Number Plates...
Discussion
I'm Realy not sure about my front no plate on my S1 Looks a bit big and ugly below the bumper. Quite fancy a sticky one on the bonnet, but I'm worried thats a bit er... serious when there stuck on i'm guessing damaged paint when they are removed....am I right? and what do u guys think aestically?
hi guys just had a look at www.fancyplates.com and was wondering if any one knows what the legality (don' want a visit from the 
s )of the 3/4 size is and also what is honeycomb style and is this legal. will a 3/4 fit on a standerd s1(front) without showing the mounting plate behind
s )of the 3/4 size is and also what is honeycomb style and is this legal. will a 3/4 fit on a standerd s1(front) without showing the mounting plate behindtimoth said:
hi guys just had a look at www.fancyplates.com and was wondering if any one knows what the legality (don' want a visit from the
Nothing other than a standard plate is legal on a UK car as far as I know. Also any effect / styles of font, text spacing or background are also a definate no no. Not sure about the S1 but a 3/4 plate on an S2 will more than cover the mount plate as per Janitors pic at the top.
The general feedback from most is that they don't really get any problems with smaller plates. You will probably be asked to just change it the first time you get pulled and if caught again you may have to pay £80 penalty fine. Check out the speed, plod law forum for more info.
Because of you guys i have just stumped up nearly 40 quid for a couple of number plates that i didn't 'realy' need, i'm so skint right now but i think my new 340R will look wicked with it's new 3/4 sized front plate and matching full sized rear.
My front one fell off 3 months ago, still not been pulled over yet, think they're too busy looking at the car. lol
Cheers.
My front one fell off 3 months ago, still not been pulled over yet, think they're too busy looking at the car. lol
Cheers.
wantalotus said:
3/4 is the way to go.
see.............
Fully agree they look great
, however no getting away from the fact it is not road legal. I have been tugged three times in approaching 4 years of ownership. First time was just a producer in the city at 8am on a Sunday, only time I have ever driven to work, and last time! - It was city police footsoldiers! Second time was 3am in High Holborn on a Sat morn, this time just a "chat", banter about car and a suggestion that I consider a magnetic number on the bonnet if I was so concerned with airflow! As copper said - its still no excuse to break the law but thought it looked great still - these were trafpol. Finally and most recently 4pm on a Saturday, pulled by two "young boys in blue, they were travelling the other way, threw a uturn about 500 yards down the road and came flying up with the blues and twos and pulled me. Got straight out and was told to button it as I was getting a ticket - worst experience to date. Was given a non endorsable fixed penalty of 30quid! They never explained anything, I thought it was just a producer but got home and realised it wasnt! However as that works out at less than a pound a month I couldnt give a toss. I am sure they just wanted to play with their new digital camera! Funny thing was that Dominique was watching the officer as he did the vehicle check and was visibly disappointed when it all checked out...must have been a slow day! Looks lovely anyway and fully worth the hassle especially when trafpol can be so "reasonable" compared to some of their beat pounding colleagues in similar situations - in my experience anyway! No complaints on the police though...I choose to have it so must live with the possibility of a tug whenever I am out - the new one is considerably smaller than my previous 3/4, I think I was tipsy when I measured it and ordered from fancyplates.com! Oh well
Stuart
Btw, I got caught in the sodding sights of a rootin, tootin, laser shooting sherrif just three days after getting mine... he knelt down around the front and copied the 3/4 sized registration number down, but didn't say a dickie about the plate size
Probably cos he'd just hauled some bigger bounty to make his day in the shape of some bonus points and sixty bucks, but the plate got outta dodge scott free
Probably cos he'd just hauled some bigger bounty to make his day in the shape of some bonus points and sixty bucks, but the plate got outta dodge scott free
No, of course not, but I have an odd relationship with them anyway (I'm very pleased to read that you have recently experienced a much more positive side though 
)
So it did leave me a tad peeved for while and my wife said that she felt quite sorry for me as someone had ruined the initial experience with the Lotus! But I'd broken the law and that was that - it soon went away... even if the points will hang about for a few years yet
To elaborate on my love/hate thing with the BiB - I put my life at risk to collar a car theif some years back when the BiB had let him slip - but a couple of 'relatively' inoccuous indescretions later and I now have a 'next time I'm faced with putting myself out, you can sod off' feeling inside. It's not right, and of course I'll claim no excuse when slightly the wrong side of the law (ie +10mph on an empty road), but that's how its got. Shame really
But again, very pleased that you've had a better experience to follow an awful one
) So it did leave me a tad peeved for while and my wife said that she felt quite sorry for me as someone had ruined the initial experience with the Lotus! But I'd broken the law and that was that - it soon went away... even if the points will hang about for a few years yet
To elaborate on my love/hate thing with the BiB - I put my life at risk to collar a car theif some years back when the BiB had let him slip - but a couple of 'relatively' inoccuous indescretions later and I now have a 'next time I'm faced with putting myself out, you can sod off' feeling inside. It's not right, and of course I'll claim no excuse when slightly the wrong side of the law (ie +10mph on an empty road), but that's how its got. Shame really
But again, very pleased that you've had a better experience to follow an awful one
Cheers Clive. Your sports racer looks great btw!
