I have a personal plate on the beemer, so I am on a mailing list from the place I got it
Had an invite to bid for a private plate by messenger today. (not a scam)
Its in the format GP 1, where GP is my initials.
So I went to the website bid page, where the bidding is currently - wait for it - £350K
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And they say family doctors are underpaid!
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We broke a glass table top recently and this afternoon I went to Allders Glass here in Wokingham. Their entire fleet of vans (well, the 6 or 7 which were there) all had variations on GLAS or GLA5S, including GLA5S. There were also a couple of snazzy cars there with similar personalised plates to each other, probably brothers who own the business or similar.
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>>So I went to the website bid page, where the bidding is currently - wait for it - £350K
I believe they're called 'prat plates' in the trade. I wonder why?
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>> I believe they're called 'prat plates' in the trade. I wonder why?
Only by those who cant afford them.
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1F when for £926,000 earlier this month - WTF!
And then you have to pay for the actual plates!
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Not sure that is necessarily true is it?
I think the world is divided into those who think having a registration plate with somehing resembling thier name on it and for which they have paid good money is a really classy thing to do and those who kind of don't.
The only thing the two sides agree on is that personal plates certainly tell you something about a person
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The most stupid one I've ever seen was where the three letters were the guy's initials and his name was written below them so you'd know.
Well, it was in Essex.
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Local Butcher
M1NCE
Brilliant
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Game dealers van I used to see up and down the M6
VEN 150N
I have a prat plate on the Herald. Two numbers, three letters. Came on a Hillman Super Minx convertible in the late sixties. Blackpool no, '63. £5 to retain....$80 now ! Good letters, XYZ have a limited appeal to buyers. My CFR would do better. I also had SPC 5 on a Jowett log book in the 80s. Sold it for £1500...now on a Merc, I think.
Ted
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Jimmy Tarbuk, the comedian, had a personal plate COM1C. I often saw him driving around Liverpool in a Mercedes. That was over thirty years ago.
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The original registration letters for my home town were "ET". That led to a number of plates being well in demand.
BET 1 was at the time a local Bookies car
VET 1 was on a Triumph belonging to Kay and Moody vets in town
PET 1 was owned by Petula Clarke
JET 1 was/is on the Rover gas turbine car last seen in The Science Museum
GET 1 was on a Riley Elf (or Wolseley Hornet?) regularly seen around town
etc.
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>> Jimmy Tarbuk, the comedian, had a personal plate COM1C. I often saw him driving around
>> Liverpool in a Mercedes. That was over thirty years ago.
>>
He's had it longer than that. I remember seeing it on his Roller in Leeds around 1970.
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>> Well, it was in Essex.
E3 SSX is available for £64k
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>> The only thing the two sides agree on is that personal plates certainly tell you
>> something about a person
Mine spells out my dogs name. Cost me £350 plus DVLA transfer fee.
I have been offered 1500 quid for it, guess that says I am non narcissistic canny investor?
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Why didn't you buy a Rover?
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I on the other hand once owned the plate RAN 800 back in the early seventies and gave it away together with the rusting Morris Oxford to which it was attached.
I think a winner of the Olympic 800 metres might pay a bit for it now.
I guess that shows my investment skills.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Mon 24 Nov 25 at 21:17
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Daughter has GT21 HAP which is Grandson's forename initials, year of birth and first three letters of his surname.
Another cheap as chips jobbie from DVLA. It'll go to him when old enough.
We have a 3 letter/2 number one issued by Birmingham Corporation in 1951 to Mrs B's Grandfather who was in the motor trade in that city. It was put on a motorcycle his daughter (my late MoL) was given for her 21st in that year.
Been in family ever since. Mrs B took it after her Mum's mental decline stopped her driving.
Currently on Seoras the Skoda.
There was a thing in MoL's Mother's family of first born child being a daughter and there are a few objects that have gone down that line.
The plate will be the same and there will be some adjustment between what the kids inherit so that #2, male, doesn't lose out.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 24 Nov 25 at 21:28
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For several years around Settle i’ve seen ‘FEK 1T’ on older cars.
makes me smile
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I distinctly remember seeing 130LOX (suitably spaced) in Nottingham in the early 80's. On a Roller or Bentley, I think. Now withdrawn by the DVLA, I believe.
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Years ago we had a customer with BOL 10K on a Mercedes. We used to tease him about spending good money on a plate spelling "Boliok"...
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My first car a Mini back in the early sixties had the reg’ 938JAC.
Might be worth a few bob nowadays!
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>> My first car a Mini back in the early sixties had the reg’ 938JAC.
>> Might be worth a few bob nowadays!
I've a (female) friend known as Jax, I'd be pretty sure that 938 JAX would have appealed to her.
Lad I was at school with's Mother had a Mini with a reg of three numbers and letters COO.
Wonder what that'd be worth today.
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Two thoughts:
Much easier and cheaper to find a number plate then change your name.
