I often see European cars with European plates here in Los Angeles – I feel like it’s to give off a certain vibe (but I actually don’t know the reason; I’m not a car person – If you drive w these plates lmk)
Two questions :
1) do ppl drive American cars in your country ?
2) if so do they drive w American plates ?
Bonus question –
3) if so, what kind of “feeling” does it give off in your opinion ?
38 comments
Yea, people drive American cars in Denmark, though most are manufactured elsewhere. But brands like Ford, Chevrolet and Tesla, are quite normal to see in the street. But most of them drive with Danish (or other European) plates, since, well, they mostly belong to Danes (or Europeans) and are registered in Denmark (or in another European country.)
I think I can count on my hands, the number of times I’ve seen an American license plate in Denmark, and whenever I’ve seen one, my reaction has only been: “huh, that’s an American plate.” I don’t think people attribute any “feeling” or “vibe” to it; I’m just assuming they’re tourists.
Sometimes older American cars might have an American plate under the Finnish one, or in a different location. It’s not that common, but definitely happens. Whenever you go to a car meet there is bound to be at least one example of that.
I think it’s just a fun thing for those people to do. They import a car and the original plate is on it, so they leave it there and put the new plate on top, or besides it, or whatever.
Ford is quite popular, but AFAIK Ford Europe in Cologne operates rather independent from Ford US. You will not see many of those humongous emotional support trucks here.
With regards to plates: German cars need German plates. So the only valid US plates you might encounter are those of US military cars or cars US soldiers brought with them.
Sometimes people will show of a non-valid US license plate as some kind of vanity toy.
I see more Polish/Czech/Austrian/Dutch/Danish license plates around here than US plates.
Tesla is very popular here and sadly some people started buying those enormous ford trucks
Never seen an American plate before. If you’re a resident of the Netherlands you’re not allowed to drive with foreign plates here.
American cars, sure, or maybe I should say American car *brands*, since the ones that aren’t actual vintage vehicles will have been produced in Europe rather than imported from the US.
I don’t think I have ever seen a car here with American plates. Cars that are registered here must have local plates, and it is very expensive to ship a car from the US to Iceland, so I expect not many people do it unless they intend to register the car, in which case the American plates must be replaced with local ones.
1) Yes. Some American brands sell cars here.
2) Only American diplomats and military can drive a car with American plates.
3) Gives a government official businesses vibe. It’s similar in DC where you’ll see diplomatic plates from all over the world.
Scotland: I’ve never seen an American plate here (or in Europe or Turkey) and I’ve been here since 1976. I suppose it might sometimes be legal – European plates are common enough on tourists’ cars and long-haul trucks – but it doesn’t happen.
I see one every once in a while but it’s pretty uncommon. I always assume it’s an American tourist doing a big European trip and they’ve brought over their own car to do so. Here in the Netherlands we do have a Dutch plate with US spec dimensions for imported American cars, they can look similar to a US plate from a distance but are just plain yellow with black letters (or white letters on a dark blue background for pre-1978 cars).
American cars are sold here but I’ve never seen a US plate on there.
As to what vibes it gives off, it varies. Ford makes just regular cars for the most part as do most other US brands. Oldtimers are obviously always nice no matter where they come from.
Then there’s also the worrisome trend of contemporary pick ups making their way here. I despise them from the depth of my soul. They are purpose built to crush children under 3 tons and emit too much while carrying nothing but huge egos and take up at least two parking lots. I’m convinced they should be outlawed for traffic safety and environmental purposes. To clarify my issue isn’t about the origin of those cars but pretty much everything else.
US manufacturing is more renowned for motorcycles here. Harley Davidson obviously being a huge brand and the association to the US is more pronounced.
I’ve seen US plates on cars on the road in Denmark 4 times in my life, last time was about a month ago actually. Usually they will be from US military personel stationed in Germany. Diplomats do not drive around Europe with US plates, that would be illegal, they use special plates of their host country and use the country sticker CD, as an aside I see an increasing number of cars without the required country sticker (if it’s not incorporated in license plate you must have one on to legally drive abroad, worldwide, though I doubt many countries really enforce it)
Tesla is very popular with the rich people, of course they all have local licence plates.
