Do US license plates have any other shape or size than the standard? I've only ever seen one type in photos and films. Here in the UK, there are a number of standard shapes and sizes available. I saw an old Cadillac on the road here and the recess for the number plate is a standard American size. The owner has a UK registration plate but it is the same shape and size as a US one. This is available from any garage that supplies number plates. There must be some people in the US that have European cars (not intended for the US market). I'll add some references in the comments. I know those manufacturers have US versions but what do people do when they have a European style recess?
41 comments
> There must be some people in the US that have European cars.
Yes, usually an export version or an antique though
> what do people do when they have a European style recess?
Special mounts
For cars and trucks, they are all the same size. Motorcycles have smaller plates.
There isn’t a law requiring it, but the U.S. and Canada have a long-standing agreement with the auto manufacturers to standardize on the size of license plates and the spacing of the screw holes that attach them to vehicles. It just makes it simpler and more standardized. All other choices about the license plates—for example colors, designs, number of letters, vehicle tabs rules—are made by the states which issue them. To my knowledge anyway.
Yea, there all one size. If you have a European car it was most likely built for sale in the US market, the steering wheel moved to the left and a bumper that accepts US plates installed. Having a true European car (RHD) is extremely rare. If you do have one though you buy an adapter
Yes. I drive a JDM car, so my plate is held on by a single bolt and the pre-existing bottom hooks in the rear. New Mexico does not require a front plate, so I don’t have to worry about the front. My last JDM car did not have a bottom hook for the rear, so I drilled my license plate to mount it on the pre-existing holes on the car.
Just some links-
Here is a [picture](https://imgur.com/a/swEqSCX) of the Cadillac in question. You can see the other vehicles in the car park and the appropriate number plate recesses. I couldn’t see any Japanese imports, but they’re relatively common.
Here are the [options](https://yourcarreg.co.uk/pages/size?srsltid=AfmBOopR7Ohr5NSm2pXrgrN28w8JcH7JCiLud1vefCJj2NWyNHN0CK5M) for a number plate supplier. You can see there are multiple options. All road legal.
Just in case you were interested, [here](https://www.gov.uk/displaying-number-plates/rules-number-plates) is the UK government advice and [this](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vehicle-registration-numbers-and-number-plates) is the leaflet for technical specification.
My state has a standard size and a motorcycle size.
You can get one of about 15 designs but the sizes don’t change.
Kansas only has a rear plate, so every now and then I’ll see a European front plate on an imported antique/classic car.
[deleted]
> what do people do when they have a European style recess?
They either use an OEM Euro-to-US mount, an aftermarket bracket, bend the US license plate to fit (this is common on BMW E24 6-Series), or [mount it at an angle](https://imgur.com/TbNqzLb) (another BMW E24 6-Series technique).
Huh. I have literally never thought about this but you’re right, they ARE the same size. I guess my attention was always on how cool it is you can different kinds of plates that support different organizations.
I have only seen number plates one size on vehicles in this country. I’ve seen some Ontario plates and I don’t spend a ton of time in the SW to know how Mexico works. If someone were to pay the insane cost to ship a car from the EU/UK to the States, it has to be registered. We have different safety and emission standards and it’s surprisingly more strict. It’s one of the reasons why Renault and Peugeot are not in the US along with not having a dealer network.
European cars sold in the US have a US sized recess and mount for the plate.
Yes, in 1956 US states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association to standardize license plate sizes.
They are a standard size. Only really difference between states is that some require a front and rear plate, and others just require the rear plate.
They do offer customized plate options. You can have your name or something as long as it’s not already taken. Certain words or phrases might not be appropriate and may not be approved. But Florida for example has over 100 different plates to choose from. They cost a bit extra.
I have only seen one size in the US, not counting motorcycles and trailers. Some states will issue plates in multiple different colors/designs though.
> This is available from any garage that supplies number plates.
What is your process for getting a license plate? In the US, you register your car with the DMV and they issue you a license plate. You get what you get, unless you pay extra for a custom plate.
> There must be some people in the US that have European cars.