Second thought - it is pure vanity that some folk spend £mm on trinkets which from a couple of feet cannot be differentiated from glass and plastic. The big benefit of prat plates is that if anyone takes them they can be replaced for a few £.
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I had a 63 Ducati....155COO.
Ted
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>> I think the world is divided into those who think having a registration plate with
>> somehing resembling thier name on it and for which they have paid good money is
>> a really classy thing to do and those who kind of don't.
>>
>> The only thing the two sides agree on is that personal plates certainly tell you
>> something about a person
It's not as binary as that. Mine tells you something about the car - W12 AYE. Dunno what it tells about me, apart from having a plate that's much easier to remember than what it was issued with. Anyway, it's probably one of the more amusing ways for HMG to raise a tax.
PS I'm open to offers from a Scottish Bentley owner!
Last edited by: John F on Tue 25 Nov 25 at 12:57
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>> >> I believe they're called 'prat plates' in the trade. I wonder why?
>> Only by those who cant afford them.
I could easily afford one, but as the first three letters of my surname are TAT, I can't be bothered.
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I have two cherished numbers. One 3+3 (letters then numbers) and the other 2+3 (numbers then letters).
Neither has any personal meaning, I don't want my name on my car. I just like old fashioned dateless plates. The 3+3 is a Caithness plate that I believe came off a 1934 New Imperial motor bike. The other one would be a London number but I don't know its history.
They become prat plates when the spacing is messed with or oddly placed screws are used to make them look like something else. I affect not to care about what other people think but I'd be embarrassed to drive a car with intentionally illegal plates.
I might look out for another cheapie for the Mazda hybrid to replace the 75 plate ending in VZD, which neither of us can find a suitable mnemonic for.
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VZD - Virtual Zombie Driver?
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>> Vehicle Zero Duty?
>>
That would be nice. £195.
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Change your name to Vincent Zachary Davis by deed poll. Cheaper than buying most plates. ;-)
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The late Paul Daniel's number plate was MAG 1C
His succeeding wife's Mercedes plate is 8 DEB (recently featured on Hamster Hammonds workshop)
She's the one who everyone is still trying to figure out what first attracted her to Millionaire Paul.
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Bernard Manning had 1 LAF.
Simon Dee had SD 1. It was actually Manchester bookie, Selwyn Demmy's, white E Type.
I transported a white Volvo 1800 to somewhere in Bristol. It was ST 1 I was told it was the TV car., I believe it, it was for Sothebys. Got a photo.
Ted
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>> I transported a white Volvo 1800 to somewhere in Bristol. It was ST 1 I
>> was told it was the TV car., I believe it, it was for Sothebys. Got
>> a photo.
Its now on a Mercedes (a 2002 A1 believe it or not) thats been sorn'd
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Snooker star Jimmy White had (and I believe still has) CUE 130Y.
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I used to own CE04YCV. But I got rid when I sold the car.
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>> His succeeding wife's Mercedes plate is 8 DEB
Mark Blundell lives locally, his wife's car bears 4 DEB.
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POT 80 used to (may still) belong to a potato merchant
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Set off to replenish the coal supplies this afternoon. Passing through one of the villages a Kia Soul, reg. no. P14NDS passed in the opposite direction. (There is a piano workshop nearby, from whence it probably emanated).
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>> Set off to replenish the coal supplies this afternoon. Passing through one of the villages
>> a Kia Soul, reg. no. P14NDS passed in the opposite direction. (There is a piano
>> workshop nearby, from whence it probably emanated).
Would have been better on an allegro
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I worked in St Andrews Square, Edinburgh (decades ago.
A local Pub Owner sported 50BER on his SAAB
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>> I worked in St Andrews Square, Edinburgh (decades ago.
I remember the big blue offices there.. Gone now of course
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IBM 21 St Andrews Sq is no more! Like 99% of IBM presence in Scotland. No 21 is a hotel.
IBM No 31 has been insurance for roughly 35 years.
Greenock's 3,000+++ jobs gone almost 20 years ago. Pottery St - now closed - last 170 job losses a few years ago.
Glasgow & Aberdeen offices gone around 20 years ago.
Probably only a couple of handfuls of customers (at most)- Banks & Insurance, cannot think of any others.
The pensions still appear on the 6th thankfully
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On my way back from Portsmouth I got passed at speed on the A3 by an Aston Martin
Snnn SPY
(no nnn wasn't 007 unfortunately)
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My brother has a plate GP14+++.
He also has a Steinway Grand Piano so has a good excuse.
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Anyone remember GreenShield Stamps?
When the senior management tried to resurrect the company in the mid-80s they chipped in a few quid each and bought the founder a personal plate.
I was visiting their offices in Sutton when a blue Roller turned up with the plate 'OO7' driven by an extremely cute 20-something uniformed female chauffer.
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Mid 1970s an Esso petrol station near the first off ramp used to advertise Huge Multiples of Greenshield stamps - many more than every other station offered.
