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[AlexB]

Did I read somewhere that these were used before 1961 or was it the other way round?

I assume that a 1959 A reg will have had it's number changed at some time - is that a safe assumption ?

[Peter Holden]

A suffixes were used when DVLA started issuing age related plates, Since A suffix came in as proper registrtaions part way through 1963 there were many unused registrations, these were used.

There is a problem with a great many age related A suffix plates that were issued to vehicles that were built before 1963 as they atre non transferrable which seems at odds with their rules to me since a vehicle cannot have a registration that implies that the vehicle is newer than its build date or first registration but DVLA treat A suffixes as  an exception to the rule.

Peter

[Sunny Jim]

"Car Registrations in the British Isles" by Peter Robson lists all the authorities that issued genuine 'A' plates back in 1963, and https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/registrations/reg-letters.htm gives more detail on what was issued when and where (although it does not accurately place registrations where the letter codes were re-allocated later, or local authorities were merged). Note that the website is not 100% definitive either as some registrations were allocated but not issued immediately e.g. my Land Rover is 'WXE' which is London 1959, 'XE' apparently reserved for Ministry vehicles at the time, but wasn't allocated until February 1960 - the website quotes it as Luton because 'XE' was transferred to Luton later!

Sunny Jim

[Peter Holden]

The book is not accurate about age related registrations.

Peter

[Sunny Jim]

The book is not accurate about age related registrations.

The book discusses what the policy was at various times but it is quite general - the website is reasonable for checking if a registration is original or not, so can identify age related plates by elimination. I don't know of any definitive guide to what was issued where and when!

Sunny Jim

[Peter Holden]

Ther isnt and the A suffix ones in particular pose a problem but they were only issued to genuine 1963 cars or as age related for those before 63, it seems from my dealings with DSVLA over the A suffix ones tend to mainly be 1960 to 1962 , 61s are most common but the odd 59 creeps in.  It is also confused by S1 ex mils being cast in 63 getting an A suffix number.

We have several members whose land rovers collected A suffix age relateds that are non transferrable.  This came to light when DVLA were asked to swap them for more appropriate 3 + 3 registration marks

3 + 3 age relateds are much easier to deal with

Peter

[w3526602]

Hi,

Barbara's Reliant Sabre 6GT was registered in 1964, but had a 999AAA registration, apparently because Bristol did not issue A nor B suffixes.

From memory, so check .... J9999 was issued by Jersey I don't know if would be accept on a UK registered car.

I don't know anything about Guernsey.

MN and MAN only issued on the Isle of Man, and cannot be used on a vehicles registered in Britain, so visitors only

Z was only issued in Ireland (North? South?) but I think it can be transferred to UK vehicles (usually coaches, to disguise their age?)

I think O can only be used when NOT adjacent to a numeric (so mistakable as a zero).

I don't think Q was issued before it became an identifier of a vehicle of unknown date of first use.

I think S was only used in Scotland, but later became acceptable as a suffix/prefix., and later still for age-related plates.

Barbara used to issue registration numbers to film and TV companies (at one time there were a lot of police cars on TV wearing WN (Swansea) registrations). But such number must never be used on the road ... only added by computer graffics after filming.

On one occasion, Barbara permitted a historic racing car  to be re-united with it's original number, only to find pictures of the car wearing that number, in a magazine that was published before the date of her approval. 

602

[Herald1360]

From memory, so check .... J9999 was issued by Jersey I don't know if would be accept on a UK registered car.

I don't know anything about Guernsey. Guernsey plates just have numbers, no letters.

.......

On one occasion, Barbara permitted a historic racing car  to be re-united with it's original number, only to find pictures of the car wearing that number, in a magazine that was published before the date of her approval.    Would that matter unless the vehicle was being used on a public road?

602

[w3526602]

Would that matter unless the vehicle was being used on a public road?

Hi Herald,

How loud would you shout if you saw a photo in a magazine, of a Blandmobile wearing the registration  of your S2?.

Way back when, the owner of a new van felt it should have an R-reg, instead of the P-reg it had been allocated ... so he changed it. I don't know the details, but apparently it caused a disproportionate amount of effort to sort it out, as the R-registration had already been allocated, correctly, to another vehicle.  I'm guessing that both vehicles had to be re-registered.

The historic racing car mentioned previously, was raced in the Targa Floria (sp?), which I believe took place on public roads.

OT ... It MIGHT have been the Targa Floria, in which the leading car broke down close to the finish. The driver borrowed a pedal-cycle from a spectator, and finished the race on that, and claimed victory.  The rules were change, so that both driver and car had to cross the line together.

Very OT ... in the early 1930s, Austin and MG were competing against each other, at Le Mans, to take the 750cc trophy.  One of the drivers (I can't remember which marque) felt something was wrong with his steering, so pulled into the pits. It was obvious that a track-rod end had broken, so only one wheel was connected to the steering wheel. As they didn't have a spare TRE, they sent him out again.

Unfortunately, a Marshal wanted to know what was going on. The miserable b***** called the car in on the next lap, and demanded it be retired.

In the late 1950s, I met one of the MG 750cc factory racing cars, the one that seized up after 23 hours at Le Mans (in 1933?) and now no longer supercharged, outside the South Croydon Coffee Bar. I tendered the statutory cup of coffee, in return for a ride round the block. Happy days!

602

[Herald1360]

Would that matter unless the vehicle was being used on a public road?

Hi Herald,

How loud would you shout if you saw a photo in a magazine, of a Blandmobile wearing the registration  of your S2?.

602

 

Never saw it on any of them, but the reg off my first S2A (109 hardtop diesel), 928DJB, has historically graced various Range Rover models and is currently on  a 2-year old Merc that weighs more than the Landy did!