Real Good Number Plates vol 5
Discussion
ts car.rowd1284 said:
ashleyman said:
That guy's Autobianchi, registration number '10 NG,' was both constructed and first registered in 1959.The reverse NG series began issue that same year - so it's almost certainly the car's original UK number.
The article says he "paid £35,000 for the Fiat 500 which came with the '10 NG' plate."
My guess is that '10 NG' is permanently attached to the car.
(This is not uncommon among classics because, if a car was out of use and a previous owner failed to update the old-style log book when the government's motorcar database was computerised in the 1980s, and the the car was subsequently put back into use, the number is allowed to stay with the car but its removal is permanently prevented.)
After all, what are the chances of Mr Long finding his 'perfect' matching plate for sale, attached to such an obscure left hand drive car (which is hideous to me but each to their own!) and deciding to keep it on there instead of transferring it to one of the many other vehicles in his "fleet?"
Incidentally, that plate is no doubt valuable, but it raises an interesting topic, i.e. how much value, if any, does a good non-transferable plate add to a classic, and what other gems out there do we know of that are in use but non-transferable?
The best is surely '1 AN,' trapped on a Morris Minor.
In fact it's probably among the most valuable combinations possible.
For years I remember attempts were made in vain to sell the car for a ridiculously inflated price, on eBay and elsewhere.
This link shows it was up for £35k almost a decade ago - http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=179...
(As of today, the MOT expired five years ago and it's currently SORNed.)
Surely its only value is the very slim chance that the non-transferable rules might change in future.
Or, of course, the chance of attracting a bidding war of wealthy Morris Minor nuts by the name of Ian all desperate for their perfect combination!
M3DGE said:
I've never understood 1 AN. The plate was never originally issued (AN was not reversed) so, if not bought from DVLA how did this plate end up on the Moggy? Anyone?
I have always been lead to belive the moggys original plate "was"transferred and 1 AN was issued as a similar age related replacement and therefore not transferable...CRA1G said:
I have always been lead to belive the moggys original plate "was"transferred and 1 AN was issued as a similar age related replacement and therefore not transferable...
I've heard that too, but it seems highly implausible to me that such an obviously valuable plate would be routinely issued like that, as alleged.Since time immemorial many authorities had an unofficial system in place which kept the 'best' combinations back - and it was not uncommon for the 'very best' to end up in the hands of the civil servants who themselves administered the registrations!
For instance, R 1 (December 1903) was reputedly issued to the head honcho at the Derbyshire licensing authority, and passed down through the family at least as far as the 1970s.
Today such an abuse would be considered clear-cut corruption in a public position.
What also often happened when two-letter combinations were reversed was that the low digits were all held back.
For example, my bible tells me that the AD series was reversed in January 1960, but started from 100 AD - all the double-digits, presumably, having been 'promised' to local car dealerships, business leaders and sundry bigwigs.
As for 1 AN, the car is from 1960 but the DVLA database shows it was first registered in October 1984 (this date refers to when it was first registered on the computerised system) - meaning that, for the back-story to be true, the number it replaced would itself have almost certainly been non-transferable.
It also raises a number of questions as to why the authorities would issue only one plate in the AN series - and the very best possible - as a non-transferable dateless replacement, when, only a handful of years later the DVLA began cashing in on all their unissued combinations at auction, which saw 2-104 AN inclusive all sold off during the 1990s.
Much more likely, in my opinion, is that 1 AN was a special one-off, issued yonks ago by some flexible civil servant to one of the old boys as a private number.
Said plate's owner (who had it attached to the Morris Minor) failed to update/maintain its registration by the new computerised system's deadline, and, subsequently, it was routinely re-registered to the car under the new system (in 1984) as a non-transferable plate.
Sorry for my last two long posts, but I find it interesting even if nobody else does!
mikeN54 said:
Made me chuckle on the way to work today. I wouldn't think it's a private plate, but just rather unfortunate.
Would put me off buying the car used anyway!
And saw S1XER on a nice Z4 M coup, but couldn't snap it in time.
I often see a Sportage near me with "SH13TCO", which has the same chucklesome effect on me Would put me off buying the car used anyway!
And saw S1XER on a nice Z4 M coup, but couldn't snap it in time.
Edited by mikeN54 on Wednesday 7th September 10:07
CRA1G said:
Shnozz said:
JPJPJP said:
Think I saw JUL 1E on a FFRR yesterday, but I was going the other way in traffic so not 100% sure
Sounds about right. I've seen it on a black FFRR around Leeds quite a lot. 
rowd1284 said:
CRA1G said:
I have always been lead to belive the moggys original plate "was"transferred and 1 AN was issued as a similar age related replacement and therefore not transferable...
I've heard that too, but it seems highly implausible to me that such an obviously valuable plate would be routinely issued like that, as alleged.Since time immemorial many authorities had an unofficial system in place which kept the 'best' combinations back - and it was not uncommon for the 'very best' to end up in the hands of the civil servants who themselves administered the registrations!
For instance, R 1 (December 1903) was reputedly issued to the head honcho at the Derbyshire licensing authority, and passed down through the family at least as far as the 1970s.
Today such an abuse would be considered clear-cut corruption in a public position.
What also often happened when two-letter combinations were reversed was that the low digits were all held back.
For example, my bible tells me that the AD series was reversed in January 1960, but started from 100 AD - all the double-digits, presumably, having been 'promised' to local car dealerships, business leaders and sundry bigwigs.
As for 1 AN, the car is from 1960 but the DVLA database shows it was first registered in October 1984 (this date refers to when it was first registered on the computerised system) - meaning that, for the back-story to be true, the number it replaced would itself have almost certainly been non-transferable.
It also raises a number of questions as to why the authorities would issue only one plate in the AN series - and the very best possible - as a non-transferable dateless replacement, when, only a handful of years later the DVLA began cashing in on all their unissued combinations at auction, which saw 2-104 AN inclusive all sold off during the 1990s.
Much more likely, in my opinion, is that 1 AN was a special one-off, issued yonks ago by some flexible civil servant to one of the old boys as a private number.
Said plate's owner (who had it attached to the Morris Minor) failed to update/maintain its registration by the new computerised system's deadline, and, subsequently, it was routinely re-registered to the car under the new system (in 1984) as a non-transferable plate.
Sorry for my last two long posts, but I find it interesting even if nobody else does!
mikeN54 said:
Made me chuckle on the way to work today. I wouldn't think it's a private plate, but just rather unfortunate.
Would put me off buying the car used anyway!
And saw S1XER on a nice Z4 M coup, but couldn't snap it in time.
S1 XER was parked outside BMW Stratstone in Derby yesterday. Would put me off buying the car used anyway!
And saw S1XER on a nice Z4 M coup, but couldn't snap it in time.
Edited by mikeN54 on Wednesday 7th September 10:07
Toyoda said:
mikeN54 said:
Made me chuckle on the way to work today. I wouldn't think it's a private plate, but just rather unfortunate.
Would put me off buying the car used anyway!
That's a beauty. I wonder if SH11 TTY would be, or whether it would be too offensive.Would put me off buying the car used anyway!
sue20 said:
Toyoda said:
mikeN54 said:
Made me chuckle on the way to work today. I wouldn't think it's a private plate, but just rather unfortunate.
Would put me off buying the car used anyway!
That's a beauty. I wonder if SH11 TTY would be, or whether it would be too offensive.Would put me off buying the car used anyway!
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