Number Plates Search
Most expensive numbers sold
- '5' - £3.5million (Dubai - 2007)
- 'M 1' - £331,500 (2006)
- 'VIP 1' - £285,000 (2006)
- '51 NGH' - £254,000 (2006)
- 'GS 1' - £258,775 (2005)
- 'K1 NGS' - £231,000 (1993)
Number Plate Gallery
You can have a photograph of your personalised registration featured in our Number Plate Gallery!
If you have a particularly interesting story behind your personalised registration, we may even recommend your story for inclusion in the Regtransfers "World of Personal Number Plates" magazine!
Click here for more information on the number plates gallery
Number Plates History
The prefix system
The letters, Z, I, O, Q & U were never used as year letters. On 31 July 1983, when the end of the ‘Y’ year was reached, the suffix system expired. As before, the format was reversed, changing the year letter into a prefix instead (A123 ABC).
It was resolved at this time, that cars with an indeterminate age should be given a Q-registration, for instance, a Kit-car or a vehicle imported from abroad.
The year letter system continued to create a peak period in August, with around a quarter of new vehicles being registered in that month alone. Pressure from the motor trade resulted in a change in the system. The letter ‘R’ was used for 13 months until 31 August 1998. Then letters were changed every six months after that, on 1 March and 1 September. The system lasted until 31 August 2001 when the current one began.
Current registration system
The registration system used today started on 1 September 2001, after several consultations with the police and other interested bodies. A seven-character arrangement was established in a two letter, two number, three letter pattern (AB51 ABC). The first two letters signify where the plate was registered, the two numbers identify how old the registration is, and the last three letters, including Z for the first time, are random. Designed to last until 2049, it is thought that when this date is reached, the format will be reversed.
Personal number plates today
Today it is possible for anyone to choose a number plate to suit them. Celebrities still use them to tag their favourite cars, but now everyone can make his or her vehicle stand out with a number that says something about them. Businesses buy them to promote their wares and parents are buying them as an investment for their children. Love them or loath them, personalised number plates are here to stay for at least the next hundred years!