Unfortunately it seems for many the negative experiences out way the positives with the BiB. As you rightly sa we are over the moon follwoing the recent nightmare with the support we received and the professionalism throughout the case of the young officer who charged him . In this day and age with all the bureaucracy and red tape I do not envy their job at all!
Number plate was never mentioned this time round even when the SOCO officer took the photos!
Happy driving! Stuart
Unfortunately it seems for many the negative experiences out way the positives with the BiB. As you rightly sa we are over the moon follwoing the recent nightmare with the support we received and the professionalism throughout the case of the young officer who charged him . In this day and age with all the bureaucracy and red tape I do not envy their job at all!
Number plate was never mentioned this time round even when the SOCO officer took the photos!
Happy driving! Stuart
hello elsie.
just to confirm - undersize plates do not conform to the british standard for numberplates and that is why you can get done, even if the font is full size it doesn't matter. it's cr4p really because the dvla do not point this out they merely mention the sizing, spacing and fonting (!) requirements but not the BS issue of absolute plate size.
i am pretty sure that even if you have a properly sized and fonted stick-on plate to stick on the bonnet (or wherever) that this also falls foul of either dvla or BS because of the fact that the plate isn't 'flat' and/or as near to perpendicular as possible to the front of the car. however, because these plates are usually on caterfields rather than modded saxos they do not appear to get the attention of the agents of the state. i'd just like to point out that i can't find any actual proof of this second paragraph - if anybody is bothered it might be worth checking with an MOT station.
keep up the good work..!
just to confirm - undersize plates do not conform to the british standard for numberplates and that is why you can get done, even if the font is full size it doesn't matter. it's cr4p really because the dvla do not point this out they merely mention the sizing, spacing and fonting (!) requirements but not the BS issue of absolute plate size.
i am pretty sure that even if you have a properly sized and fonted stick-on plate to stick on the bonnet (or wherever) that this also falls foul of either dvla or BS because of the fact that the plate isn't 'flat' and/or as near to perpendicular as possible to the front of the car. however, because these plates are usually on caterfields rather than modded saxos they do not appear to get the attention of the agents of the state. i'd just like to point out that i can't find any actual proof of this second paragraph - if anybody is bothered it might be worth checking with an MOT station.
keep up the good work..!
timoth said:
esprit, dude that is tiny no way we would get away with that in GB would not last 5 mins. the elise looks sweet though
Yeah well it's not exactly legal over here though... same rules applies, even if you make a perfect sized replica, in the same font/,aterial etc, if it's not the govt-issued one, you're screwed.
Mine's a custom-made one, original owner of my car was a shop-fitter so it's reflective on a perspex background, angled at a scamera-unfriendly angle. The good thing is that it's small enough to look "right" but not small enough to really make anyone think you're trying to get away with anything.
Neither me or the two previous owners have had a word said about it since it was new in '98, I can imagine I could talk my way out of a ticket if I got pulled for it, but if I was getting a ticket for being naughty speeding, I'd imagine they'd probably do me for that for good measure too.
The thing is, I know plenty of other people who have been pulled up on REALLY minor plate infringements etc, when I've been fine, so I don't know, there's no rhyme nor reason to it. Most curious bystanders ask me about the plate within about the first three questions (after "what the hell is it?" and "how fast does it go?"
Just for good measure here's another pic
Ok let's tie a few things up here.
Stick on bonnet type plates are not legal, not even magnetic ones and the useful copper suggested.
You CAN alter the size of the plate, so long as you leave a minimum of 11mm margin around the charactres. The characters need to be 79mm high by 50mm (except 1 and L)
I just asked fancyplates to make my plate the smallest legally possible. Can't remember the exact size though.
I have been pulled for not displaying a front plate.
Failure to rectify can result in a 1k fine and your reg being withdrawn and your car being put on a Q plate.
Stick on bonnet type plates are not legal, not even magnetic ones and the useful copper suggested.
You CAN alter the size of the plate, so long as you leave a minimum of 11mm margin around the charactres. The characters need to be 79mm high by 50mm (except 1 and L)
I just asked fancyplates to make my plate the smallest legally possible. Can't remember the exact size though.
I have been pulled for not displaying a front plate.
Failure to rectify can result in a 1k fine and your reg being withdrawn and your car being put on a Q plate.
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