We bought our HCH's in Oklahoma & Florida, neither of which requires a front plate. The Okla. dealer provided the front plate frame but didn't install it; we had a local dealer do that for us at the 1st maintenance interval (we like vanity plates!). The Fla. dealer puts the frame on all its cars in order to place its own advertising logo there.

Sounds like the cops in Ill. are real hardcases. My last few years in Texas, I noticed quite a few cars (not out of state) with either no front plate or a vanity plate.

Meanwhile you should lobby your state legislators to abolish the front plate. Arizona did so in the early '90s and suffered no ill effects. And maybe they'll rebate part of the 50% savings in plate-making expenses to you drivers.