Personalised Number Plates - Naff or Cool?

[Haltamer]

Managed to get "FK08 BYE" for £250 for my FK8 Civic, and for £250 I'd say it's a good deal - Nice novelty, and all works with legal display.

And you get the confused people "Is that actually an 08 plate?!"

[2172cc]

I bought my plate which I've had on the last 4 vehicles with some money left to me by my dad. It means something to me so it will stay forever. I look at it as mine for life and it can't be stolen or taken away (afaik).

[Triumph Man]

I have a private number plate, it wasn't particularly expensive, but I wouldn't say it was tacky (it's not a £50 NI one though). Provided a number plate isn't incorrectly spaced, has a "strategic" screwhead, or a wky font, I don't have a problem with them.

[mikyman]

My number plate on my Volvo V70 is:

56 TDV.

It was first registered in Exeter in 1936 when it was put on a tractor.
I acquired it around 30 years ago when I was in the motor trade and it was on a 'scrapper' part x.
I would be very interested in its history in between, any one able to help?
Will never part with it and have left it to my grandson in my will,thats if there will still be cars when I peg out.

[Glosphil]

Many, many years ago on the M4 I followed a car where the reg no of BMW 7301 had a carefully placed retaining screw to change the reg to BMW 730i. The car was a BMW 730i.
Neat, but illegal?

[A Winner Is You]

Glosphil said:

Many, many years ago on the M4 I followed a car where the reg no of BMW 7301 had a carefully placed retaining screw to change the reg to BMW 730i. The car was a BMW 730i.
Neat, but illegal?

If only BMW thought to put some sort of badge on the back to tell people what the model designation was.......

[WJNB]

Number plates that are messed around with in an attempt to spell a name are about as naff as those windscreen stickers that were once popular amongst the unwashed & thick i.e. KEVIN & SHARON - all far too Essex & white stilettos.

[The Dictator]

I like some, I don't like others.

I have 2, only 1 of which is on a car currently. I have IXZ 171 on my 1981 Mercedes 500 SEL and there is a slightly spurious connection with it, that I use to justify it in my head :-) I shan't bore you with it.

I also have R6 VED which my now wife bought me for my 30th for £250. It sort of looks a little like revved if you are a bit blind and squint. The where it came from is more important than what it says.

I bought my wife L8 NHD for her birthday The L8 has relevance for us and the NHD is her initials, well her new initials as of that very day as we actually got married on her birthday and she didn't know about it (the plate, not the getting married) I got all the paperwork sorted on the way down to Cornwall for the big day (she was with me so big panic sorting that without her realising)

The morning of the wedding/birthday, I snuck to the hotel and swapped the plates on to her car, before going down to the beach with my best man and friend to scribe something in the sand for her to see when her Maid of Honour opened the curtains at a prearranged signal.

So again the plate means more for what it represents to us, again the value was £250ish, so not a major expense.

The ones I particularly dislike are those that have been bastardised to try and say something crap.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Makes me chuckle.

It's a number letter combo. If you don't want one don't get one.

I like them, so I have them. I don't have them for anybody else but for me. (In fact one of mine you wouldn't know it was a bought plate)

A bit of fun really.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

The respondents to the epic "Real Good Number Plates" thread certainly enjoy them too.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Om said:

'Private' plate = Council.

Very true, this is Nottingham City Council's car

[ruhall]

mikyman said:

My number plate on my Volvo V70 is:

56 TDV.

It was first registered in Exeter in 1936 when it was put on a tractor.
I acquired it around 30 years ago when I was in the motor trade and it was on a 'scrapper' part x.
I would be very interested in its history in between, any one able to help?
Will never part with it and have left it to my grandson in my will,thats if there will still be cars when I peg out.

Are you sure that number was issued in 1936, is there any documentary evidence?

I'm doubtful as I have one in the same series , xxx TDV, that has been in the family from new and that was issued in June 1964. These were the last 'old-style' numbers before the registration authority (Devon, [Exeter] in this case), started using the then-new style of B-suffix , starting with ADV xxxB etc.

If you look on www.oldclassiccar/registrations/dv.htm you'll see their records as to when issued (can't post an actual link for some reason)

In the 30's, Devon were using DV, TA, TT and UO and was issuing numbers in the ADV xxx, BDV xxx, ATT xxx , BTT xxx etc.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Om said:

'Private' plate = Council.

And bought from Essex council

[Gameface]

Jaguar steve said:

I prefer the more pejorative term vanity plate myself - after all, what else might one be?

Providing it's legally displayed then nobody you'd enjoy associating with would even care let alone be impressed with whatever vanity plate you have.

Illegally displayed ones on the other hand are entirely the preserve of vulgar Council estate Chavs whom you definitely don't want to be associating with and deserve nothing but utter contempt.

There he is. Didn't take long.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Threads like this always say more about the posters than the subject

[Jaguar steve]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Om said:

'Private' plate = Council.

And bought from Essex council

...Who made a very public display of virtue signaling about taxpayer value by auctioning F1 off to the highest bidder but then rather less publicly went straight out and bought themselves ECC 1 and a new XJ to put it on...

[Jaguar steve]

Gameface said:

Jaguar steve said:

I prefer the more pejorative term vanity plate myself - after all, what else might one be?

Providing it's legally displayed then nobody you'd enjoy associating with would even care let alone be impressed with whatever vanity plate you have.

Illegally displayed ones on the other hand are entirely the preserve of vulgar Council estate Chavs whom you definitely don't want to be associating with and deserve nothing but utter contempt.

There he is. Didn't take long.

Nope, never does.

Decades of living in the Essex Badlands has refined my awareness of all the pretentious aspirational tat Chavs just can't survive without.

[StuntmanMike]

I have one.

I want to look back at my cars with the same plate on. That’s it really.

It’s a random number plate from the early seventies from Shropshire, like me.

It’s just a normal plate from that era.

When I bought it, I tried to get something that was on my dads cars, then mine, then I just bought a random one.

Couldn’t give a monkeys about anyone’s opinion on it, if someone sees it and is triggered by it, well.... that’s their problem.

[underwhelmist]

silverfoxcc said:

Whenm i got the royce i got a plate that was asingle didgt and suffix

As it is now up for sale it is on retentionWhether iput it on my Volvo i haven't decided

But it was 100% legal re lettering and spacing, not the i could do anything with it anyway

If i culd make one law tomorrow it would be

With effect from 0101 2021 all nmumbeplates must fully confirm wity the rwgs.

And the rider

Any that are

Mispaced
Letters altered with the screw caps
Any in different font or on 'foreign' type plates
will be de licenced and no compensation given

It wILL also carry 3 points and a 250.00 fine

Oh apart from the last bit that is already in the statute book,,so why don't the authorities clamp down.
It doesn't even need a stop just a picture and by golly we have a few on here

What would your penalties for poor spelling and punctuation be?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Jaguar steve said:

...Who made a very public display of virtue signaling about taxpayer value by auctioning F1 off to the highest bidder but then rather less publicly went straight out and bought themselves ECC 1 and a new XJ to put it on...

Good to hear of imaginative investing then.