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/ \
/ \ William Davies
__ __________________ __ Total Triumph Enthusiast
/ \ ______ ______ / \
\__/ \ || / \__/
| A \____||____/ A |
| = H H = | 1959 Herald 948 Coupe
=====U==============U===== 1964 Herald 1200 Saloon
\________________________/ 1966 Herald 1200 Convertible
| | | | 1959 Standard Atlas Pickup
|_| |_| 1975 Spitfire 1500
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Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 22:14:28 -0700
From: William Davies <w.davies@virgin.net>
Organization: virgin.net
To: Chris Bullock <bullobc@vtxix.slg.eds.com>
Subject: Re: British Plates
References: <01BCC76A.2D26A760.bullobc@vtxix.slg.eds.com>
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Chris Bullock wrote:
>
> He pondered aloud for a moment, then said
> 'hmmm, a 1970 TR6' - and he hadn't looked at the show tag with the car's
> info, so I asked him how he knew that.
>
> My plate, BYK 9H, apparently indicates that YK is the region, and the H
> designates Aug, 1970 through July, 1971 - how about that! They're black in
> the front and back as well - apparently didn't change to yellow in the rear
> until after 1970.
Chris,
In 1963, plates were UK plates were changed to a 3 Letter, 3 Number
plus 1 Letter Suffix, eg, ABC 123 A. Previously, plates used were of
several types, some being 2 Letter, 4 Number or 3 Letter, 3 Number (Or
reverse combinations in some areas). The 1963 Suffix was A, 1964 was B,
etc. The Year Letter originally ran from January 1st to Decamber 31st,
but 1967 (E) was the short year, from January 1st to July 31st, all
subsequent issues (F onwards) running from August 1st to July 31st. Out
of this sequence, certain "Ambiguous" year Letters were not used, these
being I, O, Q, U, Z. When the year letters were exhausted (1983/4), the
combinations were reversed and started all over again, ie., A 123 ABC.
The second and third letters do indeed signify the area of the cars
firs registration, though it is by no means a certain way of locting a
cars place of first ownership, eg, WL is an Oxfordshire registration as
in AWL 123 B, CV is a Cornwall registration, eg, 660 VCV (Pre-suffix).
There is a website which lists these area codes, but the information is
on my PC at work, I'll forward it when I can.
To complicate matters, not all regions used the year suffix immediately
upon introduction. Most areas had converted by 1964 (B), but 1965 (C)
was the first year where the new regulation was applied to ALL new cars.
The Black plates were legal up until 1973 (I think), though most new
cars were fitted with the new White plates front, yellow plates back
from around 1970. This legisation was not retrospective, which is how
most "classics" in the UK carry original style Black plates.
I hope this is of some interest to you, if you need any more info, mail
me,
Regards,
Bill.
--
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^================^ This Message sent by:
/ \
/ \ William Davies
__ __________________ __ Total Triumph Enthusiast
/ \ ______ ______ / \
\__/ \ || / \__/
| A \____||____/ A |
| = H H = | 1959 Herald 948 Coupe
=====U==============U===== 1964 Herald 1200 Saloon
\________________________/ 1966 Herald 1200 Convertible
| | | | 1959 Standard Atlas Pickup
|_| |_| 1975 Spitfire 1500
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