Number Plate Stories

Number plates that make you smile are unforgettable. You find that years later you still grin when you tell your grandchildren about them. Many comedians have their own funny plates, like Jimmy Tarbuck with COM 1C, Lennie Bennett and his GAG 22 and Mike Reid (who played Frank Butcher in Eastenders) who has JOK 1E. Even Bernard Manning has a laugh or two with 1 LAF and 11 LAF.

Fun plates are collector’s items, as John Savage from Peterborough confirms having bought an amusing number to add to his collection of unusual memorabilia. “I’m usually after 1950’s and early 1960’s objects - cars, clothes, records, jukeboxes, that kind of thing,” says John, “But I thought UND 1S was a particularly rare plate. I once owned a few net underskirts from the 1950’s, which is what made me notice UND 1S. It certainly makes people titter and pass comment.”

John has a few other number plates too, 7 FNP, 4242 PP and TRL 331, along with an impressive selection of cars: a Ford Consul, a Ford Thunderbird, a Chevy Camaro and a Pontiac Transam. “The house and our garages look more and more like a museum as the years go by,” says John, “it does have its benefits though; I am occasionally asked to display my collections in public libraries, museums, schools and car shows.”

The range of amusing plates available is vast, but be prepared to take comments from people’s assumptions about you. For example, if you want to wear a plate like B1 MBO or F4 TSO, you could find people staring, trying to see who you are, so that they can make an amusing remark. A six foot catwalk model for instance, could receive interesting feedback for both these numbers!

If you are considering buying a number plate like this for someone else, proceed with caution. Nigel Lowe from the London based company Cry Records, bought the number plate MAD 75 for Madonna as a wedding present. He was expecting to receive an invitation to the pop queen’s marriage to Guy Ritchie on 22 December 2000. It turned out that Nigel wasn’t invited, so was never able to give her the plate. In reality, there’s a good chance she may have been insulted by it rather than overjoyed. After all, would she really want to drive around with MAD on her car? Nigel managed to consol himself with 2 CRY for his Porsche Boxster.

If there’s one reason above all others to find yourself a personal plate, it would be to have some fun. Mark Skeggs, a fireman from Hertfordshire thought it would be funny to have the number plate F14 MES. “Not only am I a fire fighter but I’m also into racing cars which actually make flames as well,” said Mark. “I’m qualified to teach on track and have started my own company, M. S. Racing.” Mark sold the plate recently when it doubled in value. Now he’ll have to find another scorcher!

One person who has undoubtedly had years of fun with their number plate, is Hanna Smart with the notorious FU 2. She bought it thirty years ago from Soho nightclub owner, Paul Raymond. “I know the number is rude in a way,” said Hanna, “but I don’t think of it that way, I’ve always seen it as good fun.”

When she first owned it in the early 1970’s, the police were the ones who were most interested in it. “They would pull me over or follow me home just so they could joke with me about the plate. Probably the most embarrassing moment was when the Queen rode past me in Windsor Great Park, flanked by two of her bodyguards. I was standing next to my Range Rover which had FU 2 on it. I just couldn’t tell if Her Highness was amused by it or not!”

Despite the attention that a fun plate can draw, there’s no doubt that if you choose this kind of number for your car, it will always make you smile, even on the dreariest of days.