Worst personalized number plate

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colin54
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by colin54 »

I heard that The Queen's Amphicar had the registration mark QE 2, it may nautical-urban myth though,
I just thought I'd float the nocean here to see if it has internet buoyancy.
I think one of the Royal Rollers / Daimlers has a personalised number plate, HRH 1 (?) possibly, all in the best possible taste as one of the late Kenny Everett's characters might have said.
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thirdcrank
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by thirdcrank »

The HRH series was originally Kingston-upon-Hull and there was a widespread story when I was little that the owner transferred it to the then Princess Elizabeth. We knew people in Hull in those days and I think that's where I first heard about it.
colin54
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by colin54 »

Thanks TC, a wikipedia link about the Royal motors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_and ... ed_Kingdom
Royal cars have no, no, no plates you might abbreviate.
Heavyweight boxer Joe Bugner used to be seen driving through Baldock back in the '70's, his no plate 10 NU what a punch-line !.
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Cowsham
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Cowsham »

Cowsham wrote: 24 Nov 2021, 3:07pm
Jdsk wrote: 24 Nov 2021, 10:01am
Cowsham wrote: 24 Nov 2021, 9:57am My dad bought an Austin Sheerline (4 door saloon) back in the 60's ( it was vintage then too ) the number plate was OZ 666. I wonder what that would be worth today? ( long gone to scrap I'd say )
Screenshot 2021-11-24 at 10.00.01.png

https://www.nationalnumbers.co.uk/searc ... key=oz+666

Jonathan

PS: I don't know that they've actually got it! : - )
It's one of those annoying click bait things I think. Where Google or the firm eg Amazon ( not sure which ) links what your looking for with the firm but when you click on it they don't have it but have something similar.
Here's a perfect example
My brother has been waiting about 30 years for Porsche to bring out a 925 since he's got a plate with 3 letters ( don't remember them) and then 925.

Googling Porsche 925 to check if there ever was anything I got this...
20211125_000159.jpg
Then when I click on that second result I get this ...
20211125_000009.jpg
" Listing 0 " of course cos there are none!
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Manc33
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Manc33 »

I don't know about worst but the shortest one I have ever seen was "L2" on a crappy 4x4 years ago.
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Hellhound
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Hellhound »

My personal plate is 'incorrectly' spaced.Means nowt to anyone who doesn't know me but.
I had a copper on foot as me if I was Phils brother as we have very similar plates.We do and I am.
The spacing of the plate was never mentioned.
thirdcrank
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by thirdcrank »

We have had threads about this before which I've been unable to find.

Re incorrect spacing, there was one where a PCSO got their ruler out and issued a ticket to some sort of finance person whose plate was a couple of mms out. The recipient of the ticket used it to get some cut-price publicity for their firm. Then, they appealed and lost: more publicity but a lot more expensive when the learned friends involved have been to the dressing up box. There was talk of taking it to the ECHR but I never heard any more.

Not a personalised plate, but Leeds City Council, the original issuer of several series with "U" retained U1 for the mayoral limo. I don't know if that is still so because at one point there was pressure to realise the megabucks involved. Back in my cycle campaigning days, they bought L6EDS and it was displayed with sloping characters which made it look like LEEDS. (I thought I had posted a pic on here.) Memory a bit vague over the details but I think it was on a second limo, used among other things for the leader of the council on official business. At a cycle consultation meeting I mentioned that the layout was illegal and the next time I saw it, it was L6EDS.
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Mick F
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Mick F »

Hellhound wrote: 25 Nov 2021, 8:43am My personal plate is 'incorrectly' spaced.Means nowt to anyone who doesn't know me but.
I had a copper on foot as me if I was Phils brother as we have very similar plates.We do and I am.
The spacing of the plate was never mentioned.
Do you get your incorrectly spaced numberplate passed when you take the car for an MOT?

If you do get it passed, the MOT centre is not doing their job properly.
I know someone when they take their car for MOT, he puts correctly spaced numberplates on, and then when he gets home, puts his incorrect ones back on.

The police - if you see any - have more than enough to do, so don't bother with numberplate spacing. So long as you can read them, that's ok by them .............. if you see a copper. Can't remember the last time I saw one, probably months ago.
Mick F. Cornwall
Jdsk
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Jdsk »

Mick F wrote: 25 Nov 2021, 9:37am
Hellhound wrote: 25 Nov 2021, 8:43am My personal plate is 'incorrectly' spaced.Means nowt to anyone who doesn't know me but.
I had a copper on foot as me if I was Phils brother as we have very similar plates.We do and I am.
The spacing of the plate was never mentioned.
Do you get your incorrectly spaced numberplate passed when you take the car for an MOT?

If you do get it passed, the MOT centre is not doing their job properly.
From the inspection manual:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspect ... he-vehicle

You do not have to physically measure the characters or their spacing and you should only reject them if they are obviously incorrect.

Jonathan
Bmblbzzz
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Bmblbzzz »

ANTONISH wrote: 23 Nov 2021, 5:28pm
Stradageek wrote: 23 Nov 2021, 3:32pm
This allies to my well established hypothesis that the size of the car is directly proportional to the magnitude of the drivers inferiority complex and indirectly proportional to size of the drivers d***.

Are you sure it's a well established hypothesis?
"Well established hypothesis" is an oxymoron.
Stradageek
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Stradageek »

The first personalised number plate I can remember was on Colin Cowdrey's jag. It was the slightly ambiguous MCC 100.

I blame Quentin Wilson and Maggie T for the current sad state of affairs. Reputedly Quentin suggested making number plates available by public auction to Mrs T who jumped at the idea.

Those were the early days of 'Greed is good' and 'If you've got it, flaunt it'. The current profusion of personalised number plates shows how much this ethos has taken root and continues to polarise and dismantle society.
thirdcrank
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by thirdcrank »

So long as a reg plate complies with the regs covering dimensions, I'm at a loss to see what's wrong with the DVLA selling them at auction. The important thing for me is that they should be legible by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems. I fancy that distinctive plates are much more likely to be remembered by witnesses, as the late Sir Gerald Nabarro MP discovered some fifty years ago

viewtopic.php?p=377086#p377086
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Hellhound
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Hellhound »

Mick F wrote: 25 Nov 2021, 9:37am
Hellhound wrote: 25 Nov 2021, 8:43am My personal plate is 'incorrectly' spaced.Means nowt to anyone who doesn't know me but.
I had a copper on foot as me if I was Phils brother as we have very similar plates.We do and I am.
The spacing of the plate was never mentioned.
Do you get your incorrectly spaced numberplate passed when you take the car for an MOT?

If you do get it passed, the MOT centre is not doing their job properly.
I know someone when they take their car for MOT, he puts correctly spaced numberplates on, and then when he gets home, puts his incorrect ones back on.
The spacing is correct...where there are spacings :wink:
Perfectly legal,sort of.No need to change it when in for MOT.
I would bet it would not be given a second thought at 99.99999% of testing centres.
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Cowsham
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Cowsham »

Jdsk wrote: 25 Nov 2021, 10:03am
Mick F wrote: 25 Nov 2021, 9:37am
Hellhound wrote: 25 Nov 2021, 8:43am My personal plate is 'incorrectly' spaced.Means nowt to anyone who doesn't know me but.
I had a copper on foot as me if I was Phils brother as we have very similar plates.We do and I am.
The spacing of the plate was never mentioned.
Do you get your incorrectly spaced numberplate passed when you take the car for an MOT?

If you do get it passed, the MOT centre is not doing their job properly.
From the inspection manual:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspect ... he-vehicle

You do not have to physically measure the characters or their spacing and you should only reject them if they are obviously incorrect.

Jonathan
Some years ago I took the wife's 10 year old car for an MOT and had arrived, unusually for me, about 25 min early for the appointment at the MOT centre. Normally you are required to arrive at least 10min early.

I need to point out, here there are no repair garages for doing MOT's. For English people see explanation below.

Arriving early was my downfall as the lane next to me was empty but the roller door for that lane started to open and little uniform clad Mr Jobsworth with one eyebrow stepped out saw my car and signalled me over to his lane so I moved over and drove in. I was confident the car would pass so was pleased I'd get away early.

At this point you get out of the car and the tech gets in and takes it through the test. You take a seat at the periphery and watch as the tests are in progress.

After the test you are signalled to go to the other end of the centre and collect your car and be handed a pass or fail certificate.

Jobsworth handed me a notification of fail certificate. I read " number plate figures too small. "

I protested and asked "how had it passed the previous 5 times? " since the number plates were the ones put on by the garage when it was new.

Jobsworth said the figure heights should be 8mm taller and due to new tightening of the rules he had to issue a fail certificate.

I had to go and get a new set of plates made to the correct spec and pay for a re-test!

It's a big deal failing a test here since booking a new appointment could leave you without a car for weeks! It's even worse now post covid cos you could be without a car for a couple of months.

Explanation for English people
In NI MOT is done in a government run centre which is like a large aircraft hanger with 4 or 5 lanes from one end to the other. You arrive in your specified lane 10min early and wait in front of a large roller shutter door. The tests inside are run like an assembly line style.

Various machines test all aspects of the car while the MOT technician takes the car through and computers decide whether the car has passed or failed.

If the car fails for a major defect you may not be allowed to drive the car back home and will have to pay for a truck to transport the car to be repaired at your mechanics garage.

If it fails you book a new test at the next available slot which could be 3 months away. You can ring each day at a certain time to find out if there are any cancellations.and grab one of those slots.
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Mick F
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Re: Worst personalized number plate

Post by Mick F »

I'm convinced ours are illegal, but as fitted brand new by Toyota.
There's a lined border round them, and I reckon that the letters/numbers are too near the border.

I need to look up the rules and take the car back for the numberplates as it is still in warranty.
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Mick F. Cornwall
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