Zero Number Plates - Civic Cars

[cc8s]

I've been reading a little about zero plates (UK number plates where the only number is a 0).

I thought I'd bring together what I have found for others and wondered if anyone can fill in the blanks:

In short, zero plates are special issue plates. There were only 8 ever issued (listed below) and all belong to local authorities (civic cars).

External Site said:

It seems Edinburgh set the trend for '0' plates north of the border, when S 0 was specially issued for the Lord Provost's official car after they missed out on S 1 to motoring pioneer Sir John MacDonald at its initial release in 1904. (S 1 remained in the MacDonald family until last September, when it was sold for just under £400k.)

Not to be outdone, Glasgow later secured G 0 after failing to persuade the then-owner, a Mr A Anderson, MD of local car dealership James H Galt Ltd, to part with G 1.

...

Glasgow also has V 0 at its disposal, having inherited it when Strathclyde Regional Council was abolished in 1996.

...

Incidentally, we have a former Lord Provost of Edinburgh to thank for the fact that the Lord Mayor of London's official car is registered LM 0. Sir James Miller was appointed Lord Mayor of London in 1964, and promptly arranged for the City of London to be issued with a '0' plate of its own. Twelve years earlier, his predecessor Sir Rupert de la Bere (or Bôre) had acquired the plates LM 1 and LM 2 to mark his appointment as Lord Mayor, but chose to retain them upon leaving office.

Regarding their issuing or original cost:

External Site said:

...in most cases councils either reserved these plates when they were first issued or were subsequently issued with them free of charge for their exclusive use. To that extent, they have not actually squandered public money on acquiring them. You could also argue that many of them would actually have been better off investing in number plates rather than depositing their reserves in shaky Icelandic banks...

However, bearing in mind the prices that the more attractive registrations attract these days, there is mounting public pressure for civic plates to be surrendered for sale (regardless of whether the proceeds would go to the council or to the government via the DVLA's coffers). The other issue is that in some cases it seems the DVLA is effectively leasing plates to councils. Where this is the case, many are now opting to hand the plates back at the end of the term and replacing them with Select registrations.

Source: https://forums.mbclub.co.uk/threads/anyone-seen-an...

Current arrangements:

G 0 - Glasgow - Rolls-Royce Ghost SWB
S 0 - Edinburgh - BMW 730D SE
V 0 - Glasgow - VW Phaeton V6 Tdi 4motion
HS 0 - East Renfrewshire - BMW 520D M Sport
LM 0 - London - Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit
RG 0 - Aberdeen - BMW 730LD SE
SY 0 - Midlothian - Nissan Leaf
VS 0 - Inverclyde - VW Phaeton V6 Tdi 4motion

Between about 1903 and the 1930s, number plates were issued with either one or two letters at the start and then between one and four numbers (e.g. A 1 to ZZ 9999) but not all combinations were issued, of course. The letters reflected the councils or counties issuing them. In 1974, the sequencing changed and often reflected new areas.

G plates were first issued in 1921 from Glasgow.
S plates were first issued in 1920 from Edinburgh.
V plates were first issued in 1922 from Lanarkshire.
HS plates were issued in Renfrewshire until 1974.
LM plates were issued in Greater London until 1974.
RG plates were issued in Aberdeen until 1974.
SY plates were issued in Midlothian until 1974.
VS plates were issued in Greenock until 1974.

If anyone has pictures of them, please feel free to post them below I know that Aberdeen, for example, used to have a Jaguar XJ, and Glasgow used to use a Silver Cloud (?).

Regarding Glasgow's current [apparently extravagant] vehicle choice, it was actual donated by a local to the Council. The press unveiled the previously anonymous donor to be Boyd Tunnock, the biscuit maker.