Custom Plates and myPop Culture
It's official! Custom Plates are oh so in vogue!
Yep, if the fashion savvy ladies in Sex and the City are anything to go by, "fashion plates" are the epitome of style this season.
What more evidence do we need than Samantha strutting her stuff down Rodeo drive with a pair of "I heart NYC" Custom Plates on her oh so glam Mercedes. If this doesn't denote Custom Plates as the essential element of fashion for your car, we don't know what does!
Make your car fabulous; create your very own Sex and the City plate!
It's easy to understand the attraction of a Custom Plate. In what other way can you so uniquely personalise your car? After all, a Custom Plate ensures (at least in Victoria) that your car is one-of-a-kind.
As the popularity (and in some cases, notoriety) of unique Custom Plates has grown, they very quickly started to show up and become immortalised in popular culture. This includes both television and cinema, where Custom, Personalised or Vanity Plates have graced the bumpers of many sets of famous silver screen wheels. From "KNIGHT" on the Hoff's ride "Kitt", to "EKTO-1", the first sign you'd correctly answered the question "who you gonna call?"
For your amusement, VicRoads Custom Plates presents a selection of famous plates that you might remember...
| Plate | Movie/TV Show | Description |
| STARK 4 | Iron Man | Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., in the 2008 film Iron Man drives an Audi R8 with the license plate STARK 4. |
| D-FENS | Falling Down | The main character William "Bill" Foster, played by Micheal Douglas is known through most of the film by his Californian plate serial: D-FENS (as he was employed by a defense contractor). |
| KNIGHT | Knight Rider | KITT's Californian plate reads KNIGHT. (His evil mis-programmed prototypes, seen in two episodes, reads KARR). |
| OUTATIME | Back to the Future trilogy | The DeLorean time machine's Californian license plates are OUTATIME. |
| THX 138 | THX 1138 | One of George Lucas' early films was a science fiction vision of the future, THX 1138 and it starring Robert Duvall. In a later Lucas classic, American Graffiti the 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe driven by John Milner has a license plate that reads THX 138. |
| LALAW | LA Law | In the opening credits of LA Law a California vanity plate reading LA LAW appears on the back of a Jaguar (later a Bentley). |
| BANONE | Smokey and the Bandit | In the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit, the Pontiac Trans Am driven by Burt Reynolds (the Bandit) has a Georgia vanity plate that reads BAN ONE signifying his CB radio call sign "Bandit One." This was one of the first movies, if not the first, to prominently feature a vanity plate. During the movie, the Sheriff asks a citizen if he saw the plate on the car and the citizen spells out the license plate. |
| CRMNOLG | Colombo Goes to College | In the 1990 Columbo episode Columbo Goes to College the car used by the Criminology Department to reconstruct the murder of Professor Rusk has a vanity plate reading CRMNOLG. |
| ECTO-1 | Ghostbusters | In the 1984 movie Ghostbusters, the Ghostbusters' 1959 Cadillac Miller Meteor Ambulance has a New York vanity plate reading ECTO-1. |
| SXY SDIE | The Accused | The leading character Sarah Tobias in the 1988 movie The Accused, had the plate SXY SDIE |
| MISSY | Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey | The character Missy from Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey has the plate MISSY |
| RDWRER | Frasier | In the TV series Frasier, Martin registers his motor home with the plate RDWRER (Roadwarrior). |
| NRVOUS | Ferris Bueller's Day Off | In the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris borrows his friend's car which has the license plate NRVOUS. Several other vanity plates portrayed in the film are references to other films also directed by John Hughes. (Example: MMOM for Mr. Mom.) |
| I SUE U 2. | Cellular | In the film Cellular, the feisty lawyer's car has the plate I SUE U 2 |
| LOVEME | National Lampoon's Vacation | In National Lampoon's Vacation, a girl has the plate LOVEME |
| EMC 2 | The Breakfast Club | In the film The Breakfast Club, the car in which Brian arrives at the school has a license plate that reads EMC 2, which highlights the intellectual qualities of the character. The car that Andrew's father drives says OHIO ST. |
| MY PRSCHE | Office Space | In the movie Office Space, Bill Lumbergh owns a Porsche 911 with the plate MY PRSCHE. |
| MR. BIGG | Wayne's World | In Wayne's World, the vanity plate MR. BIGG on a limo is a key part of the film, helping Garth helping Wayne to get Cassandra. |
| ECHOLS 2 | Veronica Mars | In the TV series Veronica Mars, all wealthy family members have in their car's license plate their last name followed by a number which tells the family member he/she is. For example, the plate of Mrs. Lynn Echolls, Logan Echoll's mom, reads ECHOLS 2. |
| SAMSCAR | Who's the Boss | In the TV series Who's the Boss?, Tony buys his daughter Samantha a car, which embarrasses her. He completes the gift with a vanity plate that reads SAMSCAR, which is also the name of the episode. |
Source: Vanity Plates on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_plate
Did you know?
There has been an entire game show dedicated to solving Custom Plate combinations.
Bumper Stumpers aired in Canada between 1987 and 1990. The main object oft he game was to solve the "Super Stumper" - a Custom Plate that needed to be deciphered. Each letter was revealed as the contestant solved "jump in" puzzles.
Click on the YouTube button below for some clips of the show.