If I ever saw a car with ‘murican plate in Europe, I’d think “*eagle screech flag wave gunfire* what a clown, too special to get a normal plate like everyone else.”
Never seen American plates here, although I’ve seen loads of French, Dutch and German plates on the tourist areas of Ireland this summer, there were so many French and German number plates in Donegal lol
Italy here, never saw an American car, but different smaller models of American brands.
For the license plate, the best american plates I saw were the AFI (US Military Plate in Italy) and the US Military Plate of German
1. Yes. American cars are popular, normal, and frequent; although not as much as European and Asian manufacturers, with Ford being the 4th most popular brand and only American brand in the [Top 10](https://blog.riddermarkbil.se/mest-salda-bilmarken-i-sverige/). Old American cars are very popular within the subculture [raggare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raggare).
2. No, I have never seen an American plate on a car driving on a Swedish road. Foreign EU registered cars are common, and I have seen a couple of Asian registered cars, but never American. I have however never been to a *raggar* meet-up; if anywhere, that is where you will find American plates.
3. Driving an American car; no feeling. It is just a normal car. Having an American register plate; I have never seen one, but it feels like they must be a *raggare*. While they are other americophiles, only *raggare* would take the expression of importing a custom plate (I doubt that’s legal?) or driving an American registered car. I doubt a sensible American would import their America-registered car, and diplomats tend to have their [own type of plate](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sweden_diplomatic_license_plate_ML042B.jpg#mw-jump-to-license).
Plenty of American-brand cars here, but driving with American plates is super rare.
My main question the rare times I’ve seen that would be why would they go to the expense of bringing a car all the way here? And I’d have the same question for someone from Europe bringing a car to America. If you’re here a short time, rent. If you’re here a long time, buy or get a lease. So I guess my feeling would be “confused”.
The market of US cars is limited. You can see a number of Mustangs and Camaros, otherwise it is a niche market held by some small importers.
Exception: Tesla.
The only European country where I have seen US licence plates is Germany, because they have big ~~US~~ NATO military bases and they can drive with their US plates.
In France, it is a rarity. Probably have seen less than 10 in a lifetime.
What does it feel to drive a US car in France? Mostly 50 yrs old douches in their Mustangs.
American plates? No. Probably too much of a pain to bring an American registered car to Ireland.
I doubt anyone is THAT attached to driving their car……
I think Joe Biden brought his car over when he was last here but in my opinion, he would have been better off going to Entreprise car hire and picking one up for a few days- but what do I know?
I’ve seen an American plate in the UK once, and that was owned by a family who emigrated and brought the car with them. It was re-registered after a short time, with a UK-standard “square” plate on the back.
July-August is emigrants-returning-home season in Portugal and you’ll find in small villages cars with registrations from wherever Portuguese nationals emigrated to, usually western Europe but sometimes also from Canada (Ontario) or the US (New Jersey, Florida…). In some cases I wonder if they’re not from people who actually returned definitely but kept their cars on US/Canadian plates instead of legalizing them immediately. My mother’s cousin kept her cars on french plates for a few years after she retired back to Portugal. Surely bringing your car from NA for just a month or 2 and sending it back would be expensive!
ETA: So yes, I’ve seen US and Canadian plates in Portugal but never in France. I suspect they’re pretty rare. Bringing a car across oceans is pretty expensive. When my family from Brazil comes to Portugal for vacation, they rent a car locally.
1, yes.
2, yes and no.
There’s zillions of the cooler old US cars in europe (‘cool cut off’ at early 70s most often).
Most Europeans love our own classic cars, and your ‘land yachts’ and pony cars are great (after all, the GT40 made its name here).
But we hate the smalldick.com, luckily small amount of absurd US cars ([and our EU crap](https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-mustang-1966-2-door-fastback-vs-land-rover-range-rover-2012-suv/)), tho we hate especially your [obese trucks](https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-f150-2017-4-door-pickup-supercrew-5.5-raptor-vs-ford-mustang-1966-2-door-fastback/) that are now here as well. So fuck off to those eejits.
And tho some countries have strict rules about plates, lots don’t, or enforce them lightly.
