Old number plate

[steve y]

Hi I have been sent this by a pal in America, I would love to know how old it is and what it was fitted to. I believe the Q suffix meant something completely different years ago. The number was allocated to export. Anyone help me?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Wiki says

I, Q, and Z were not used as serial letters, as the use of I and Z continued to be restricted to Ireland and Q was reserved for temporary imports

[steve y]

The plate has some age I believe. On the bottom it has EUS 5060 which could be a pre STD Phone number. It also HILLS which would be the manufacturer finally WC1

[Roy C]

Hills, founded in 1927, still make number plates. They started out in London, but are currently in Aston, Birmingham.
EUS(ton) 5060 is a valid phone number for WC1.

Edited by Roy C on Monday 2nd July 18:45

[996Keef]

QS prefix plates were for temporary imports in the 50s / 60s

Further reading below

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/care/cf118q.htm

[Roy C]

1937 advert:

[steve y]

Very interesting, this plate surfaced in Kansas. So as I understand QS plates were issued to vehicles coming into the UK. So whatever this was on was repatriated to the USA. being a temporary plate I wonder if records exist of what it was fitted to?

[TooMany2cvs]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

What made it fall out of use would have been the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, 1968. Q temporary import plates are still needed for some foreign vehicles in the UK, primarily those with non-Latin character sets on them. Not that you'd know it, round certain corners of London...

[MrExile]

Looking closely at the photograph could it have been an Australian import?

[keith9849]

Sadly DVLA (lie most government departments and quangos) are likely tone as much us to your enquiry as a chocolate teapot. But you could try them. I expect you will have to use a 'standard form' (probably having to declare your ethnicity and gender-inclinations in the process), of which you will find that none fits your enquiry, and pay a fee for which you may very well receive nothing. Bitter, me? Why ever would you think that!

[friederich]

As per info in previous post, these type of Q plates were issued on a temporary basis to cars that came from overseas, or were destined for export.

Rather than being allocated by the local councils (as regular plates at the time), they were administered by the principal motoring organisations - namely, AA, RAC and Royal Scottish automobile club. The first of these series were allocated in 1930 - QA for the AA, QC for RAC, and QS for RSAC. There's no evidence that RSAC ever issued any QS plates (presumably not many cars entering the UK temporarily via Scotland in the 30s), and apparently these plates were subsequently issued via the RAC between 1953 and 1957.

I suspect that the plate you have found must have been worn by an American car on a temporary jaunt to the UK in the '50s.

(google 'LH Newall' for the ultimate spod's guide to UK reg numbers, and the source of this info )