Yes, but if you’re driving it here for more than a year, you’d have to register the car in the U.S. and obtain a U.S. license plate.
>Do US license plates have any other shape or size than the standard?
No, there’s just the one shape and size.
>I’ve only ever seen one type in photos and films.
That’s the one. 12in. x 6in. or roughly 30cm. x 15cm.
>There must be some people in the US that have European cars.
There are indeed. Asian ones, too. Right-hand drive and all. People love R32 Skylines here. Just the other night I saw this tiny little Honda from Japan or something that I had never seen in my entire life, and I know quite a bit about cars. *Especially* those types of cars. I thought it was a Del Sol at first, but when I got closer, I realized it was *even smaller* than a Del Sol, and didn’t have the targa top. I would post a photo of it, but this sub doesn’t allow photos. It was a little tuner that was practically the size of a smartcar. There also used to be a mail lady in a rural town I lived in at one point who special ordered a right hand drive Jeep Compass from Australia to make her job easier, since mailboxes are on the right side of the road. I believe Asian countries use the same size plates as us though.
>what do people do when they have a European style recess?
They make mounts for that. Until you get one, you can usually get away with putting your plates in the windows in the meantime.
European cars built for the US market have plate mounts sized appropriately for the standard US plate.
“Special” imports may need an adapter of some sort to fit. There aren’t “widescreen” US plates available.
The auto industry and states agreed in the 1950s to a standard 12×6 inch size, with the holes 7 inches apart. This was decades before Europe standardized its own plates (and there are still some European countries that don’t stick to that size).
There are obvious benefits to standardization. You always know that you can mount your plate correctly, no matter the vehicle or state. You never need to drill new holes. Every car comes with the right spot and screw holes.
I personally wish for one more change: standardize the state name format. Some are pretty hard to read or get covered up by plate frames.
No.
Specialty licence plates exist for certain classic antique cars, motorcycles, and other specialty vehicles.
Everything else is standard though.
One exception I can think of is Delaware. Their laws actually allow for private plate manufacture, as long as they still follow certain legal requirements.
While the state doesn’t provide them directly, if your plate number is low enough (5 digits or less, I believe) you can get a smaller than normal vintage-style porcelain plate from an outside company.
Example:
https://www.dhptags.com/porcelainregplate.aspx
As far as I’ve seen – yes, all 50 US States have the same size and shape of license plates. Different colors and designs abound (some states have multiple color and design combos) but yeah, they’re all the same size. IIRC this is true in all of North America.
[removed]
Plenty of European cars in the US. I drive a MINI Cooper and the space on the rear hatch where the plate goes is wide enough to accommodate a longer European plate. Here in Pennsylvania, front plates are not required aside from a few exceptions but I still sometimes see other MINI drivers with a Euro-style plate on front, usually customized.
OP, it may interest you to know that, in 2024 for example, Jaguar Land Rover sold 53,000 vehicles in the UK and 95,000 in North America.
It would actually make more sense to ask what people who live in the UK do to fit a license plate to what is clearly a vehicle that is much more commonly made to have an American license plate mounted to it.
All us plates are a standardized size.
The vast majority of cars sold in the US (not imported by the buyer) are configured to meet US safety guidelines and consumer preferences. (Ie US BMWs have bigger air bags since less Americans wear seatbelts). As a result, it’s pretty easy for the manufacturer to put the US/Canadian sized plates holders on when selling here.
Having euro style plates is seen occasionally, but only on the front. It’s illegal in the rear. Usually it’s a sort of badge to show off your car is an import. Ive only seen it on high end cars, antiques or highly customized cars, or in DC on imported diplomat cars (but that’s a different thing altogether.).
If you live in one of 21 states that don’t require a front plate you can just put one on. For the other states you need to have an American plate visible on the front. I’ve seen cars at shows that just prop them on the dashboard and take them down for photo shoots. I’ve seen them mounted below the bumper with a European style plate in the factory bracket. I’ve also seen custom eruo plates that I don’t think are legal, but the police might leave you alone.
