The Car Thread

[Lupo]

We used to travel to Italy by car every year when I was young and I used to take a keen interest in plates. Back then Italian plates had Province identifiers as a prefix - eg. Milan was MI, Florence was FI, Rome was Roma, etc.

As we travelled through Italy from North to South used to love seeing the letters change as we travelled through the regions until we were getting closer to 'home' and started seeing the NA (Napoli) and SA (Salerno) plates. If I saw an NA or SA when we were in the North, great!

While we were away the UK plates would change letter so would look forward to seeing the new letter plates on the journey home.

New plates in the UK lost their mystique in 2001 when they were switched to biannual and from letters to numbers which most people don't even understand.

 

[EpsomWolf]

Same, plate nerd!

We used to travel to Italy by car every year when I was young and I used to take a keen interest in plates. Back then Italian plates had Province identifiers as a prefix - eg. Milan was MI, Florence was FI, Rome was Roma, etc.

As we travelled through Italy from North to South used to love seeing the letters change as we travelled through the regions until we were getting closer to 'home' and started seeing the NA (Napoli) and SA (Salerno) plates. If I saw an NA or SA when we were in the North, great!

While we were away the UK plates would change letter so would look forward to seeing the new letter plates on the journey home.

New plates in the UK lost their mystique in 2001 when they were switched to biannual and from letters to numbers which most people don't even understand.

I spent some time living in Germany as a kid and loved the regional identifiers and found it all fun for the same reasons you describe. Loved spotting the different coloured plates from the different nationalities too and it all seemed very exotic back then.

The fascination all stems from there I guess.

 

[Lupo]

I spent some time living in Germany as a kid and loved the regional identifiers and found it all fun for the same reasons you describe. Loved spotting the different coloured plates from the different nationalities too and it all seemed very exotic back then.

The fascination all stems from there I guess.

Italian plates finally ditched regional identifiers about 20 years ago and now the letter prefix loosely indicates the age of the car - they started with AA, AB, AC, etc

 

[Lupo]

I spent some time living in Germany as a kid and loved the regional identifiers and found it all fun for the same reasons you describe. Loved spotting the different coloured plates from the different nationalities too and it all seemed very exotic back then.

The fascination all stems from there I guess.

Another thing I liked was that Italian plates from the mid 70s to mid 80s had the Provincial identifier letters in orange

 

[EpsomWolf]

It all just seems a bit pointless in my eyes.

Say you want to disguise the age of the car as you suggest, I'd guess most people who would care enough about that could probably identify the age of the car within a couple of years even in spite of the plate.

You go for something like initials, as a few of my family members have, then it just looks no different to a standard plate generally so seems rather pointless, can't say I've ever struggled to remember which car is mine without my initials plastered over it.

Think what throws me most though, as I'd consider vanity the main driver as you say, is that they make essentially zero impact on the aesthetic of the car. The ugliest thing about reg plates is the big white/yellow statutory box you have to have slapped on your car. No tweaking of letters and numbers does anything to better that issue, unless you go for an illegal plate like a berk, so why not spend that money on something that does actually make a difference?

Agree with most of that although a really nice private plate can look right on the right car.

The cheaper ones serve a purpose and the high end ones are very easy to sell with good investment potential so why not if you’ve got the money. The middle ground ones are a bit trickier as they still cost a lot to buy but are difficult to sell - you might find yourself waiting for sometime for someone to come along with the same initials and an account full of cash - plus of course the seller doesn’t get the advertised fee - that is minus broker fees and not forgetting the vat (not applicable on all plates but will be on anything with value).

Someone I knew in Cambridge had the plate ‘HOT 999’ on a knackered old BMW and wouldn’t sell despite being offered the sort of sums that would buy you a nice semi-detached house. Plates like that are always going to be the easiest to trade for obvious reasons.

Might seem odd to some but if I had the wedge and an outrageous Lamborghini I’d be right in for that myself.

 

[EpsomWolf]

Another thing I liked was that Italian plates from the mid 70s to mid 80s had the Provincial identifier letters in orange

View attachment 7416

I remember seeing an Alfa Romeo Montreal with that style of plates. You never forget a sight like that.

 

[EpsomWolf]

WW 51 WBA being THE one...

Not coming up on the mot and tax checker. Assuming wasn’t released by DVLA.

 

[Sniffer]

Not coming up on the mot and tax checker. Assuming wasn’t released by DVLA.

Try flipping the numbers around.

 

[Keef]

When I lived in Machynlleth working on the buses the boss of the bus company Lloyds coaches had L10YDS on his Range Rover, bought it cheap turned down an offer of £100k at one point, then bought L101YDS put that on his Range Rover, and put the original on the breakdown van to piss the bloke off who’d offered the money.
When he bought his first two brand new double deckers he had LC61WYN, and LC62 WYN as the plates, swapped them onto every new decker since to piss the bus spotters off

 

[leedswolf]

Over here I think most plates are 6 figures. Usually three letters and three numbers but you can have more or less, and pretty much anything you want as long as no other vehicle in the state has the same. Registration charge for a less than regular plate is more expensive though.(Bul 306 appears to be available in QLD)

Different states have different coloured plates. There are different combinations of rego plate colours, numbers and letters if a commercial vehicle, bus, historic vehicle, rally permit and the like in each state.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

QLD seem to be white and NSW yellow as far as I can see. Not seen a Victoria, SA NT or WA plate yet.

 

[EpsomWolf]

When I lived in Machynlleth working on the buses the boss of the bus company Lloyds coaches had L10YDS on his Range Rover, bought it cheap turned down an offer of £100k at one point, then bought L101YDS put that on his Range Rover, and put the original on the breakdown van to piss the bloke off who’d offered the money.
When he bought his first two brand new double deckers he had LC61WYN, and LC62 WYN as the plates, swapped them onto every new decker since to piss the bus spotters off

You see the L101YDS has just triggered me. That is just fucking shit and shouldn’t be allowed.

It’s like those crappy ones, y’know like Simon who couldn’t afford S1 MON and ends up buying some shit like SE53 MON. If I worked with a Simon who put some crap like that on his car I’d deliberately call him Semon.

 

[sycophantia]

Think there was someone near where I used to live had ALB 10N

 

[sycophantia]

Think there was someone near where I used to live had ALB 10N

Just had a look and it's showing as a grey Porsche now, used to be on a Jag back in the day

 

[leedswolf]

QLD seem to be white and NSW yellow as far as I can see. Not seen a Victoria, SA NT or WA plate yet.

ACT and TAS too

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Thanks Phil! I will look out for those, although most will be a long way from home here.

 

[Lupo]

I like that Tas plate

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I’m unlikely to see one. 2,299 km to Hobart from my house and you are supposed to change the registration if you permanently bring a car over a state line.

 

[EpsomWolf]

This thread does remind me of reading ‘Top Tips’ from Viz in about 1987 when someone wrote;

“Avoid the stress and cost of finding your perfect registration. Change your name to E482 UAV instead”

 

[Lupo]

This thread does remind me of reading ‘Top Tips’ from Viz in about 1987 when someone wrote;

“Avoid the stress and cost of finding your perfect registration. Change your name to E482 UAV instead”

Yeah remember that!