The reason was they were attracting Company Car drivers with Greenshield Stamps (which the could exchange for items from a catalogue)
The petrol station was at least 3 more per litre that the Company paid. Petrol was around 17p per litre in 1975. Many stations still showed the petrol price in gallons 77p!
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I remember when I joined a company where I got an AllStar card for all fuel there were tales, likely true, of a petrol station near Redhill where colleagues bought seriously large items like whole garden furniture sets, on their fuel card. I doubt that was the only one.
Filling up friends and family was quite common too as no-one instated on, or checked on, your mileage.
Lack of control all over the place. Those were the days LOL
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 27 Nov 25 at 09:36
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Me, wife, two kids, sister, dad all have private plates.
All of them were the £250 DVLA ones and all of them were given for major birthdays.
A great present that you know will last as long as the person receiving it and also good for that person who already has everything else that you could think of!
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I bought myself a private number plate for my last big birthday, after years of thinking they were a bit of an unnecessary extravagance, partly because I couldn’t think of anything else I really needed. It’s quite discrete containing my initials and the first three letters of my surname along with my lucky number 13, the day of the month of my birth. I will readily admit it gives me a quiet sense of satisfaction every time I see it. I’ve also noticed a lot of plates following a similar format when out and about that were previously flying under the radar until I started looking for them.
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>> Me, wife, two kids, sister, dad all have private plates.
>>
>> All of them were the £250 DVLA ones and all of them were given for
>> major birthdays.
My Daughter has one which is our Grandson's forename initials and year of birth, GT21, and the first three letters of his surname. It'll pass to him when he's got a car to put it on.
She in turn will inherit ours as, so far, it's a first born/eldest daughter thing from Mrs B's mother but as she broke the chain by having a son first it may change.
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Don't get it myself.
Mrs EH was given one of these "cherished numbers" (they aren't private, are they?) by the eldest for a birthday. A complete waste of time and money as far as I'm concerned.
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>> Mrs EH was given one of these "cherished numbers" (they aren't private, are they?) by
>> the eldest for a birthday. A complete waste of time and money as far as
>> I'm concerned.
Don't think I'd have bothered with one of my own although the forename initials>year of birth>first three letters of surname would be around £350.
However having one issued by Birmingham Corporation in 1951 with three letters LOV and a reasonably significant two numbers to follow fall into our laps was a different do dah.
We put it on retention at a time when you needed to renew yearly. However we were so edgy about missing the renewal and losing it that it went on Berlingo #1 in 2005 and has been on Berlingo #2 and Seoras the Skoda since then.
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DVLA calls them personalised registrations.
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>> DVLA calls them personalised registrations.
>>
A misnomer. Many are neither personal nor private. Some like mine (see above) will probably go with the car when it is eventually sold. In California they are called 'special interest and personalized plates'.
www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/special-interest-license-plates-application-reg-17-pdf/
You don't see that many around there because although cheap to buy they have an annual renewal cost. I wonder if the DVLA is missing a trick here, although I suppose if introduced it might kill the goose that's laying quite a lot of gilded eggs.
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They exist so you may form an opinion of the driver without meeting. A bit like baseball caps.
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Mine just looks like a normal plate. The first two letters reflect my first and last name, the number represents the registration year (and, coincidentally, my mid-life crisis age when I bought it), and the last three letters are my first, middle and last names.
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My CFR is now on the Herald and the Jowett has been given a horrible Scottish one. It wasn't original anyway. I have other Jowett V5s. One that I tried to get was a scrap car in Scotland, I knew the VIN but it had gone, nice number O 11. Also G99 had gone.
My first Vitara came with N6 *** which is now on myRAV4 and ER indoors has Hi0 with her initials which I bought for £150 from DVLA as a sop for the purchase of another motorbike...the things we do !
I have Noel Woodall's book of plates, there are some lucky bu66ers out there, COM1C was just issued as a matter of course . Another guy inherited TAX 1 and put it on his Golf. Probably on something more exotic now.....or a taxi ! G1 ANT used to knock about round here on a big Merc. Manchester's mayoral car has N 10.
Ted
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>..Manchester's mayoral car has N 10.
My previous XJ wore the plate BK1 before I bought it. It was the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth's official car and BK1 is the first plate ever issued in Portsmouth.
The plate then went onto a Jag XF and is now on a BMW 530. Austerity hits all of us.
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>> My previous XJ wore the plate BK1 before I bought it. It was the Lord
>> Mayor of Portsmouth's official car and BK1 is the first plate ever issued in Portsmouth.
>> The plate then went onto a Jag XF and is now on a BMW 530.
>> Austerity hits all of us.
Nah he just needed something that would start in the mornings.
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N10 used to be on some sort of Rolls. Labour council obviously didn't like that ! Last time I saw it was on a Rover600 ??......red, of course !
DVLA sows a black Volvo....probably a 343 !
Ted
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Private Plates - tyrednemotional
