History Main / VanityLicensePlate

* A RunningGag on ''[[Reno911 Reno 911!]]'', two of the deputies would be pursuing a suspect and trying to report their vanity plate over the radio. They would get so engrossed in trying to figure out what the plate meant, that they wouldn't notice the suspect stopping...

* In another Cusack film, 1986's ''One Crazy Summer'', rich bully boy Teddy Beckersted has sportscar with the plate "[=CUL8R=]".

[[AC:Television]]
* Lady Penelope's Rolls Royce in [[Thunderbirds]] had the plate FAB 1.

* Tracy Jordan on [[ThirtyRock 30 Rock}]] was incensed when his wife called his vanity plate inscrutable: 0ICU81MI. Short for "I see you ate one, am I?".

* Tracy Jordan on [[ThirtyRock 30 Rock}]] was incensed when his wife called his vanity plate inscrutable: 0ICU812MI.

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In much of the world, national or local governments fund public roadways and highways, in part, by charging an annual fee to every vehicle owner. To prove they have paid the fee, a metal plate with a unique identification is affixed to the rear or front bumper (often both) of the vehicle (this also gives a useful way of identifying each vehicle). Usually, the identification is a short string of random or semi-random figures, letters or both. Sometimes, the first few or last few digits may identify the sub-region where the car is registered, but usually the digits are assigned sequentially.

However, never one to pass up a chance to express their individuality or the depth of their pocketbooks, some vehicle owners want to have cooler license plates than everyone else. Never one to pass up a chance to charge rich idiots more money, most governmental units let them order custom plates, for a fee.

Writers and production designers will often include a vanity license plate as visual shorthand for the personality of the car's owner. A CorruptCorporateExecutive may have BIG BOSS on his BMW or Lexus. A JerkJock may have UR MY FAN or BEST QB. Rich bastards in general are likely to have a CoolCar with a plate along the lines of MY TOY. Heck, the CoolCar in general almost certainly has a vanity plate of some sort.

For obscenely rich characters, '[Name of character] 1', '2', '3', and so on is also popular, as it gives the character a chance to bring attention to the fact that he has SEVERAL cars, and has to keep them numbered to keep track of them. Any character with such a plate can generally be assumed to be a total dick.

It's also worth noting that different cultural reactions to these kind of plates come from how much they cost. In the USA this is seen as "mostly harmless" (if a mite gauche) since most vanity plates cost within the range of $25 to $50 extra (with extreme ends of $10 in Virginia to $100 in Minnesota). One of the reasons ''TopGear'' et al. are so dismissive of plates is that they cost more than 10 times as much across the pond. Not only are you an attention-seeking bore, but you also have more money than is good for you.

* A man, who was asked to give his three choices for a vanity plate, wrote in BOATING, SAILING and NO PLATE (meaning if they were both taken, he'd just take a normal plate like everyone else). A couple weeks later he received a plate reading, you guessed it, NO PLATE. He was amused and decided to keep it. [[http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/noplate.asp Then the traffic tickets started arriving, from people who had reported cars with no plate.]]

* The now defunct car styling and tuning dealer D&W in Bochum always mounted the same license plates on their "model" cars: "BO-DW 1".

* Rotten.com has license plates with 1337 and H4X0R.