For quite some time there was a car with Northwest Territories license plates in the parking lot at work in Mississauga (near Toronto).
But that doesn’t even come close to the one with Mexican plates I saw at a convenience store also in Mississauga. The plates said GTO MEX at the bottom. Perhaps someone with a better knowledge of the states of Mexico could enlighten me as to what state it was from…
I went into the store and overheard the driver saying that it had taken him seven days to drive from Mexico City.
A few times a year, I see a Californian license plate in Toronto.
And I seem to remember a news story about someone who had gone to Europe, running from some kind of scandal or scam. The police caught up with them in Portugal, and there was a picture of the person’s van with Ontario license plates clearly visible.
Occaisionally I see a car with a European front license plate in Toronto, but it invariably turns out to have a Quebec plate on the back. (Quebec is a one-license-plate province.) Any Europeans ever bring their cars to North America for holidays?
And how far do people tend to drive in Europe/Africa/Asia? Do you ever see Zimbabwean or Chinese plates on cars in, say, London or Moscow?
So, what’s the license plate from farthest away that anyone’s seen? (There’s got to be a better way to phrase that…) So far it seems to be: Hawai`ian in New Hampsire, and Mexican in Mississauga, Ontari
I see the occasional American license plate in Europe. I think mostly it is from military personel or expats who just ship their vehicles over - it’s probably less expensive then buying the same car in Europe!
Other plates I see around here are from as far away as Northern Africa or the Middle East.
I don’t think Europeans take their cars on holiday to North America though
My family has had Florida tags driving around in Budapest, Hungary for the last 5 years. It’s easier to maintain Florida insurance and get International coverage also than it would be to go through the bureaucracy of registering the car in Eastern Europe. Plus, the enjoyment we get from the looks on people’s faces when they see the plates is priceless. Also, insurance notwithstanding, buying a car in the U.S. and shipping it to Europe probably saved us something like 10,000 dollars, which is always a consideration. Anyway, the majority of U.S. plates I see over here are embassy or armed forces personnel.
As for Europeans bringing cars to America… well, we import enough of their cars that they could probably buy whatever they want over here, and cheaper too.
Well, unless you’re an avid Peugeot driver, like myself. Peugeot stopped exporting to the US some 5 years ago - I think in the 1995 they sold maybe 20 cars in the US as a whole.
That’s alright though. When I move to the US, I’ll just buy a PT Cruiser (I LOVE it!) - they’re incredibly expensive over here, and I hear they’re only USD 16,000 over there (here in the Netherlands, it is launched at a starting price of some USD 22,000).
You know what’s freaky? When you’re driving along and glance over and the car next to you appears to have no driver! Takes a minute to realize that it’s a British car…we don’t see too many here, but when we were in the Netherlands there were quite a few. I wonder how hard it is to drive like that?
US military personnel in Europe have special license plates, we don’t use our state plates. I have seen people prop their stateside license plate in their back window, why I have no idea.
Coldfire, I think I’m about to inherit my mom’s Peugot! I can’t take it back to the States, though, it’d cost too much to convert it to USA specs.
BTW, wouldn’t a European car have to pass an inspection to make it into the States? Something about different emissions standards.
Tatertot: congratulations, you’ll finally be driving a REAL car What model is it?
All European cars are made to fit the most stringent emmission standards. But a lot of the problems are safety-wise. For example, bumpers need to be wider in the US, if I’m informed correctly. Which is why you sometimes see Ferraris and such with shudder rubber safety bumpers. What a load of crap: bumpers will do NOTHING for you or anyone else at high speeds, they’re only there to cope with minor impacts, such as slightly hitting the car in front of you whilst parking. As a safety device, bumpers have little function.
FWIW, any foreign car that has to be imported to the Netherlands (or any other EU country) needs to pass a road safety test as well. But here, it seems the impact is more on passive safety (impact zones, seats, head rests, belts) inside the car rather than the cosmetic-preserving features such as bumpers.
