Customs Frenched License Plates... Yay or nay?

not a fan in 99.9% of them. kind of like dual antennas mounted into you quarter panel in a giant deep hole with woopdies moulded around them made of solid lead...or bondo.

 

really? Wow, and here I have been wasting my time looking at period photos and survivor hot rods! I am so glad I can glean these pearls of wisdom from the Hamb, you know, to keep me on the right track and all...Phew, dodged a bullet there...to think I almost built a GASP! street rod!!

 

I say no. A license plate is a legal requirement and doesn't really belong there. It's like dead bugs on the windshield - they're there but they weren't part of the design.
Frenching the plate is akin to accepting government identity chips under your skin or taking your smart phone with you where ever you go.
Ed

 

^^^^You're right, I should have left mine mounted above the left taillight, hanging out in the breeze, the way God and GM intended. . By the way, I still have a scar on my forehead from bending down and catching the corner of the plate on the way down!

 

I don't mind em, been around since the fifties, it's the 70's Vega steering boxes that scream "street rod" to me.

 

Umm. Maybe you could sue the government for personal injury. After all the plate does belong to them.

 

On my '54 Chevy

 

Thanks for the link!!!!

 

The car I am thinking about is a '54 Chevy by the way...

 

Nay

 

I put one on the lid of my 46 because the p.o. Had mangled the crap out of it filling the stock latch and trim . I made the box with radiused corners, and I curved the plate mount to match the curve of the lid. The lid is so big, I think it works as though it belonged there. I may add a stainless top trim to make it look more factory.
As others said, square anything on a round car looks wrong. If you are going to do it, try to make it look cohesive with the rest of the car.

 

They were a nice touch on hot rods too... Very period correct...

 

Done with other tasteful mods on a 54 I think it's a nice touch. If it's gonna end up looking "because I can..." maybe not. The thing I don't get, and I see it on frenched taillights too, when at an angle they get dropped straight in. It looks dopey and uninformed when it's like that. I'll have to get a shot later, and even though the whole car is O/T, the frenched tails and license plate are what I think looks "right". If you wash the car, or get in the rain, you don't need a drain hole for water. I'll add some pics later as they're in a different 'puter.

Ok, edit, found it...

Yes this is an O/T so out of respect for the board I won't give y'all the whole car. In fact I'm not at all tickled by this thing, and I'm building it (!). But notice that the lic plate opening and the lights both find their bottoms level with the car, it's rake. As you walk around it these mods look right. So many I see have the light dropped straight down into the fender, or the plate, same shit, straight down. Sorry, I think it looks wrong like that.