored the rest of the specs.

Svend > Cé hé sin 08/28/2019 at 15:22

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It’s to do with the size and shape. 

Aremmes > Ash78, voting early and often 08/28/2019 at 15:23

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PRDOT doesn’t issue vanity or special fund plates, so this represents the only choice that Puerto Ricans can make when plating a car.

Svend > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 15:33

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In the U.K. we also have different size and shape for some other cars.

Normal

Rover 75

Range Rover Sport

Aremmes > Svend 08/28/2019 at 15:46

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I understand that the MOT regulates the size and shape of the lettering and the colors of the number plates, but owners must supply their own plates, am I wrong?

Textured Soy Protein > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 15:53

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My guess is this plate shape is made available because Puerto Rico gets some cars that are otherwise not sold in the US and don’t have the standard US shaped plate mounts, but anyone can ask for them if they want. 

Svend > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 16:22

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They can do but the garage does it.

The garage sorts out the original plates and if a garage has taken in a car under part-exchange for another car and the plate is damaged they may get them replaced or replace them to add their own info.

A car owner can order replacements, but have to be bought from an authorised maker* with proof of I.D. and car ownership.

*there are places to get them made up from the internet. They keep a record.

Either way the plate must conform to regulation BS Au145d.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Svend 08/28/2019 at 16:29

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TIL

Svend > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 08/28/2019 at 16:51

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Or you can have them made bespoke.

https://www.fourdotdesignerplates.co.uk/cars/customer-gallery

Aremmes > Textured Soy Protein 08/28/2019 at 19:42

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Not quite. Auto makers may make some configurations for PR-destined cars different from US-bound ones (e.g., Mazda and Toyota offer different trim levels and packages in PR), use different model names (Suzuki SJ410/Samurai, SA310/Forsa/Swift, Baleno/Esteem, Mitsubishi ASX/Outlander Sport), use PR as a test market (Daewoo), or continue selling models that they’ve discontinued in the US (Mazda2), but all cars in PR must conform to US federal regulations, and they all have standard US license plate mount and screw pattern, which t hese euro-style plates use.

ranwhenparked > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 19:57

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Unusual for a government, any government, to forgo such an easy revenue source. If the hordes of people scrambling to outbid each other for black license plates with low numbers in my state are any indication, Puerto Rico could be passing up a goldmine. 

ranwhenparked > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 19:58

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It does make a lot of sense to offer different plate sizes and shapes to suit the attachment place on the car. I’ve seen where some European countries have/had American shaped plates that were only available for cars that couldn’t easily mount the standard Euro ones.

Aremmes > ranwhenparked 08/28/2019 at 20:10

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But Puerto Rico is very different from Delaware, though, and you can't pass up a goldmine if there ain't no gold to be mined.

ranwhenparked > Aremmes 08/28/2019 at 20:16

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Probably more of it in Condado than in Seaford. 

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Svend 08/28/2019 at 21:12

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This is fascinating. Why wouldn’t they just use the same size for all cars? Why make some bigger than normal? Or at least use the smaller ones like these:

Svend > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 08/28/2019 at 21:42

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There are three main sizes, the regular one, the square one (used on motorbikes and certain other vehicles like Land Rovers) and a smaller than regular sized one to fit the ap erture of JDM vehicles.

There is a minimum size of licence plate, as they are reflective and to be seen.

The different shape plates fitted in with the recesses better than a traditional one. It just looks neater.

Standard rear plate on a Rover 75.

fitted rear lice nce plate on a Rover 75. Which looks so much nicer.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Aremmes 08/29/2019 at 04:44

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this is what ours look like. euro top 2 (std and slimline size), Japan style, USA style and regular