I used to play tennis with a good friend of mine (JL) in Boston and always admired her license plate. It read WEIT. I knew it was a vanity plate but could never figure out what it meant until I asked her. It stood for WHAT EVER IT TAKES. She was in the customer service business and wanted her plate to be a constant reminder to always go above and beyond for her clients.
I have a vanity plate and although it means something special to me it isn’t as deep as WEIT. Mine is SOX07. For those who know me well, you know it stands for Red Sox 2007 which is the last time they won the World Series.
Here are some of the ones I have seen over the years:
- 4sakn
- Ddysgrl
- MyToy
- Was His
- I CUFF UM
- DRTHVDR
- Gore Won
- BKRPTCY
- KIDLESS
- Il Sue U
- Blogger
I thought some of the ones I have seen were cute and funny.
- Do you have a vanity plate?
- What do you think of the ones I listed?
- Do you like mine?
- What are some of the ones you have seen over the years?
I look forward to reading your comments.
Paul Kirch says:
I worked with a woman named Martha Jane Power at Gallup. Her vanity plates were PWRDRVN (Power Driven). I thought that was very creative. In general though, I’m not a huge fan of vanity plates and have never owned one. If I had a name like hers, however, I might have reconsidered.
Ed Sugar says:
I have had on for the last 13 years – OOOTTO3
O.O. Otto was a nom de plume used by my paternal grandfather. My father used O.O. Otto Jr., so that makes me O.O. Otto III. My oldest nephew is O.O. Otto IV
Merrill Dubrow says:
Ed,
Thanks for sharing. I never knew that story. I love the meaning and connection.
Merrill
Michele Zwillinger says:
Mine was RESEARCH till I turned the car in at a local dealership and they forgot to switch it to the new car. Then I switched to FOCSGRP and I will take better care of this one.
I think vanity plates are fun. They give me something to do when waiting at a stoplight. Sorry about the Red Sox, Merrill. The Dodgers keep us more involved over the years!
Merrill Dubrow says:
Michele,
Those are cool plates – love the fact you are promoting the industry. Thanks for sharing.
Go SOX!
Merrill
Diane B says:
I saw a little yellow Miata in the 90s that’s plate was NUPRIN.
Bob Graham says:
My Missouri plate says UMASS 1. Believe it or not, I applied for the following plates, but they were Already taken: UMASS, REDSOX, BOSTON, BOSOX.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Bob,
UMASS 1 is still a great plate. Are you going to try for the same one when you move back to Texas?
Merrill
Tom Hjelm says:
I remember seeing an Oklahoma plate back in the 80’s not long after the release of “The Shining” that read REDRUM.
Lance Hoffman says:
OK – in high school – no kidding, it was BUSTAMVE. Obviously, BSTAMOVE, BUSTAMUV and BUSTAMOV were taken. So the joke among my friends was they would refer to my car as “Bust-AM-VEY”
Ah – memories. I have since decided that while I enjoy deciphering and admiring the plates of others, it is best to go more under the radar with my plates. As most of you know, I am a very low-key kind of guy
Marc Dresner says:
ZRABBI … My childhood rabbi: a teacher, friend and occasional nemesis. He was very old, very wise and painfully unfunny.
omican says:
Don’t have a vanity plate right now but had one -CANTOR which got us a great parking spot on the holidays and a lot of people tooting and yelling Shalom
OmiCantor
Malcolm Williamson says:
I am still great friends with all of my boyhood pals and we get together twice a year for golf, skiing, etc… There are approximately 15 of us who have dubbed ourselves ‘Hondos’. Of course we have all nicknamed one another. At 45 years old, I am the oldest of the bunch and my nickname is ‘Grandpa’. My plate reads GP HONDO.
Of course the best vanity plate is owned by my friend Curtis who sports IHAULAS on his Mazarati. He’s had it since 1882.
Brian Ottum says:
I loved seeing the plate “SAYLAVI” once.
As for myself, I’m a fanatic astronomer, so I have “NEBULA” on my camper (which hauls me and my telescopes to star parties).
John Castellano says:
Being such a good corporate citizen I do have a vanity plate on my BMW, its EPOC, the stock symbol reserved for the company if we go public.
Lance Hoffman says:
What would we have to do in order to get in on a not-so-private offering John?
Connie Ruben says:
Hey Merrill,
first of all -keep in mind that I am the person responsible for the Sox winning in 07. It was my very first professional baseball game and it was in Boston and sure enough after me watching that game – they went on to win the series… way cool!
I do have a plate that is very simply 4CR. My middle name is Rae and during my young adult years my friends always called me CR -not very creative – but mine.
The best plate I saw was many years ago. the car was a smashing little sports car – the kind we all drool over as it goes by. The woman driving it was drop dead gorgeous and the plate simply stated “was his”
gary says:
My current plate is 1Huey, in honor of the iconic helicopter of the Vietnam War that I help place in the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History Price of Freedom Exhibit, the only “civilian’ aircraft to fly into and land in DC airspace post 9/11 and the logo of our non-profit America’s Huey 091 Foundation, an organization dedicated to both civics education and to helping paralyzed or amputee post 9/11 veterans gain mobility tools, from new vehicles to the iBOT Mobility System that allows them to sit at eye level, as our equals, and to climb stairs, gaining their independence back.
So, its a hoped for conversation starter…. like now. Shameless effort to help others huh?
Joe Baldi says:
Merrill, I never have and probably never will have a vanity plate although I do admire the creativity of some I’ve seen. The best was
WK4aJRK
I saw it driving on the turnpike and I can’t tell you how fast I sped up to make sure it was not someone who worked for me. Phew, it was not.
Joe
Dan Prince says:
Hi this is Dan Prince. My plate for the last 10 years or so has been DPRINCE. I use it as a conversation starter, as in, when you need Marketing Research, who ya gonna call… D-PRINCE! Clients often remark on it when they visit us and see my bright red BMW parked in front of our building! It’s fun!