Irish number plates - Ugly!

Silvera

Interesting debate guys!

As somebody who grew up in the '80's I have a nostalgic fondness for 'old style' Irish reg plates.

While I'm not 'mad' about the current system of showing the year on the plate, the system does work fairly well and most Irish people don't give it any thought.
There have been a few glitches to date:

Duplication - One example being a 1903 vehicle getting the reg 03 WX 1, which obvioulsy caused a 'problem' for Wexford in 2003. I believe this reg is now alocated to a 2003 car, so the 1903 vehicle must have been reregistered with a ZV reg.

Coach Owners - owners of older but mint coaches have complained that tour organisers often will not book them because of their vehicles 'old' plates. Apparently, US tourists in particular often refuse to be carried in an 'old' tour bus (could be say a mint 1995 reg, but to them it's 'old')


I believe the Govt should consider introducing the option of undated plates for anybody who wants them. For example they could bring out 'County Plates' where you reg would have the county letters and a serial number, but no year on the plate, e.g.

D 1235
1235 D
WW 123
123 WW etc etc etc.

Just some thoughts.

Silvera.

P.S. - I like the Gaeilge above the reg, it's our unique language which I'm proud to display in Ireland or abroad. (....and I'm not an Irish speaker).

Beady

Stekelly wrote:

Unless YOUR a snob why does it bother you? If your not a snob, then happy days as it drives down the 2nd hand price of cars.
ANyone who knows about cars could pinpoint the year to within 3 or 4 anyway without looking at the reg. Plenty of other countries have the year on them, even if they are "hidden" by replacing the actual year with letter depicting a year.





The system works fine. How many times has this discussion been had on a talk show or been ridiculed in the media? I cant remember it happening once. Meaning teh vast majority of people in the country across all walks of life are perfectly happy with it.





Maybe culchie's need a new pr team.:)



As far as people from dublin having a bad view of country cars , are country people not as likely to think a dublin car has had a life of sitting in traffic and potentially have twice as much running time as miles.

Those quotes you're attributing to me and countering above ARE NOT MINE.:mad:

Guy:Incognito

Beady wrote:

Those quotes you're attributing to me and countering above ARE NOT MINE.:mad:

Appologies, ill fix it . I had a long quote and got it mixed up when breaking it into parts.

it's all gone a bit mad, i was replying to this

Beady wrote:

Wow a 10 year old Renault Safrane still going!;)

but that reply dissappeared and I managed to put your name on the other quotes.:D

Beady

Stekelly wrote:

Appologies, ill fix it . I had a long quote and got it mixed up when breaking it into parts.

No bother, I'm with you on this. I will view a car on it's condition, the number plate/badge on a car is of little importance to me. I'd much rather have a good, well maintained 7/8 year old car than a crappy new one, this is becaues I have an interest in cars and driving. I fail to see why anyone will change their car every year or two just to have the latest plate in some pathetic attempt to impress the neighbours. They generally have no idea how much money they're wasting in depreciation by doing this, or what better vehicles they are forgoing for the sake of snobbery.

However the fact that this is happening is of benefit to me as it is reducing second hand values allowing me to get a better deal when I do feel like a change .

I also generally find that petrolheads rarely buy new, we enjoy the process of finding the best car in the best condition at the best price! It also allows us to buy a car that we really like and perhaps couldnt buy new but as someone else has absorbed half the new cost in 3/4 years it now becomes practical. Such a car if properly maintained will be as reliable, if not more reliable than a new car, as any manufacturing faults/teething problems will have been sorted.

Wasn't taking the piss out of the Safrane at all! Mates dad used to have one and it was a cracking car, see above, I'm impressed that it's been well enough maintained to be still going, as I'm sure you know French cars can develop some really niggly faults as they age.

Esel

Wishbone Ash wrote:

The year/county/number system was introduced in 1987 but the Euro plate didn't came in until 1991. From 1987 to 1991 it was simple black on white lettering. You can still see an occasional late 80's car with these plates.

Wasn't that the timeframe of the white (front) and red (rear) plates?

crosstownk

esel wrote:

Wasn't that the timeframe of the white (front) and red (rear) plates?