Edit: Looking at my local laws (Maryland) it looks like you are not required to have a license plate on the front of cars older that 50 years old – so you could put a euro plate on the front of those without an issue.
In Nevada you need front and rear plates. There are dozens of designs for the art on them but they are the same standard size and shape as every state Ive lived in.
Your submission has been automatically removed due to exceeding the text limit in your post’s textbox. Please shorten it to fewer than 500 characters (not words), including spaces and links, to comply with rule #2. Afterwards, contact us via modmail, and we’ll restore it.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskAnAmerican) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> This is available from any garage that supplies number plates.
This is probably the difference. Garages don’t issue license plates here. This is done by each state’s government, usually some sort of Department of Motor Vehicles. In Illinois it was the Secretary of State’s office that handles this stuff (Driver’s license, state ID, car registration, inspections, etc.). They will give you temporary plates and mail you real ones. You can order alternative designs for extra money or a customized plate number, but not a custom shape as far as I know.
The standard automobile license plate size of 6”x12″ was established in 1956. It was by agreement between the States and the Automobile Manufacturers Assocation. I am uncertain if it is actually a law. Motorcycle plates are a standardized 4″x7″ size.
> There must be some people in the US that have European cars
I’ll add more detail to this point than I’ve seen. Cars manufactured for the US market – including European cars like VWs or Audis, and Asian cars like Hondas or Kias – will be manufactured with US-standard sized spaces for license plates. This is a fairly common situation in the industry – the same car manufactured for different markets will have slight differences to comply with local regulations and customs. For example the US and EU had contradictory regulations on adaptive headlights, so a Golf or Civic or Explorer will have different headlights here than in Europe, just as they’ll probably have different-shaped license plate recesses.
Additionally, cars manufactured for sale elsewhere cannot be imported until they’re 25 years old, so this is not something that comes up unless you’re a diehard enthusiast or collector.
Yes, all US plates as single standard size. Cars are either designed to accommodate Euro and U.S. plates with different bracket or sometimes have slightly different bumper or trunk lid notches to accommodate different plate.
US & Canadian automobile plates have a standard size and shape of 6”x12’ as defined by a 1956 agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association. This agreement was made with all 50 States and 10 Canadian Provinces.
For motorcycle plates there is nonsuch agreement.
Antiques with the appropriate pre-1956 plate are grandfathered.
If someone has a European car with a European shaped recess, then they will be required to have a license plate adapter as no State or Province issues a non-standard sized license plate.
*note* NWT and Nunavut have polar bear shaped plates, but these conform to the 6×12 rule.
Mostly.
In the 1950s, there were Tennessee license plates that were shaped like the state. [https://www.restoreatag.com/images/tenn.png](https://www.restoreatag.com/images/tenn.png)
Nunavut has some license plates shaped like a polar bear.
Pretty much all of North America uses the same kind of plates. Mexico, Canada, and the US.
It’s not very common at all to see vehicles in the US with Euro-only plate recesses. The few I’ve seen have had a special bracket that either lifts the North American sized plate above the recess, or it attaches at the top of the recess, and hangs over the bottom of it. All plates in North America are 6 inches tall by 12 inches wide, and there are not other size options. The NWT and Nunavut in Canada have a die-cut polar bear shaped plate, but it still conforms to the 6×12 size restrictions.
Many states have lots of different designs and colors and images… but the dimensions are standard across the country and the font and size is standard across the state.
Typically just the one shape and size for passenger cars. It was one of the coolest things when I lived in Australia to see all styles of license plates, I wish we could do that here. I own a European car and they just installed a special US sized mount on the front and back that my plate sits on top of.
In the 1950s Tennessee plate was the shape of the state’s borders. Wish they would reissue them.
A point – in the US, plates come directly from the government.
In the UK/Europe, my understanding (correct me if I’m wrong) is that plates can come from many sources – manufacture is contracted out and you order from the supplier of your choice.
That said, somewhere in Canada (NWT I think?) at one point (maybe still) had plates shaped like a bear.
Yes, except ohio