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A word from the RNC
Plate Manipulation . . .
Naughty, but Nice!
by Rod Lomax, RNC Publicity Officer
There really are some wonderful plates
out there, the likes of F1 and 1 F were
offered for sale last year by Bonhams
on behalf of Essex County Council.
E1, V 1 and X 1 are for sale in this
magazine. Such current series plates as
AR53 NAL, CO51 BED and PO51 BLY
are all nectar to those of us with a
passionate interest in cherished
registrations.
To the purist, though nothing but an
early original issue will do. But, sadly, in
these days of soaring prices for almost
everything, most of them are out of
reach of all but the very wealthy. Some
are almost priceless, such is their rarity
and so many settle for a fairly
innocuous plate maybe depicting their
initials, their hobby, sport or other
interest. Others resort to what appears
to be a pretty ordinary plate to the
uninitiated but which achieves the
desired effect by using a degree of letter
or number manipulation. Typically a '5'
can easily be tweaked to appear as an
'S' and a '4' as an 'A' with the opposite
being true. Incorrect spacing, too, can
make all the difference to the end result.
This is, of course, totally illegal, can
lead to MOT failure and prosecution,
and makes them difficult to read
correctly by ANPR equipment (see
article in previous issue) so we would
certainly not condone, or in any way
encourage, this practice. However, by
the time you read this, the DVLA will
have held its 100th auction on 20-22
April at Stapleford Park in Leicestershire
with some rather interesting plates
being offered for sale. I am, however,
sure that such registrations as ALT 3R,
B42 BER, F177 ERS, NOA 11S and
60 OL would not have achieved the
prices they did were it not for a little
manipulation in the eye of the
purchaser!
Everyone is, quite rightly, entitled to
their own view on this subject and much
has been written about it, but until the
authorities seriously stamp down on
mis-spaced or altered plates and the
DVLA cease to market plates which do
require some form of manipulation to
make them appeal, then the cause is
lost for sure.
I regularly see doctored plates on my
travels locally which have remained
unchanged and presumably
unchallenged for years. Possibly legal
P6
plates are substituted specifically for
MoT purposes, but the fact remains they
continue to use them as was envisaged
when they were bought, rather than as
the DVLA really intended.
RNC Rallies
Coming up in June is the Registration
Numbers Club annual rally which this
year is at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire
on Sunday 25 June 2006 with a
members' dinner the evening before in
Woburn village. Rally entry forms for
members are available from the club
office and further details are posted at
www.registrationnumbersclub.org.uk or
by just inserting our short web address
www.rnc.cc into your browser where
pictures and results from last years
event in Cumbria are also featured. We
welcome visitors on the day to view the
excellent plates we generally have on
display and will happily provide you with
an RNC joining pack should you like
what you see.
For those of you in the far north of the
country an additional regional rally will
be held near Aberdeen in August this
year. The Grampian Transport Museum
in Alford is the venue on Sunday 13
August and all proceeds from this event
will be donated to UNICEF. This is being
organised by one of our Scottish area
members, Sam Murray, and again
further details can be supplied from the
club office or by viewing the web site.
So much choice then this year for all
cherished number enthusiasts out there
. . . if you can't make up your mind
which rally to attend why not come to
both … a good turn out does make all
the hard work of organising such events
well worthwhile.
The World of Personal Number Plates Regtransfers.co.uk
The Registration
Numbers Club annual
rally provides a
meeting point for
members from all over
the country to get
together and participate in a light
hearted competition where members
registrations are placed in different
classes - best No.1 plate, best prefix
plate, best name plate, farthest
distance travelled, etc. and are voted
on by the members themselves.
This year our rally will take place at
Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire on
Sunday 25 June 2006 with a dinner
the evening before close by.
Please visit
www.registrationnumbersclub.org.uk
or just type our short web address
www.rnc.cc into your browser where
further details will be available and
where pictures and results from last
years event are also featured.
The Registration Numbers Club,
is the only traditional UK based club
catering for enthusiasts of
personalised vehicle registration
numbers . . . joining us costs very
little and the benefits could be
substantial. We were originally
founded in 1977 and currently
produce a quarterly newsletter, RNC
News, which is the original
independent club publication and is
available free to subscribing
members.
The club is run by Honorary
Secretary, Steve Waldenberg from
the RNC office in Leeds. Rod Lomax
from Bury in Lancashire is the club
Publicity Officer and John Harrison,
who has an expert knowledge of the
whole system of vehicle registration
in this country, is club Archivist &
Advisor.
For information about the RNC,
please contact:
Steve Waldenberg
Honorary Organising Secretary
RNC Office
PO Box MT12
Leeds LS17 7UD
Tel : 0113 226 7497
Fax: 0113 226 1110
Email: organisation@
registrationnumbersclub.org.uk
Rod Lomax
Publicity Officer
5 Bank Top
Baldingstone
Bury, Lancs
BL9 6RY
Tel: 0161 764 8180
Fax: 0161 764 3800
Email: publicity@
registrationnumbersclub.org.uk
John Harrison
Archivist & Advisor
175 Hillyfields
Loughton
Essex IG10 2PW
Tel: 020 8508 8851
(evenings/weekends only)
Email: harrison@unisonfree.net
Summer 2006