Or their owners get ‘US style’ plates,
*easily argued cuz of the diff’ shape, and the european cops are way more chilled out.*
The hot rod scene in EU (esp Scandinavia) and UK, it’s **huge**, arguably ‘jollier’ that US.
Our ’72 wagon had new jersey 1972 style (black on cream) plates, but that was last decade, maybe they’ve clamped down these days?
There’s a ’57 olds at 5:35 mark on here, taped at the 2023 hotrodhayride
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=VVeOd5JVWxs&](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=VVeOd5JVWxs&😉
I’ve never seen an American plate here. It’s required by law to have an Italian plate after a certain (short) period of time so if you live here it’s unlikely you’ll have a foreign plate.
Ford is the most popular American brand, especially the Fiesta was one of the best selling models for a long time (but this car was produced specifically for the European market if I’m not wrong) In recent times I also see more Teslas, even if the market for electric cars in Italy is still quite small.
License plates aren’t customizable in any way in the Netherlands, so no, you likely won’t see any American plates here.
There is, however, a [special form factor](https://www.graveertotaal.nl//Files/10/215000/215210/ProductPhotos/448/1702620739.png.webp) for Dutch license plates that can be used for certain imported cars, as opposed to the [default one](https://kentekenplaathouderontwerpen.nl//Files/10/318000/318200/ProductPhotos/620/1702216454.jpg).
Some of those giant trucks (mainly Dodge RAMs seem to be popular) don’t have the space for a normal EU plate, so they do use a modified plate that looks more like the ones in the US. But most people still drive regular cars with regular EU plates.
1. American brands, yes. Imported from America? It happens, but it’s not common.
2. Never seen it other than on older cars (50s-70s), or “muscle cars”, and then it’s cars that are basically only allowed outside a few times per year. I don’t know how long you can legally drive with foreign plates.
3. “Nice car.” (They’re usually very well cared for)
We drive on the right here, so even if you are willing to pay 23% VAT on top of customs duty and carbon tax, you have to pay to convert the headlights and such to make it road legal. I’m sure there are some rich hobbyists who have imported American cars somewhere, but if they do they’re not going to be driving them around and parking them on the street.
The only one I’ve ever seen in the UK was a freakin’ DeLorean with all the Back to the Future get up on it. Full on USA plate as well, which had a UK licence on it.
That was an odd one to be driving behind on the A1!
Croatia has a special plate that can be affixed to American cars, since European and American plates have different dimensions. My grandparents imported their car from the us when they moved, so it’s an American car with Croatian plates specifically sized to fit the plate area on the car.
Can’t say I’ve ever seen an American plate in Ireland.
Custom plates here aren’t legal, but the enforcement is patchy and tends to mostly be if you go to the NCT (car inspection) centre you’ll just fail if your car’s not to spec.
However, you still see custom plates. The current fad is 3D letters/numbers instead of the usual 2D type and the Irish EU blue strip swapped for a black monochrome version of the same.
You get the odd person applying German style stickers and using German plate fonts on their cars – usually a boy racer in an old BMW or similar trying to make it look ‘more authentic’.
You also get the odd car with Irish numbering on a yellow rear plate i.e. UK format. That’s something you mostly seem to get near the border, and I suspect it’s more likely to do with making cars look less conspicuous or more conspicuous when you’re a local boy racer type who wants to avoid police attention.
Classic cars here can use silver on black plates, which look quite nice.
American cars and American plates are about as likely as Irish plates in the USA though. Something I’ve never seen here.
If we exclude american car shows, i don’t think i have ever seen US plates in any car. As for US made cars… they are around but not very common. They don’t have good reputation when it comes to build quality and reliability, while being heavy and poor gas mileage. They are more comfy but more expensive to use and own. There is also much less prestige as luxury vehicles than UK or German luxury brands.