Nope. That system stopped in 1987. The last of the old registrations numbers had white front and red rear - SI 1234, ZG 1234, ZS 1234, etc, etc. It was black on white from 1987 on.

Wishbone Ash

peasant wrote:

I also like the fact that once the number is on the car, it stays there forever

Not necessarily. When a vehicle reaches 30 years old, the owner has the option of changing to an 'ZV' plate.

CtrlSource

It was mentioned early in thread that in some of the US, you don't have to display a front plate. From a looks point of view, I think the large ugly plates we have take away from the front of a car. What's the point in having 2 plates anyway? A compromise like the smaller Italian front plate would be sensible - if there is a valid reason to have one plastered on the front at all.

Our system is sensible and logical, but I agree that modern plates look TOTALLY wrong on classic & vintage cars.

Personally I think US plates look very well on a car in terms of their size, but accept our numbering/lettering is more logical.

Silvera

CtrlSource wrote:

Our system is sensible and logical, but I agree that modern plates look TOTALLY wrong on classic & vintage cars.

We should be thankful that the powers-that-be didn't insist on 'euro' plates for all vehicles as they did in Germany!

Seth Brundle

no matter what system is in place, people would tire of it after a while.
However, the current plate system works and works well. I don't know of any civil service problems with new year registrations but Im sure if there was one there would be various strike threats.
Also I don't think anyone has mentioned it but the DVLA system is a scam, creating a situation whereby people will pay vast sums for a reg plate like M1 or VIP1. The policy here of where a reg is for life is much bettere than where someone can change their reg on a whim.

Wishbone Ash

kbannon wrote:

VIP1

Apologies for going off topic but while I know that registration was issued for the Popemobile in 1979, was it already issued prior to that (in Kilkenny)?
In a previous thread here it was said that it was not released but coincidently, we were discussing it in the pub on Saturday night last and an older gentleman said that it had already been issued but the Government of the day sought out the vehicle and scrapped it to get the plate.
(Presumably the owner was compensated.)

CtrlSource

Silvera wrote:

We should be thankful that the powers-that-be didn't insist on 'euro' plates for all vehicles as they did in Germany!

Never thought about that. I wonder will that come in time though?

As a child, I used to memorize the reg plates of our family's cars and knew what year the letters corresponded to. Bit sad I know, but came in handy when in Smithfield about a year ago, I saw our 1984 Saab 900 (reg: GZS 194) parked at the side of the road! It was unreliable back then - no idea how it made it into the 21st century!

Hah, I'm all nostalgia-d up for Wednesday morning!

G Luxel

VLP maybe in the UK, but VIP in the UK? yes I know of the plate, was originally regd on a jaguar in KK in the 70s but then ended up in the UK so techically there is no region of the UK with IP.. Unless the new system there
has I in the plates ie XK56 VIP?

Why does Tipperary have two plates? TN and TS? Cork and Galway only has one letter?

There will also be lots of imported 06 cars soon with high digits. These people could have bought a new car here in the last I2 months than going abroad....

Seth Brundle

G Luxel wrote:

Why does Tipperary have two plates? TN and TS? Cork and Galway only has one letter?

Tipp North Riding and Tipp South Riding - two different local authorities - like Dublin CC, Fingal CC, SDCC & DLRCC

ninty9er

kbannon wrote:

Tipp North Riding and Tipp South Riding - two different local authorities - like Dublin CC, Fingal CC, SDCC & DLRCC

As does Limerick; L & LK, Waterford; W & WD,

If the system was to change I'd go with WildWalter on the 0107 idea. Similar to Portugal methinks.

Dublin needs to be split

As for vanity plates, are you really that sad and pathetic, getting a number to correspond to your car is acceptable (eg 00G206 is on a 206), and will be a talking point for its whole lifespan and all owners, but anything more is sad!!

Wishbone Ash

G Luxel wrote:

VLP maybe in the UK, but VIP in the UK? yes I know of the plate, was originally regd on a jaguar in KK in the 70s but then ended up in the UK so techically there is no region of the UK with IP

Pre 1987 plates issued in Ireland are transferable to the UK (but not vice versa).