If your car is a cop magnet, fix it up. Don't cover up the plate, make sure all the lights work, forget about ghetto accessories like dark covers over the taillight, ghetto rims, etc. Make your car as normal looking as possible.

As far as fighting the ticket, the court isn't stupid. They'll see your license was issued after the ticket. Since it's a non-moving violation you could maybe make a case and maybe the DA would be nice and take pity on your situation.