I have a 94 Ford Ranger for a daily driver, got it new, and I never put the front plate on it except this one:
Only problem I've had is going sober through a sobriety check point here in El Cajon... ECPD's finest asked me where my front plate was, told him behind the seat. He got kind of gruff and asked what it was doing back there, and before I could answer, angrily told me to get that plate where it's supposed to go or I'd get a ticket, then waved me through. That was about 10 years ago.
I've gotten 2 tickets in the past decade, CHP made no comment on not having a front license plate.
Not having a front license plate gives LE an excuse to pull you over, you are already doing something wrong. I can live with that because the only thing wrong I'd ever be doing is not having the license plate on the front.
It was probably not as big an issue in the past as it is now being that cities throughout the state use redlight cameras to raise revenue.