We have had a number of posts regarding the mounting of the front plate. I know that most of us would prefer not to run with a front plate; but, local laws can be a PITA giving us little choice in the matter.
As it happens my wife has a 2005 C6 Corvette. The Corvette OEM front plate mount is "butt ugly". In fact I have never seen a C6 in person with the OEM mount, only pictures. Virtually no C6 owner uses the OEM plate mount. But there are aftermarket alternatives that are much more visually appealing. Cayman owners have a similar problem. For a possible solution, checkout the website shown below:

C6 Alternate License Plate Bracket: PFYC

I should warn everyone that this C6 plate mount is not going to work on the Cayman. The C6 front grille is actually an air intake and there is a deep and flat surface in which to mount the plate holder. The Cayman does not have an air intake (it is a phoney) and the lower surface of the hole slopes upward.

The solution might be to buy the C6 mount and modify it. That is possible but it would involve some cutting and bending of 3/16" alum.

Most of you are probably wondering how this C6 plate mount is attached. They suggest either drilling holes and screwing it in (I didn't like that idea), or using high strength all-weather Velcro to hold the mount in place. I went the Velcro route (with reservations). I doubted if Velcro would work so I used a strong cable tie to catch my plate if it fell off. Guess what, after 2 years the Velcro has held it down perfectly. In fact, a little while ago, I tried to take the plate mount off and I had to use big time muscle to get it loose.

Now, it would be relatively simple to fabricate a similar mount for the Cayman. As a winter project I am thinking about using some 1/16" x 1 1/2" alum flat stock that could be easily bent to conform to the curved portion of the Cayman phoney air intake. This flat stock piece could be bent vertical with a curved interior section, i.e. like a "D" with the upper right 3/4 removed. You could bolt a rectangular piece to the vertical section, on which you could mount the plate. The curved portion that goes into the grill area would be held in place with high strength Velcro (doubters,believe me, this works!).

If anyone tries this, here are the dimensions off my Corvette C6. The lower edge of the plate is 6" off the ground. That is very low, but I have never scraped the plate going up a steep incline. Note that the Corvette has a much lower front end than the Cayman, and I suspect that if a Cayman ower mounts his plate that low (6" off the ground) it would not look good. The bottom of my plate extends 2" below the lower portion of the C6 front bumper. I think that would be a good dimension for the Cayman.

So, I think there is a way, you just have to build it yourself. It would not be difficult, and if it does not work, you can remove the Velcro and go to the original look. I am going to build one myself this winter. I will post pics, but don't hold your breath, I will do it when I get to it.

I presume your aware of one of our sponsors Mower Axle which has saved many including myself from a ticket.







zornet

I have seen. That is really "butt ugly". The guy who invented that does not care about symmetry. The Cayman is beautiful, symmetry is important to beauty. If you are going to mount a plate it should be centered.

And just for the record the tiptronic Caymans do have a center mounted radiator.

..and a third radiator can be added to non-Tip Caymen cheaply and easily (several here have done it). Some of those who add it also add the GT3 vent on top of the bumper in front of the leading edge of the hood (a careful but straightforward Dremel job).

The guys at Mower Axle ought to take the C6 bracket concept and run with it as a second product. There is a need here. I don't think this product is patented and I have no interest in starting a business.

As someone has pointed out, Tips have the third radiator so this solution would obscure a great deal of that space. I personally feel that there is never going to be a perfect solution because anything on the front is going to break up the lines of the front. As of right now, Moweraxle has the best solution that I have seen and I'm a big fan on them.

Just my opinion...

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Mine is a tiptronic so the center intake is not phoney therefore I cannot justify covering up 90% of the inlet with a solid obstruction no matter how ugly the license plate is. I will be removing my plate soon, if I get a ticket then I will temporally install the plate, take pictures and send them to the court and beg for mercy.

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The Corvette's has the radiator upfront and the center mounted plate creates no overheating problem, and the Corvette has a rather small radiator for a 6 liter engine. As to the upfront plate breaking up the lines of the car, that is very true. But, if you have to have a plate upfront, do you want it in a symmetrical position (in center) or asymmetrical (off to the side)? The last car that I remember with an off-center plate was a cheap GM car about 10 years ago and it looked unbalanced. I can't believe very many people find the offset plate acceptable; yes, it solves the problem, but it looks weird and unbalanced. Instead of doing that, I would just go with the OEM mount. You know, some people just have an aesthetic sense, and others do not. Go with what you like.

I don't know the Tip mechinicals at all. But, I strongly suspect the front radiator cools the trans. The only way you will get the trans hot is if you track the car. In which case you remove the front plate. If I am wrong I stand corrected.

MowerAxle’s offset plate mount is NOT used by most as a permanent mount, but as a fix-it ticket mount. Or in my case pulling it out of the bonnet followed by screwing it into the tow-hook hole as the officer watched, while putting his book away.

zornet

I don't know how it works where you live; but, here in Chicago they ticket parked cars for no front plate. I got a ticket in the Corvette while parked in a public lot at the airport. Yes, I could put on a removeable plate and take it off again, but what a PITA that would be, and half the time my wife would forget to do it. Anyway, who wants to risk a police stop? If you need a front plate to satisfy the law, you might as well have a permanent one than play games.