Oh, I drove my father’s RHD car (also a Peugeot, BTW ;)) in England a few weeks back when I was helping my girlfriend move to London. It wasn’t hard at all on the motorways, and slightly more difficult in the city because of the dead angle that is on the most inconvenient side. But as long as you keep your eyes open, there’s nothing to it.
The funny thing about emissions standards in Eastern Europe is that cars must be 5 years old or newer to be registered (in Hungary), but everyone drives around in Trabants (Traubies), Wartburgs, Ladas, Skodas, etc. Those cars have some of the worst emissions I’ve ever seen. Nothing like a refurbished John Deere (lawnmower) engine to get your car putting along. =) Even so, the Traubie is probably one of my favorite cars, albeit for sentimental reasons.
I’ve seen a Hawaii plate in NYC, and an Alaska plate in Washington, DC. And a Connecticut plate in Alaska.
I’ve seen the Northwest Territories plate…it’s so cool! For those of you who’ve never seen one, let me tell you: it’s shaped like a polar bear! No kidding!
I’ve seen every kind of license plate in the US and Canada (including a Puerto Rico plate) except for the Yukon Territory (I was very bummed; I had hoped to see one in Alaska.) At least, I assume Nunavut has not yet made their own license plates. Heck, I don’t think there are even any inter-city roads there!
Not as rare as some of the ones mentioned here already, but I saw a Prince Edward Island plate in Ottawa yesterday. Considering PEI’s low population and separation by water, they must be fairly rare.
To respond to the op, GTO MEX is for the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, which is in central Mexico. When Psycat and I were in Cabo San Lucas, BCS(Baja California Sur), Mexico, we saw quite a few license plates from Washington and Oregon and even a couple from Canada.
Here is a map of Mexico showing the different regions.
I live in the Washington, DC area and I see quite a few Alaska and Hawaii plates, and most other states as well. I see far more Guam plates than I ever would have expected. My understanding was that while you’re generally supposed to register your car in the state where you reside, this rule does not apply (in at least some cases) to active-duty military personnel. I imagine many of the cars I see really were driven here (or shipped part of the way in the case of Hawaii and Guam) from the state/territory on the plate, but some are probably owned by locals who register their car where they used to live, or where it’s cheap to register. Or maybe they like standing out in the crowd. It’s much cooler around here to have Alaska tags on your Ford Expedition than, say, Maryland!
Someone who lives on my street has Puerto Rico plates, which I hardly ever see anywhere else.
My Virginia plates have been seen in all 48 contiguous states and in all the Canadian provinces from Ontario to British Columbia. Sometimes they grab attention and start conversations-- especially in small towns (Three Hills, Alberta was one memorable one.) These conversations usually start along the lines of “So, what in the world are you doing in <insert town name here>?”
Has anyone ever seen a Canal Zone plate? That’s a pretty rare US Territorial plate, and I guess they don’t make them any more since it’s no longer a US territory.
FYI, lots of license plate trivia and pictures can be found at http://www.pl8s.com
Here I thought I was gonna be so freakin’ special with a Guam license plate (first one I ever saw) in Arlington VA, and you come along sayin’ they’re a dime a freakin’ dozen. Isn’t that just a kick in the head.
So… you coming to the DC-Balto DoperFest on the 17th?
When I lived in San Diego I kept seeing cars with plates that said (in addition to the tag number) “BC FRONT.” The name of the country was not on the tag.
I couldn’t understand why so many cars from British Columbia were down in San Diego, and why the tags said “FRONT” when they were on the back of the cars.
** The VERY BEST place to find missing license plates, if you keep a list, like my kids did,
is NIAGARA FALLS**.
The large, general public parking lot covers acres of ground and you’ll quickly spot all 50 states and most of the Canadian provinces in one quick stroll. It is really something to see.
I can’t take it back to the States, though, it’d cost too much to convert it to USA specs.