Would these license plate brackets, with a plate mounted, effect cooling significantly?

Although a front plate mounted in the middle might not have too much effect on cooling, I would prefer to leave that area open. The X needs all the cooling assistance it can get. So a side mount like @jimmyx did (post #4) is a better option in my opinion.

Calif requires a front plate and it is a great excuse for a officer to pull someone over, then look for various other violations to cite. But I do not like the appearance of a front plate so I made a "quick release" attachment and kept the plate in the vehicle. If I got pulled over for it I would show the plate and say it just came loose, then reattach it in front of the officer - only receiving a warning. The good news is if you actually receive a citation it's what we refer to as a "fit it ticket", meaning you only need to mount the plate and get the citation signed off. Then nothing goes on your record.
Do you have any photos? I now have my front plate zip-tied to the grill off to the side as it had fallen off a week or so before. Got pulled over, explained the plate had fallen off and showed it to the kind CHP officer. He said, "Not that I'm calling you a liar, but..." and then wrote me a fix-it ticket. I'd love to have something that would let me do what you did.
 
Do you have any photos? I now have my front plate zip-tied to the grill off to the side as it had fallen off a week or so before. Got pulled over, explained the plate had fallen off and showed it to the kind CHP officer. He said, "Not that I'm calling you a liar, but..." and then wrote me a fix-it ticket. I'd love to have something that would let me do what you did.
Sorry Larry, that was in reference to another (non X1/9) vehicle of mine that gets driven regularly. None of my X's have had front plates, but they are driven so rarely that the odds of being pulled over are low enough to not worry about it.
 
When I bought my car, the dealer left the front license plate bracket in the trunk and I have managed to go for over 48 years without getting pulled over for a missing front plate. My recollection is that the bracket mounted in the top center position and grabbed the body sheet metal channel just below the nose. That was another reason that I did not mount it - it looked like it could scratch the paint since it would tighten into that channel below the nose. It was designed so that the top of the license plate was just below the top of the body sheet metal with the bottom hanging down toward the radiator. It did not look like it would have much affect on air flow to the radiator, My house mate bought a new X several weeks after me and it came with a front plate so that's how I know what it looks like. The first thing he did when he got the car home was to remove the front plate.

That reminds me of a situation regarding X1/9s in late summer 1974. My house mate was one of several people that I knew that wanted to buy an X1/9 but were saving up their money until they could afford one. In late summer, there was a press release showing the new 1975 X1/9. Compared to a 74, it was considered so butt ugly with the bumpers that it caused the remaining 74s to get snapped up very quickly. My house mate took out a loan to get one of the last new 74s in the area.
 
Sorry Larry, that was in reference to another (non X1/9) vehicle of mine that gets driven regularly. None of my X's have had front plates, but they are driven so rarely that the odds of being pulled over are low enough to not worry about it.
Thanks. I got several fix-it tickets in a few years. After getting one signed off, the officer looked at the front bumper of my X and said "there's no place to even mount a plate" as the center section where the plate could go has a rub strip installed. He said "Now you be real careful because on the way home, that plate - which was tied to the right side of the grill just under the bumper) - will probably fall off. When it does, pick it up and keep it with you in the car and the next time you get pulled over, show the plate to the officer and say 'it just fell off the car.'" And sure enough, a few weeks later, the plate fell off the car.

I tried that the next time I got pulled over but the kind CHP officer (who probably was pushing 100mph catching up with me several miles from a gas stop) said, "Not to call you a liar, but I don't think that plate was ever mounted."

I'd like to find something that would allow the plate to be mounted when I'm parked or that I can flip down when something like this happens again and apologize profusely instead of having it attached to the grill.
 
Thanks. I got several fix-it tickets in a few years. After getting one signed off, the officer looked at the front bumper of my X and said "there's no place to even mount a plate" as the center section where the plate could go has a rub strip installed. He said "Now you be real careful because on the way home, that plate - which was tied to the right side of the grill just under the bumper) - will probably fall off. When it does, pick it up and keep it with you in the car and the next time you get pulled over, show the plate to the officer and say 'it just fell off the car.'" And sure enough, a few weeks later, the plate fell off the car.

I tried that the next time I got pulled over but the kind CHP officer (who probably was pushing 100mph catching up with me several miles from a gas stop) said, "Not to call you a liar, but I don't think that plate was ever mounted."

I'd like to find something that would allow the plate to be mounted when I'm parked or that I can flip down when something like this happens again and apologize profusely instead of having it attached to the grill.
You can get retractable plate mounts. There's a couple designs; remote controlled or manual swing out/back, removable, etc. Some have mountings made for specific vehicles (obviously no X1/9's), but others are more universal. In my opinion they are a bit costly for what they are. I think you could make something like them though. Search for "retractable license plate", and "removable license plate" for ideas. You'd have to figure out the best place to mount them on your X.
 
You can get retractable plate mounts. There's a couple designs; remote controlled or manual swing out/back, removable, etc. Some have mountings made for specific vehicles (obviously no X1/9's), but others are more universal. In my opinion they are a bit costly for what they are. I think you could make something like them though. Search for "retractable license plate", and "removable license plate" for ideas. You'd have to figure out the best place to mount them on your X.
I've briefly looked in the DMV code to find out how much of the plate must be visible. I'm hoping as long as the letters/numbers are visible, then I was thinking of folding the plate above and below and mounting it to the lower side of the bumper off to the far side that way. That would be meeting the letter of the law and not be as noticeable when attending car shows, etc.
 
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