Discussion
I must admit I thought I was in the minority.
But, I’ve always had a peculiar almost OCD issue with this.
I had some really nice plates made up over 25 years ago for my Storm at local VW dealer and they supplied me a rear window sticker that looks really period. The plates (with matching dealer motif) deteriorated, obviously over time. However I discovered a local graphics firm who scanned them and recreated.
Same with my Elise, the main dealer no longer exists but I’ve also had them reproduced (perhaps a grey area)?
My Corrado had old Euro-style plates up until recently, which I’ve replaced with the pressed metal type - which I’m not so sure I actually like..?
However, it would appear I’m not alone on this. I used to have a policy through Hagerty and they still send me regular e-mails and links.
This popped up this morning.
https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/my-numberplate-...
But, I’ve always had a peculiar almost OCD issue with this.
I had some really nice plates made up over 25 years ago for my Storm at local VW dealer and they supplied me a rear window sticker that looks really period. The plates (with matching dealer motif) deteriorated, obviously over time. However I discovered a local graphics firm who scanned them and recreated.
Same with my Elise, the main dealer no longer exists but I’ve also had them reproduced (perhaps a grey area)?
My Corrado had old Euro-style plates up until recently, which I’ve replaced with the pressed metal type - which I’m not so sure I actually like..?
However, it would appear I’m not alone on this. I used to have a policy through Hagerty and they still send me regular e-mails and links.
This popped up this morning.
https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/my-numberplate-...
Not being at all fussed about originality on most vehicles, I'm lost with this one...
I also wonder at the folk on here who feel it necessary to point out that plates are wrong or illegal on, otherwise, nice cars. I've run my stuff with cheap plates, home made plates and without plates...
Having said that, I hate seeing motorcycles where the handlebars or exhausts aren't lined up properly...arrrrrgh!!!
Funny lot, ain't we?
I also wonder at the folk on here who feel it necessary to point out that plates are wrong or illegal on, otherwise, nice cars. I've run my stuff with cheap plates, home made plates and without plates...
Having said that, I hate seeing motorcycles where the handlebars or exhausts aren't lined up properly...arrrrrgh!!!
Funny lot, ain't we?
Big fan of these kinds of details on cars. I had plates made up for my Sierra using the pre-2001 font, just to leave it looking right. I have a fair idea of the supplying dealer too, so I'm very tempted to get another pair - the only issue is that those details make plates a little more cluttered.
There’s a 1975 VW camper van that lives in the local town. It’s immaculate as far as I can tell, but it bugs me that the number plates are the modern Charles Wright font from post-2001.
Such a small detail but number plates are a vehicles identity, perhaps it’s OCD or just an obsession but I believe vehicles look best with a plate accurate to their age, regardless of the legalities of producing a pre-2001 plate nowadays for a pre-2001 vehicle.
Such a small detail but number plates are a vehicles identity, perhaps it’s OCD or just an obsession but I believe vehicles look best with a plate accurate to their age, regardless of the legalities of producing a pre-2001 plate nowadays for a pre-2001 vehicle.
Two people having a conversation and getting excited about the font on some number plates. These people are the reason I hardly ever go to car shows.
Personally I'd much rather spend a day driving my classics than sat in camping chairs behind them in a field waiting to discuss thread sizes or some other random detail.
Personally I'd much rather spend a day driving my classics than sat in camping chairs behind them in a field waiting to discuss thread sizes or some other random detail.
//j17 said:
Two people having a conversation and getting excited about the font on some number plates. These people are the reason I hardly ever go to car shows.
Personally I'd much rather spend a day driving my classics than sat in camping chairs behind them in a field waiting to discuss thread sizes or some other random detail.
'These people' are the reason I stopped going to all car club meetings and shows six years ago unless there was driving involved.Personally I'd much rather spend a day driving my classics than sat in camping chairs behind them in a field waiting to discuss thread sizes or some other random detail.
BTW - my Riley still has its original Blumel's Satin Silver plates from 1963 - geek reading here: https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/library/numberplat...
I've never got why some people put such great store in number plates, either. From private/personal plates down to fonts, I just don't care and struggle to see why I would.
A good friend of mine with whom I otherwise share a lot of car-related opinions is one of those who will say "nice car...shame about the post-2001 font..." and will buy age-correct plates, with reproduction dealer logos and so on, as virtually the first thing he does on buying a new-to-him car.
Meanwhile I can't even reliably tell the difference between the pre- and post-2001 fonts. I've had it pointed out to me when two examples were next to each other but I simply can't tell in isolation. My Citroen Xantia has its original 1996 dealer-fit plate on the boot and a generic modern one fitted following a car-park bump in 2017 in the modern font and my friend can't understand how I can live with it.
I've also had a non-zero number of people come up to me at car shows to enthuse over my Mini's number plate (four numbers and a letter) - "Nice plate, mate...!". A few people have also told me that my 2CV has a 'nice number plate' (apparently just from the sequence/shape of the letters/numbers it was aesthetically pleasing). I swear some people see cars as merely a portable mount for number plates, whereas to me they're just bits of government bureaucracy.
