Starting to think about your Christmas shopping and don’t know what to get Dad? Well, if he’s already got the iPhone remote Viper car starter, how about a remote-controlled Lucky License Plate?

What’s that, you say? You’ve never heard of the lucky license plate? They are all the rage in Southern China. Operated by remote control, these license plates are designed to help you beat the traffic cameras to avoid tickets and fines. For 800 RMB (about US$115) a mechanical version flips down your license plate to obscure your identity. If you’ve got a little extra cash to burn, 2000 RMB gets you an LED-powered plate that can blank out or display fake numbers within a couple of seconds. This technology is quickly overtaking last year’s strategy of choice: fake military plates to scare off humble highway troopers.

“More than 50% of cars caught on camera for speeding and other offenses either cover up their plates or use a fake license plate. Our chances of capturing them is next to nil,” says a traffic policeman in the Yangjiang, Guangdong province. Weird Asia News

As I see it, if 50% percent of cars are getting away with it, somebody must be making a killing off of these magic plates. In fact, according to an anonymous salesman, they’re “…really convenient and economical too.” Anonymity doesn’t get in the way of business, though, because you can always visit the an official website. Not that I clicked through to look around a bit or anything.

If you’ve got a Corvette, you might consider a C5 or C6 remote control license plate frame. And hey, if you want to throw in a stocking stuffer, how about a digital scrolling flash frame?