1. Yes. A few people import full-size pickups or vintage 60-s, 70-s American cars. Lots of Teslas, obviously. There are plenty of regular Fords (not pickups), but they don’t need special plates, since they are built in Germany for EU market. Also lots of these models aren’t sold in the US itself
2. Yes, if the car was made for NA market, people drive with American sized plates. Those are very easy to get, you get to choose the form-factor of the plate when you register a vehicle
3. Spoiling a look of the car with ill-fitting size of the plate would be a shame, I’m glad they can get a proper one
I have never seen American license plates here. You see plenty of other foreign plates here, most obviously Belgian and German plates, but also plenty of Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian plates and I spot a lot more Ukrainian plates lately as well, for obvious reasons.
Those are likely cars of diplomats and their families. Only a very few people would ship their car to the Americas for vacation. In practice only if it was a Unimog motor home or similar. Something you can’t rent in America.
U.S. forces in Europe used U.S license plates until about 30 years ago. That included civilian cars as well. Nowadays they use U.S. license plates that from afar look like the local license plates, e.g. like [this one from Germany.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/U.S._Armed_Forces_in_Germany_license_plate_%22IF_-_AG_238%22.jpg/495px-U.S._Armed_Forces_in_Germany_license_plate_%22IF_-_AG_238%22.jpg) in Germany. They even created a fantasy coat of arms. Cars that can’t easily be identified as U.S. forces or the private cars get regular local license plates instead. This is all to make them less good targets for terrorists.
There are people who drive 1960ies muscle cars or Cadillacs for fun but this is a huge exception. And of course you need local license plates for those.
I’ve seen a handful of clearly American cars but they have the euro license plate displayed in the back. I only know 1 person that shipped his car here and he had to pay lots of money for modifications. I’m from Southern California also, and it does give a vibe. Cars here a different so seeing one from home makes me smile. But they are few and far between.
Some imported cars (mostly those humongous Ford trucks) carry what we call American plates. The numbers and letters are of a Dutch license plate, and it is yellow with black like our plates are, but the plate itself is a bit smaller. This is because American plates are smaller than ours, so our normal ones don’t always fit imported cars. We actually have a 1990 Miata with American plates!
https://www.autoweek.nl/kentekencheck/kentekens/dit-zijn-de-regels-rondom-kleine-amerikaanse-kentekenplaten/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Sometimes you see big overtly American cars, like 50s hot rod type things, with an original US license plate on it. It isn’t unusual at all to have European plates around – Polish, Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland even some islands like Isle of Man or Jersey are around regularly. It is very unusual to find anything wider than that as there are rules on foreign cars and how long they can drive here, and they have to actually get here of course. I would imagine these are purely for effect, very outdated, and not actually within the law.
American brand cars are fairly common in the UK e.g. Ford. However many of these are manufactured in Europe. Often these companies will even have separate models sold primarily in Europe. It’s rare to import cars directly from the US, especially as cars in the UK have the driver on a different side to the US.
I’ve never seen an American number plate in the UK, even in the few cases where it is clearly an American car e.g. a massive pick up truck. I’ve heard it can happen near army bases or embassies though. Foreign number plates can only be used for up to six months in the UK before you’d need to replace them with a UK plate anyway, so in the rare cases where a car is imported it will have its plates replaced pretty quickly.
1. American models of car are uncommon in the UK. You’ll see American-recognisable brands, but the cars they make for our market will be different models. The few I’ve noticed are massive compared to UK cars (although an increasing number of cars being sold here seem to be based on the wheelbase size used in America now), and most of our parking spaces just aren’t made for them, so it can be difficult to park next to such a big vehicle.
2. It’s rare (but not impossible) to see cars with American plates in England. I think I’ve seen a handful over my lifetime. Some may have been imported by Americans who have settled here (although they legally are meant to get new UK plates by registering it when it arrives), or perhaps are from one of the airbases that the US use in the UK.
3. Not seen enough to assign a particular feeling to cars with American plates, but as mentioned above, their size can be annoying in terms of seeing around or parking next to.
US plated cars can legally be driven here (Scotland) if the US insurer will extend coverage, and you occasionally see them belonging to US military people. I imported two US plated cars when I moved back and nobody batted an eye.
Of course for logistical reasons plates from elsewhere in Europe are much more common, notably Ireland and Netherlands, but also long distsnce trucks from as far away as Romania.
There are some US car *models* available, e.g. Mustang, Corvette, Jeep Cherokee and there is a following for imported US classics, esp the Willys.