I'm not one of these people who refers to cars by their number plates, either. My aforementioned friend will casually refer to "are you free to help me change the discs on ABC at the weekend?" Although he does usually have double-digit numbers of cars at any one time, so maybe it makes sense.
One of my old Land Rovers had its original number plates with the more rounded font that BL/Rover/Jaguar seemed fond of in the 1980s/1990s (apparently it's called 'Bestplate' font...?) and when it failed the MoT on plate visibility because the plastic had started to go opaque I had two people in my car-nutter circle go surprising amount of bats
t over me not only taking them off the car but replacing them with generic replacements.
All that said, I do somewhat object to post-1974 cars carrying silver/black plates - even though they're now perfectly entitled to do so once they're 'Historic'. It just looks wrong to me. I suppose the number plate enthusiasts would say the same about post-2001 fonts on 1980s cars. Maybe if I could actually tell the difference it would bug me too!
A good friend of mine with whom I otherwise share a lot of car-related opinions is one of those who will say "nice car...shame about the post-2001 font..." and will buy age-correct plates, with reproduction dealer logos and so on, as virtually the first thing he does on buying a new-to-him car.
Meanwhile I can't even reliably tell the difference between the pre- and post-2001 fonts. I've had it pointed out to me when two examples were next to each other but I simply can't tell in isolation. My Citroen Xantia has its original 1996 dealer-fit plate on the boot and a generic modern one fitted following a car-park bump in 2017 in the modern font and my friend can't understand how I can live with it.
I've also had a non-zero number of people come up to me at car shows to enthuse over my Mini's number plate (four numbers and a letter) - "Nice plate, mate...!". A few people have also told me that my 2CV has a 'nice number plate' (apparently just from the sequence/shape of the letters/numbers it was aesthetically pleasing). I swear some people see cars as merely a portable mount for number plates, whereas to me they're just bits of government bureaucracy.
I'm not one of these people who refers to cars by their number plates, either. My aforementioned friend will casually refer to "are you free to help me change the discs on ABC at the weekend?" Although he does usually have double-digit numbers of cars at any one time, so maybe it makes sense.
One of my old Land Rovers had its original number plates with the more rounded font that BL/Rover/Jaguar seemed fond of in the 1980s/1990s (apparently it's called 'Bestplate' font...?) and when it failed the MoT on plate visibility because the plastic had started to go opaque I had two people in my car-nutter circle go surprising amount of bats
t over me not only taking them off the car but replacing them with generic replacements. All that said, I do somewhat object to post-1974 cars carrying silver/black plates - even though they're now perfectly entitled to do so once they're 'Historic'. It just looks wrong to me. I suppose the number plate enthusiasts would say the same about post-2001 fonts on 1980s cars. Maybe if I could actually tell the difference it would bug me too!
vpr said:
It grates on me for some reason. Nothing more than when a post 73 car has black and silver.
You'd hate one of my cars then, I run black/silver plates on my Jan. 1974 Triumph Spitfire! But only really because it's bright yellow and the silver-on-black-on-bright-yellow contract is more pleasing to my eye than black-on-dirty-yellow-on-bright-yellow - I run whatever 'modern' plates were fitted when I bought it on my dark red Triumph 2500S for the same reason.Ahhhhhhh Jim H I thank you as I now know I'm thankfully not the only one then. There's nothing more satisfying on a classic car than a set of original, period plates with the correct font and the cherry on the top being the dealer sticker in the back window (repros are acceptable)
I even went to the extent of getting some RAC tax discs made for my Renault back in the day, and bought a Feu Orange for the rear view mirror
I even went to the extent of getting some RAC tax discs made for my Renault back in the day, and bought a Feu Orange for the rear view mirror
Super Sonic said:
Imo a no. plate is not part of the vehicle, but a thing the govt insist you out on. This is why, when I used to wash my own car, I never used to wash the plates. When I ask the people at the carwash to not wash the plates they smile and say 'ok boss' and wash them anyway :-/
Is that in an attempt to evade ANPR cameras? Or do you lack the coordination required to wash a small, rectangular piece of plastic? Perhaps you like the "care-worn" look of a dirty plate on a clean car?Number plates are ungainly, yes - but is there a better way of quickly identifying a specific vehicle (that may have been stolen) than the "thing the govt insist you put on"?
Back in the 1990s Vauxhall ran an ad campaign for the new Vectra, which they pitched (ironically) as a view of the future. To make the insipid thing look cooler and more modern, they used bar codes for number plates. Great - if you have a reader. Otherwise: Police - "Can you give us reg number of the getaway car?" Witness - "Yes, it was black, black, white, white, white, black, white...".
Jim H said:
Fue bloody Orange… Wow! 
Now that does take me back, remember that little pin that came with it?
Aye, the one I bought came with one. I think it was 20+ years old at the time of me buying it as it was new old stock so the biggest feu de orange faux pas I could make was actually using that pin because it made my car smell like sNow that does take me back, remember that little pin that came with it?
t for a week Mr Peel said:
Red9zero said:
A Mini (proper one) needs a large rear plate too.
I'm a Mini geek and have never noticed this. Off to investigate...However, I can’t recall the font type? My number plate oddness had not fully developed at that age.
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