Throughout the history of the motor car, owners have recognised their prized vehicles as an extension of their image. And their surrounding communities have not been slow to nod in agreement.
Personalised registration plates have sat at the forefront of the connection between a driver's image and their car.
Before we get started on our voyage through number plate formats, we should perhaps clarify that all personalised UK registration plates legitimately visible on our roads have a valid format, sanctioned, at one time or another, by the Government.
What some people don't realise, is that many of the most desirable plates are effectively secondhand, and can only be bought today on the private market. The value of such plates has often dramatically outstripped the value of the vehicles from which they were taken. Imagine possessing a 1961 Morris Minor with a market value of £2,000, but a registration that's worth £40,000. In fact, a premium reg plate can actually double the value of even a beautiful Rolls Royce! That's how vibrant a market reg plates have become.
DATELESS PLATES
We begin our journey through the historical realm of number plates back in the very early 20th century. The year was 1903, and the type of plate introduced that year had no particular definition. It was, simply, a registration plate, and the very first example carried the character combo "A 1".
"A 1" started a progression of registrations that lasted for around sixty years, ending in the Swinging 'Sixties, when radical changes in the motor trade were affording drivers new levels of style. But the original progression wich started with "A 1" is today typically referencesd as the "dateless" plate. An original-format, "dateless" plate can vary widely in its layout and number of characters. The numbers may come first. They may come last.
Combinations can include up to four numbers, followed by up to three letters, or in reverse format, up to three letters followed by up to three numbers. These highly cherished number plates are broadly regarded as the cream of UK stock. They're a staple choice for very high-profile celebrities and stars. For example, AMS 1 is very famously associated with Lord Alan Sugar.
Even in the age when "dateless" plates were current, it was clear to motor manufacturers that cars were far more than just marvels of engineering. If we timehopped back more than a century to the summer of 1922, we'd find ourselves amid the early promotional phase for the then jawdroppingly futuristic Austin Seven. But when a prototype Seven was turned out for its publicity shots, it was not merely plonked onto a forecourt or spotlit in a showroom. It was photographed out in the local community as a facet of daily life.
In Northfield, the south Birmingham suburb adjacent to the car's Longbridge birthplace, a lavishly-dressed and elaborately-behatted lady sat at the Austin Seven's steering wheel outside a popular retail store of the day. The shopkeeper - himself immaculately presented - stacked carefully-wrapped goods into the lady's vehicle as a photographer's shutter clicked. This would not be a promo for the engineering fanatic. This would be a promo for the high fashionista. Cars and kudos have been inextricably linked ever since.
The following decade saw an almost inevitable birth of private designations for registration plates. But it would be the 1960s when advancements in vehicle styling and a switch to a more 'hackable' number plate format really began to propel interest in personally-suited registrations. Public interest captured the imagination of the media and broadcasters, which in turn fuelled public interest all the more.
SUFFIX PLATES
The aforementioned change in number plate format was the switch, in 1963, to what we now call the "suffix" registration.
The UK suffix number plate system was designed to provide a straightforward method for identifying the year a vehicle was registered. This format consists of up to three letters, followed by one to three numbers, and ending with a single letter that denotes the registration year. For example, "ABC 123A" indicates a vehicle registered in 1963, with the suffix letter 'A' signifying the year.
The suffix letter was changed annually, moving sequentially from 'A' to 'Y' (excluding 'I', 'O', 'Q', 'U', and 'Z' for various reasons). This system lasted until 1983, when it was replaced by the prefix format. Suffix plates not only served practical purposes but have also become nostalgic and collectible over time, representing a distinct era in UK motoring history.
The the nostalgia factor is frequently overlooked when it comes to these vintage registrations. And when thy're seen reformatted into comtemporary white-backed and yellow-backed style, with the current Charles Wright 2001 font, it's easy to see why. The plates may be new, but the registrations they feature are many decades old. Even some of the less "personal" registrations with an old suffix format can have nostalgic appeal to people who recall seeing them as a regular part of day-to-day culture.
Suffix plates have also found their way into celeb culture, and have featured on the vehicles of major stars. For instance, the suffix plate "COM 1C" has become synonymous with the comedian Jimmy Tarbuck.
The year letter in the suffix system reached the end of the alphabet in 1983, heralding another new format...
PREFIX NUMBER PLATES
1983 was famous for many things: The introduction of the pound coin, consumer adoption of the compact disc, and of course the birth of the "bad hair day". But number plate fanatics know 1983 best for the introduction of the prefix registration system.
The prefix plate was a significant update to vehicle registration. Its format reversed the previous system by placing the year identifier at the beginning of the plate. A typical prefix plate comprises a single letter indicating the year of registration, followed by one to three numbers, and ending with three letters. For example, "A123 ABC" - where 'A' denotes 1983. Like the suffix, the prefix system provided a clear and easy way to determine the vehicle's age at a glance. Prefix plates were, in essence, roughly a back-to-front rendition of the suffix.
Prefix plate "K1 NGS" is noted as one of the most valuable in the series, and its high profile shows us that even plates from a series that overlaps into the 21st century can become star purchases. But another interesting prefix plate in celebrity possession is V12 APE. This piece of showbiz culture resides on the Ferrari F12 TDF driven by one Hugh Grant.
The prefix regisration series continued until 2001, but because it covers much of the 1980s, there can still be similar nostalgic appeal to that which accompanies the suffix plates.
Unfortunately, the prefix system suffered from the same issue as the suffix series before it. Only twenty-six letters in the alphabet meant a maximum of 26 years in operation.
NEW-STYLE OR CURRENT-STYLE NUMBER PLATES
The authorities learned a lesson from suffix and prefix registration systems, and in the next number plate era there would be a longer-lasting format.
Current-style, or new-style number plates in the UK do have collector appeal, although not typically to the same extent as some older formats like the dateless or suffix plates.
Indeed, because new-style plates are so often ranked below the other formats in terms of collectability, their ability to produce desirable combinations of characters can be significantly understated.
New-style plates have always offered the opportunity to incorporate short or abbreviated names, or initials, courtesy of their rigid format of seven characters. There's plenty of room to squeeze in a three-letter personalisation term of choice, along with a four-character prefix. The four-character "prefix" area is where plate enthusiasts have taken the most licence. For example, a new-style plate beginning with "BO55", will be read as "BOSS". There will then still be three letter characters left to incorporate a name or initial set.
In official terms, the seven characters in the format are allocated as follows:
Example plate: AA51 AAA
The first two letters indicate the region and local DVLA office where the vehicle was registered. For example, "LA" might indicate London, while "BA" could indicate Birmingham.
The next two digits signify the age of the vehicle. This number changes twice a year, in March and September.
For vehicles registered between March and August, the number is the last two digits of the year. For example, "02" for the year 2002.
For vehicles registered between September and February, the number is the last two digits of the year, plus 50. For example, "73" for vehicles registered between September 2023 and February 2024.
The final three letters are random and serve to make each registration unique. They do'nt follow any specific pattern and are assigned to prevent duplication.
For example, a number plate reading "LA23 XYZ" would indicate a vehicle registered in London between March and August 2023. This structured format not only aids in vehicle identification, but also provides valuable information at a glance.
Whather you're looking for a bargain, or you're a big spender with very specific plate parameters in mind, one of the best places to start is on the NetPlates home page, where you'll find our sophisticated search facility, with access to tens of millions of plate options.
Here are a few reasons why current style plates might attract collectors:
