Top Gear Protests

[Bonefishblues]

Lots of companies offer vehicle history checks to prospective buyers. I'm sure anybody in the trade could get the data up. You may even be able to get it directly from the DVLA.

There are indeed many Traders on Pistonheads

[Mick F]

Not sure about that.
You can get data from all sorts of sources. Reg number input gives you insurance, MOT and present keeper, mileage history, but can Joe Public access the registration history?

In the old days, we had log books. They were green folded thing with all the previous keepers noted in handwriting with addresses and road tax stamps. Anyone remember them? I know I do! Had I wanted to, I could have written to the original owner, or even driven round to his house. Last car I had like that was a Humber Sceptre and it was 1976.

By the time I had the next car in 1978, we had lost the green folders for a DVLC registration document. By then, the public had lost all the past history of their cars.

It's only now that we have data bases that you can access - if you know how and are allowed to - that we can find out anything.

So my question still stands.
How can they know the VIN details and the original reg number?
Without the VIN number, the original reg number cannot be known.

[Bicycler]

You need to work back. If you know the current registration anybody with access to the relevant database would be able to tell the history of the car that plate is allocated to including previous registration details.

Okay, okay... for the conspiracy theorists there is the possibility that the plate is actually allocated to another car of the same model but
a) You're really getting into illegal stuff there and I doubt the BBC would enter into it for such a silly little thing.
b) Even if they did they would have no way of being sure that the owner of the legitimate car wouldn't pop up and they'd be caught red handed. It would be one hell of a silly risk to take
c) That the BBC had purchased the car allocated that number plate has probably already been checked by the police/DVLA in light of this fiasco

[thirdcrank]

Nobody seems to have mentioned that another set of plates was found in the boot of one of the cars, which were for a vehicle registered in Brum in 2011.

[Bicycler]

I think we have. Those were the plates mentioned earlier which were made up for an end of episode stunt ("car football" I think the BBC said). I don't think anyone would be expected to think that one of the cars had suddenly been re-registered BE11 END

Incidentally, I'm amazed the DVLA had allowed that registration at all (that's why I referred to it before as an obviously fake novelty plate). They used to keep an eye out for potentially offensive or obscene plates and refuse to issue them.

[thirdcrank]

... I I don't think anyone would be expected to think that one of the cars had suddenly been re-registered BE11 END ...

Clearly not: probably to be used for a selfie of somebody with it hanging around their neck. An O8 plate from Northampton would only have three spaces left for "head" so not so cute.

[Mick F]

The car doesn't show on gov.co.uk site as being taxed or tested or indeed existing. Does this mean it's a fictitious number or registered somewhere else?

Exactly.

[broadway]

The car doesn't show on gov.co.uk site as being taxed or tested or indeed existing. Does this mean it's a fictitious number or registered somewhere else?

Exactly.

I found the details on there last week.

[Bonefishblues]

It was registered under the "offending" plate (or at least a Porsche 928 of exactly that description & MY was)

It had a "private" plate for a while, then reverted back to the "offending" plate.

Its last transfer of ownership was this August, which one assumes was when the TG Production Company bought it.

Who knows whether they bought that plate on that car with deliberate intent? It would, of course, have been much easier to buy a car and an (infinitely more) offensive plate separately and marry them together, but that's not what happened in this case.

[maxcherry]

What the heck goes through TGs heads when they have the 'Production' meetings?

[Psamathe]

It was registered under the "offending" plate (or at least a Porsche 928 of exactly that description & MY was)

It had a "private" plate for a while, then reverted back to the "offending" plate.

Its last transfer of ownership was this August, which one assumes was when the TG Production Company bought it.

Who knows whether they bought that plate on that car with deliberate intent? It would, of course, have been much easier to buy a car and an (infinitely more) offensive plate separately and marry them together, but that's not what happened in this case.

But as nobody seems to know the said Porsche's VIN (because the car is in Argentina), nobody has any idea if the vehicle actually used was the real one with the FLK registration. Who knows if the real FLK Porsche is sitting in a barn/scrap yard somewhere and the one abandoned in Argentina is some other vehicle. Without the VIN everybody is working on "It's a red Porsche" - which is a bit vague.

Personally I suspect they were looking for cars for the stunt, came across one with the number plate which struck them as a "good idea" (generate a bit of controversy) and purchased it. And they achieved their aims - they got the publicity, Clarkson got more airing in the Press which undoubtedly will mean more viewers when the program is broadcast. And, as so often happens, Clarkson seems unconcerned about the offence he caused.

So to go to another country and offend them using a conflict/war in which a lot of people were killed and seriously injured is not particularly pleasant thing to do - which really says it all about the man and the program. Does he/Top Gear really see horrendous things like the dead and injured from the Falklands conflict as something to be used to generate a bit of controversy to get him publicity and viewers ? Anything for $$$$$.

Ian

[kwackers]

So to go to another country and offend them using a conflict/war in which a lot of people were killed and seriously injured is not particularly pleasant thing to do

Fawlty Towers & John Cleese spring instantly to mind - or is that OK because it wasn't actually filmed in Germany?
That was far more direct than a number plate that imo was so subtle I'm amazed anyone got it at all! (I certainly didn't until it was explained and I speak English!)

Actually thinking about it, Top Gear has never done subtle so this is a first.

[Bonefishblues]

But as nobody seems to know the said Porsche's VIN (because the car is in Argentina), nobody has any idea if the vehicle actually used was the real one with the FLK registration. Who knows if the real FLK Porsche is sitting in a barn/scrap yard somewhere and the one abandoned in Argentina is some other vehicle. Without the VIN everybody is working on "It's a red Porsche" - which is a bit vague.

You're right. They could have done that. They could have bought another correct model year Porsche (there are pictures of the "offending" car in Argentina and it is the correct model) and put the plate on that car from the car with the original plate and shipped it to Argentina, leaving the original 928 in the UK. The DVLA records don't show a plate change, just the transfer of ownership of that car, so presumably they would have put plates on the other one illegally.

Perhaps it's me, but I'm at a loss as to why they would have done exactly that, and why it's important, unless there's a machiavellian dimension I'm not understanding.

[kwackers]

Perhaps it's me, but I'm at a loss as to why they would have done exactly that, and why it's important, unless there's a machiavellian dimension I'm not understanding.

Because it's an indication of just how EVIL TG, JC and the Beeb are...

[Bicycler]

So to go to another country and offend them using a conflict/war in which a lot of people were killed and seriously injured is not particularly pleasant thing to do

Fawlty Towers & John Cleese spring instantly to mind - or is that OK because it wasn't actually filmed in Germany?
That was far more direct than a number plate that imo was so subtle I'm amazed anyone got it at all! (I certainly didn't until it was explained and I speak English!)

Actually thinking about it, Top Gear has never done subtle so this is a first.

Yeah, I agree. If intentional it was a bit too obscure for most people to notice. Somebody would have to be looking for reasons to be offended.