To ZV or not to ZV?

You do have a choice of either zv or the normall 77 d etc.Using ZV your choice of design is unlimited although plane on red or black as original plates seems to be sought after with boardies.

ned78 wrote:

There is nothing stopping you geting a black numberplate with stamped grey letters for a 77 reg car for example. They don't have to be Euro plates ... aren't cars before 87 allowed to do whatever the hell they want? I still see old fiestas driving around with red&black plates.

This new rule was put in place when the year type plates came in (1987 onwards) and was meant for all Irish registered cars. Since then, a lot of imports have come in, (they probably had not factored this into their thinking at the time, with the unexpected increase in affluence, Celtic Tiger etc.), and so this created a grey area - They really wanted ALL year type reg's to have the black typeface / white background on plates ... and to include the Euro Flag for post 1991 on vehicles. ZV plates were intoduced so this offered the only alternative option of reg format and colour/style.

Although technically illegal to use something else, it is not really enforced by the Gardai, unless of course you really give one the right hump. Then you probably would be instructed to replace same or face a EUR1265 fine.

hellcamino wrote:

does this mean I could use an old style reg with an '85 WW 1234 ?

Answer: No, not legal ... but this is only my interpretation of the law.

That sounds good to me, worst comes to the worst, you have to get a pair of euro plates and you then go for the ZVs

Answer: The most probably outcome ... but if you really pi..ed a Garda off, while commiting say some other offence, or had a bad attitude, then you could be facing a meeting with Maximum Bob for open wallet surgery.

When registering an imported "classic" car for the first time in Ireland, you have the choice of the Year type or ZV reg ... You cannot swap one later on for the other.

corktina wrote:

you can change from a year plate to a ZV (and presumably vice versa)

I'm open to correction corktina, but I don't think you can change from a ZV back to a year plate.

You can also change an old Irish plate (+30years) to a ZV but only God knows why one would do that!



Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations 1992

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZSI318Y1992.html


9. (1) The identification mark assigned by the Commissioners under section 131 (5) of the Act to a vehicle entered in the register (in this Regulation referred to as "the identification mark") shall consist of:—

( a ) the third and fourth numerals of the year in which the vehicle is first brought into use,
( b ) an index mark, as provided for in the table to paragraph 4 of the First Schedule to these Regulations, corresponding to the functional area of the licensing authority in which the owner at the time of registration ordinarily resides,
( c ) a number which when combined with the appropriate numerals and mark aforesaid produces a unique combination,
( d ) in the case of a vehicle which the Commissioners are satisfied was constructed or first brought into use more than 30 years prior to the time of registration, and the person applying for registration so requests, an index mark ZV and a unique number.
(2) A determination shall be made by the Commissioners for the purposes of this Regulation as to the year in which a vehicle is brought into use and shall take into account any previous registration documents, the distance which the vehicle has travelled, and any other matters which are, in the opinion of the Commissioners, fair and reasonable in the circumstances of the case.

(3) The numbers referred to in subparagraph (1) (c) of this Regulation shall be assigned sequentially to each index mark, but the Commissioners may omit any numbers from a sequence established under this Regulation.

(4) The identification mark of a vehicle shall remain assigned to the vehicle and no other such marks shall be assigned to the vehicle save in such circumstances as may be determined by the Commissioners or where the owner of the vehicle requests that the identification mark assigned to a vehicle which reaches 30 years of age be replaced by a mark in the ZV series.

(5) Where a declaration under section 131 of the Act is made by a person, not being an authorised person, the identification mark of the vehicle concerned shall be displayed thereon as on and from a day not more than 3 working days after the registration of the vehicle.

(6) The identification mark of a vehicle shall, until the vehicle is scrapped, destroyed or sent permanently out of the State, be exhibited on the vehicle on a rectangular plate or on an unbroken rectangular surface forming part of the vehicle and, in either case, the identification mark shall comply as to lettering, numbering and otherwise, with the provisions set out in the First Schedule to these Regulations.

(7) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (8), the identification mark of a vehicle shall be exhibited, in the case of a vehicle which has only one front wheel, on the back of the vehicle and, in the case of any other vehicle, on the front of and on the back of the vehicle in a vertical or nearly vertical position, so that every letter or figure of the identification mark is vertical or nearly vertical and is easily distinguishable, in the case of the letters and figures placed on the front of the vehicle, from in front of the vehicle and in the case of the letters and figures placed on the back of the vehicle, from behind the vehicle.

(8) Where one or more trailers of any kind are attached to a vehicle, a duplicate of the identification mark of the vehicle shall be exhibited on the back of the rearmost trailer in the manner that the identification mark is required to be exhibited on the back of the vehicle.

