Number Plate Stories

Film and TV Plates

Tony Green from Lancashire has loved the film and its magical car since he was a child and was inspired to build a replica. “I remember seeing the film in 1968. It had a big influence on me at the time. I still think it has all the right ingredients to entertain each new generation,” said Tony.

He began collecting Chitty film memorabilia some years ago. “I soon became fed up with people at various exhibitions asking me if I owned the original car. I hated having to say no, so when someone suggested to me to build a replica, I thought, yes, why not!” Tony already had a copy of the plans - all he had to do was seek a licensed agreement with MGM, which they duly granted. “The car took me two years to build, during the evenings and weekends, around my full time job. I was lucky enough to have the assistance of the man who built the original car. He finished the planking to the boat section for me.

“I was hopeful that I would find a suitable number plate for my car, but when I found GEN 22, which is so similar, I couldn’t quite believe my extraordinary good fortune. Now the car is complete and I am exhibiting it around the country.”

In 2005, the time travelling Dr. Who made a welcome comeback, with a new cast and up to date special effects. Perhaps though, it’s only the lifelong fans of the earlier series that will remember the doctor’s car ‘The Bessie’. A 1930’s vintage yellow model-T Ford, it was driven by Jon Pertwee as the Doctor in the early 1970’s. The registration number was WHO 1, but the BBC discovered that someone had already bought the plate so the programme producers had to make a fake copy which they used when the car was on private roads. On public roads and for long shots, the car’s original number, MTR 5 was used instead. WHO 7 was later used until 1975.

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