These ugly blue license plates may be coming back to NJ

I’m sorry, was that too blunt? Should I have said these lovely retro license plates may be coming back to NJ? Nope. I’m sticking with the original headline.

Just my opinion of course, but I remember these drab blue plates throughout the entire 1980s. If a yawn could be caught with a net in mid-air and turned into a license plate, this is what it would look like. They were around from 1979 until 1991. From My Sharona by The Knack through all the Bruce Springsteen Glory Days right up until Bryan Adams’ (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. Through the Reagan and elder Bush years.

Well, two Jersey legislators have introduced bills to allow the Motor Vehicle Commission to make and sell them as retro plates. Assemblyman Kevin Rooney and State Senator Kristin Corrado both say they get asked often enough by constituents about bringing back the blue plates.

“I’ve had dozens upon dozen of emails and calls about it,” Rooney told nj.com. “I go to car shows and am asked, ‘How are you making out (with the license plate bill)?’”

Uhhhh...okay?

I’m sorry I remember these very differently. I was a kid in the '80s and learned to drive in that decade. I had these blue plates. I remember nothing fondly. I found them dull. Uninspired. And I can’t find a good article on this because it was so long ago, but weren’t these the plates New Jersey police officers complained about being hard to read at night? Write me if I’m wrong but I seem to remember this being so.

What will these retro plates cost you? $50 to buy it initially then $10 every year to renew. Is it worth it? Nah. If you want to make your car look like an 80’s time warp I saved an old Mondale-Ferraro sticker I can sell you along with a Just Say No magnet. Hairspray not included.

Photo: (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.