Registration Numbers Club

Plate Manipulation . . . Naughty, but Nice!

There really are some wonderful plates out there, the likes of F1 and 1 F were offered for sale last year by Bonhams on behalf of Essex County Council.

E 1, V 1 and X 1 are for sale in this magazine. Such current series plates as AR53 NAL, CO51 BED and PO51 BLY are all nectar to those of us with a passionate interest in cherished registrations.

To the purist, though nothing but an early original issue will do. But, sadly, in these days of soaring prices for almost everything, most of them are out of reach of all but the very wealthy. Some are almost priceless, such is their rarity and so many settle for a fairly innocuous plate maybe depicting their initials, their hobby, sport or other interest. Others resort to what appears to be a pretty ordinary plate to the uninitiated but which achieves the desired effect by using a degree of letter or number manipulation. Typically a '5' can easily be tweaked to appear as an 'S' and a '4' as an 'A' with the opposite being true. Incorrect spacing, too, can make all the difference to the end result.

This is, of course, totally illegal, can lead to MOT failure and prosecution, and makes them difficult to read correctly by ANPR equipment (see article in previous issue) so we would certainly not condone, or in any way encourage, this practice. However, by the time you read this, the DVLA will have held its 100th auction on 20-22 April at Stapleford Park in Leicestershire with some rather interesting plates being offered for sale. I am, however, sure that such registrations as ALT 3R, B42 BER, F177 ERS, NOA 11S and 60 OL would not have achieved the prices they did were it not for a little manipulation in the eye of the purchaser!

Everyone is, quite rightly, entitled to their own view on this subject and much has been written about it, but until the authorities seriously stamp down on mis-spaced or altered plates and the DVLA cease to market plates which do require some form of manipulation to make them appeal, then the cause is lost for sure.

I regularly see doctored plates on my travels locally which have remained unchanged and presumably unchallenged for years. Possibly legal plates are substituted specifically for MoT purposes, but the fact remains they continue to use them as was envisaged when they were bought, rather than as the DVLA really intended.

RNC Rallies

Coming up in June is the Registration Numbers Club annual rally which this year is at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire on Sunday 25 June 2006 with a members' dinner the evening before in Woburn village. We welcome visitors on the day to view the excellent plates we generally have on display and will happily provide you with an RNC joining pack should you like what you see.

For those of you in the far north of the country an additional regional rally will be held near Aberdeen in August this year. The Grampian Transport Museum in Alford is the venue on Sunday 13 August and all proceeds from this event will be donated to UNICEF. This is being organised by one of our Scottish area members, Sam Murray, and again further details can be supplied from the club office or by viewing the web site.

So much choice then this year for all cherished number enthusiasts out there. If you can't make up your mind which rally to attend why not come to both. A good turn out does make all the hard work of organising such events well worthwhile.

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