Shortest UK car number plate you've seen

[Busaholic]

A lot might ask why WH1 and not BN1; the answer my folks gave me was during the war that was Bolton's registration to confuse any invaders!! How true that is I don't know!

That sounds a bit Dad's Army. The Bosch manage to invade but are thwarted by altered road signs etc!

 

[birchesgreen]

i was behind a Range Rover with 20F plates earlier.

 

[RailWonderer]

The UK is unique in having a market for numberplates, running into six figures. Most other countries do not allow the buying and selling of numberplates as they are a form of ID and all plates sell for a small flat fee from the country or state's DMV in the US for example. And unlike the UK which has letter and number and spacing restrictions the US has none, as long as you are the first one and it's free of profanities.

The DVLA has a good racket going on. Nothing beats the British ingenuity to squeeze out as much money from something as possible.

 

[GCRS]

30 years ago I used to regularly see a fairly run-of-the-mill small car on the road between Woodford and Alderley Edge with (I think) A9 on the plate.

It was definitely two digits and began with A at least!

I'm sure remember seeing A9 at about that time on a 2CV in Chester. I assumed at the time that the plate belonged to the Duke of Westminster and that it was temporarily on such a normal car before getting transferred to something posher.

 

[Pit_buzzer]

So, has G0 gone then?

No, it’s on a 2 year old Rolls Royce Silver Ghost (a bit of it is seen here)
Provost’s New Car

Can't see G0 on tax or mot databases so maybe it was just put on for show and it's registered as something else

 

[AdamWW]

A lot might ask why WH1 and not BN1; the answer my folks gave me was during the war that was Bolton's registration to confuse any invaders!! How true that is I don't know!

I don't think there was much obvious logic to the letters originally allocated to different areas.

 

[Trackman]

A lot might ask why WH1 and not BN1; the answer my folks gave me was during the war that was Bolton's registration to confuse any invaders!! How true that is I don't know!

It's after William Hesketh Lever (of Lever Brothers, now Unilever) who was mayor of Bolton in the late 1920's.

 

[bspahh]

In the 1980s, I saw R5 on a Ford Capri. At the moment its on a Mercedes which hasn't had an MOT for 5 years. In the decade before that, it had done less than a thousand miles and had quite a lot of causes for an MOT failure.

 

[Buzby]

Can't see G0 on tax or mot databases so maybe it was just put on for show and it's registered as something else

Well, it only says that it can’t find it - not that it is invalid! Maybe back on retention after the vehicle donor took it back?

 

[rcro]

In May 2021 I saw a white 1996 Volvo 460 registered "A44" on the A44 west of Worcester - though it appears to have changed to a 2010 Golf now. Intrigued me how somebody had got such a low, and relevant, registration but then isn't fussed about having a fancy new car to put it on. It's literally the only 460 I've seen in the last 10 years so stood out for a mile even without the registration.

 

[Bishopstone]

There’s a Range Rover in Seaford plated 43 P

A bit off topic, but when I lived in east London there was a BMW in my locale plated J1HAD. I thought it was a bit provocative at the time, and I wonder whether the plate was cancelled at some point, because I can no longer find it on the database. The other possibility is that the car was running around illegally on a show plate.

The favourite number plate story I’ve read is the couple (from Cheshire, if I recall correctly) whose ‘his and hers’ cars were plated 2B and NOT 2 B. Currently listed on a Bentley and Land Rover, respectively.

 

[Buzby]

A bit off topic, but when I lived in east London there was a BMW in my locale plated J1HAD

The DVLA issued a press release years ago pointing out the perils of ‘illegally spaced’ plates for good measure they pointed out the reason why certain letter/number combinations would never be issues (including the one mentioned above, along with blocks of letters like GOD and PEN especially when followed by ‘15’). Chances are it was a show plate…..

 

[Southsider]

Slightly off topic but in the town of Ayr, you’re nobody if you don’t have AYR in your registration.

 

[AlterEgo]

3P spotted in Rugby on a Mini.

 

[Merle Haggard]

I don't think there was much obvious logic to the letters originally allocated to different areas.

On the contrary; can't remember the references, but it seems that there was originally a very structured allocation working through the alphabet - something to do with population size (in descending order) for England/Wales and segregated between Counties and County Boroughs, and S- and V- originally allocated to Scotland possibly in alphabetic order.