(9) Figures, letters, designs, ornamentation's, fittings or structures shall not be placed on a vehicle or trailer in such a position as to render more difficult the reading or distinguishing of the identification mark or duplicate identification mark of the vehicle or trailer.

while I think of it, look at the German classic car scene.... nearly every car is re registered with euro plates and the letter H at the end. These plates are awful. I liked the traditional german black on white plates eg B-XK 5088. Does anyone know if the I950s plates there which were white on black are still legal over there or were all these vehicles forced to re reg to this euro plate??

Is there any legal way to "ring" a car? Lets say you own an original Irish classic car that needs a replacement bodyshell and engine. You source a donor vehicle in the UK. You restore the old car using the new "parts" Surely there must be legal way of keeping the identity of your car?

Just thinking about this some more - is there actually anything illegal about "ringing" if neither of the vehicles are stolen. Ringing is generally taken to mean transplanting the identity of a written off car onto a stolen car which is an identical make and model. But if you buy a car and use it as a donor for an old wreck what's illegal about that unless there are specific regulations covering tampering with vehicle identities.

Even if there is a "big dirty weld" around the VIN plate that doesn't prove anything. Also many cars have the chassis number stamped into the floor/sill area. As we all know, classic cars tend to rust in the sills and floor so many cars will have evidence of repair in these areas and possibly no stamp at all if a replacement section has been welded in.

People swap engines around all the time - as long as the engine is the same spec as the original and the new engine number is declared to the insurance company and authorities then no problem. Also cars get reprayed different colours all the time and it's no problem

I also don't see how "ringing" a car is VRT avoidance. You bring in a mint condition UK car and it donates its body and engine to an Irish wreck. The irish car has already had VRT paid on it when it was bought new. There is no reason to pay VRT because you're not importing a UK car to drive on Irish roads - in effect you are importing "spare parts" to fix an Irish car and VRT is not payable on spares.

There is a guy selling large-digit silver-on-black plates doing the rounds at autojumbles, shows, etc.
I've been told he may also now be selling red rear plates too?!

I believe he owns the site www.autojumbler.ie


I was in Brady's Motor Factors in Arklow a few days ago and he also can supply large-digit plates.....though he admits his supplier is a bit slow with processing orders???

I have silver on black plates on my 72 merc, takes the guess work out for others
I was under the impression that if you chose "dated" plates when first registering the car, you stuck with them, but if you first chose ZVs you could, if you wished to, change these once back to dated plates.
just my 2c

I went to Paris to get mine made up especially to suit the Panhard PL, front and rear are completely different shape wise, but the perfect fit and only cost €90.00 for the pair.63 TS 500 rear plate.JPG

63 TS 500 front.JPG. Do they not look better than an ZV??

I imported my 86 BMW in June last year, its on 86 D plates, silver stamped on black. Not had any problems at all and I dont expect any.

try europlates by fairyhouse Sivera, they do the stamped ones, they are th oly place I know of that do red plates with the individual raised letters too.

green-blood wrote:

I imported my 86 BMW in June last year, its on 86 D plates, silver stamped on black. Not had any problems at all and I dont expect any.

try europlates by fairyhouse Sivera, they do the stamped ones, they are th oly place I know of that do red plates with the individual raised letters too.

To my knowledge all vehicles first registered in Ireland after 1/1/1991 must display their registrations on 'euro' plates.
(Except for ZV, ZZ or Trade Plates)

Having said that, most gardai would not bother with silver-on-black plates on an older car......except if they stopped you for another offence(s), then they could include the plates in the list of offences.

Thanks for the 'Europlates' tip .......I will check them out.
Would like to get red plates made up. Cheers.

I agree with the ZV plates :-) They look so much better on classics.

I often wonder what the VRU are going to do in a few years time, when they figure out that they want to use numbers that have already been used. I know of someone that has a 34-KE-1 reg. I've heard of cars in Dublin that have 15-D reg plates. Now that's only 8 years away!!

I know that for an administrative fee of €50 you can reregister a car that's over 30 years old (ie 72-C-...) to a ZV plate. Would this become compulsary as the years progress?

What the government could do is make all registrations over let's say 50 years invalid and re-register the ones that are still "alive" to ZV plates (or some sort of equivalent). This will free up all the older plates so that there won't be any conflict in the future.

The current situation is not tenable... If someone buys a 1908 car and brings it in, in theory they could chose let's say 08-D-1. The problem could arise sooner than people think :-)

I'm really curious to find out what the government is going to do about this situration?

Congratulations for opening a 12 year old thread!


If you vehicle is 30 years old is an 88 car so why would you want a ZV plate? Is the vehicle an import? If not then I don't think you can change the plate.

why on earth would you devalue the car when it's a genuine Irish survivor.?