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My grandpa, Charles N. Princiotto would have turned 100 years old yesterday and I don't there's a better way to celebrate than to write about one of my favorite plates in my collection! Above is the license plate off of my grandpa's 1971 Jaguar E-Type, a car he bought brand new. BCP 18 stands for Bergen Charles Princiotto. In New Jersey there are what they call "courtesy plates" which are given out by elected officials to special people the first letter is the county code and the second two letters are the owner's initials. My grandfather received these plates from then Mayor of Ramsey, Salvatore Burgio, as a gift when he opened the Howard Johnsons Motel at 1755 Route 17 South in Ramsey NJ in 1955! Grandpa rarely drove the Jag, but he took me for rides with him a few times/.I had my eye on them since I began collecting plates! Well after years of asking my uncle and I convinced my grandfather to get historic plates, mostly for the reduced. The little "-2" indicates this is the second car that has t his number. My grandfather had I think five pairs of plates, however the the second pair was the only one that survived the dumpster. In 2008 I wrote an article about these plates c alled Uncommon Courtesy for PLATES Magazine!!! Happy Birthday Grandpa!!