As an aside, Northampton C.B.C was originally allocated 'BF' on that system, but after about 7 had been issued complaints were received that the recipients found it offensive (and, for clarity, the 'F' was taken to represent 'Fool') and, after representations, the initialism 'NH' was allocated instead. Later, vehicle owners in Staffordshire didn't seem to have a problem.

 

[richw]

An older Corsa in Redruth has N64. I imagine worth a few quid, especially to the gaming community

 

[jmh59]

U1 - Leeds mayor's limo (assuming it still is)

 

[InkyScrolls]

I saw G8 in May 2008, on the M18.

 

[Crossover]

Slightly off topic but in the town of Ayr, you’re nobody if you don’t have AYR in your registration.

We’re around Leeds and a there are quite a few LSxx xxx plates around

LS13 KEV and LS13 BEX are two that I can recall!

 

[mpthomson]

B1 belonged to a family friend of my parents for many years. The person who owned it made his money from car dealerships.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I was always impressed that somebody found the number plate "YG 1" to put on the car Yuri Gagarin used for his UK visit in 1961.
(Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man to reach space, orbit the earth and return safely).
https://www.regtransfers.co.uk/content/a-plate-thats-out-of-this-world

Gagarin became a worldwide hero. Three months after his mission, in July 1961, he travelled to the United Kingdom on a tour to promote the Soviet Union’s achievements. There, he was wildly popular with the public and greeted with wildly cheering crowds. During his three day visit, he was driven to a number of meetings (including one with the Queen) in an open-top Rolls Royce proudly bearing the number plate, ‘YG 1’ owned by English singer Yana Guard.

 

[Spamcan81]

A friend of mine has 30 CF on his Land Rover.

 

[MP33]

The old Essex combinations such as BOO LOO and POO were removed long ago. Also the mark VD for Luton was withdrawn in 1974.

 

[scragend]

The DVLA issued a press release years ago pointing out the perils of ‘illegally spaced’ plates for good measure they pointed out the reason why certain letter/number combinations would never be issues (including the one mentioned above, along with blocks of letters like GOD and PEN especially when followed by ‘15’). Chances are it was a show plate…..

Steve Parrish used to own PEN15 : https://twitter.com/Stavros6/status/1248226078654705664

The old Essex combinations such as BOO LOO and POO were removed long ago. Also the mark VD for Luton was withdrawn in 1974.

In the new style registrations, PO is, or certainly was, issued for the Preston area. There were quite a few PO02 cars knocking about round here at one time.

 

[GusB]

The old Essex combinations such as BOO LOO and POO were removed long ago. Also the mark VD for Luton was withdrawn in 1974.

The VD area identifier was Lanarkshire until 1974 and was then issued by Luton until 1977. I wasn't aware that OO was withdrawn prior to the new system starting in 2001. It appeared on Fords quite a lot, usually seen in magazines.

I remember the TV programme That's Life showed a photo of a car with the registration LOO412P...

 

[bspahh]

I once passed a Volvo 343 which was trundling along at 50mph on the inside line of a motorway. The registration number was WOO15

The reflection in my rear view mirror spelt SlOOW

 

[Crossover]

I wasn't aware that OO was withdrawn prior to the new system starting in 2001.

I may be misunderstanding your point but OOxx xxx new style registration are available, I’m sure

 

[GusB]

I may be misunderstanding your point but OOxx xxx new style registration are available, I’m sure

Yes, they're still available under the new system, but it was suggested that the OO area identifier had been withdrawn under the old system, prior to the LLNNLLL system being introduced, which I don't think was the case.

 

[MP33]

In the registrations from 1963, OO still remained for Essex but the combinations that were silly and rude were removed. There is a similar situation with Aircraft registrations and Amateur Radio callsigns.

My school library had a book giving details of registrations and OO7 was on an E type Jaguar. AA1 belonged to the Automobile Association and AA10 was held by Arthur Askey. King Charles was not the first holder of HRH1. This was allocated to a resident in the area as the next one available and then passed on.

 

[The Puddock]

Interesting. So we have S0, G0 and RG0 - was there one for Dundee, I wonder?

Did the "zero" plates happen anywhere else in the UK, or is it peculiarly a Scottish thing?

The Lord Provost of Dundee had TS1 and the Lord Provost of Perth had ES1. I think both are still retained by Dundee City Council and Perth & Kinross council - I certainly used to see TS1 a lot but haven't spotted it for probably over a decade now.

Here's a photo on Flickr (not mine) of TS1 on a Jag from 2014 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/thedoofers/14058082211/