Old style car registrations

Go Harvey Go · 11-02-2016 2:31am

jca wrote: »

Do you know why they never reversed the 3 letter sequences? I just can't figure why they didn't do that for Fermanagh instead of using IG.

Three-letter, four-number registrations have been used in NI since 1966, and exclusively since 1973 (County Derry being the last authority to adopt them).

My guess would be that as the end of the three-letter IL series loomed in 2004, the folks at what was then Enniskillen LVLO took a look around and noticed that everyone else had a long way to go with their three-letter registrations. And as these registrations had been used exclusively for 30 years at that stage, they may also have felt that reversing them would come as a bit of a culture shock.

Hence YIL was followed by AIG, BIG, etc.

It's expected, however, that reverse three-letter registrations will be issued eventually - YRZ in Antrim being followed by 1001-9998 AIA, 1001-9998 BIA etc, for instance.

jca · 11-02-2016 11:18am

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

Three-letter, four-number registrations have been used in NI since 1966, and exclusively since 1973 (County Derry being the last authority to adopt them).

My guess would be that as the end of the three-letter IL series loomed in 2004, the folks at what was then Enniskillen LVLO took a look around and noticed that everyone else had a long way to go with their three-letter registrations. And as these registrations had been used exclusively for 30 years at that stage, they may also have felt that reversing them would come as a bit of a culture shock.

Hence YIL was followed by AIG, BIG, etc.

It's expected, however, that reverse three-letter registrations will be issued eventually - YRZ in Antrim being followed by 1001-9998 AIA, 1001-9998 BIA etc, for instance.

That's a good point and of course it gives Fermanagh another pair of letters to use. Am I correct in thinking they didn't use IG as a 2 letter issue either forward or reversed? NI reversed all their 2 letter allocations before starting the 3 letter sequences, very different to here.

Sam Kade · 11-02-2016 11:23am

YZK 60 was a 70's VW beetle that we had in cork.
378 MIF was a 1980 VW Derby.

CorkMan_ · 11-02-2016 1:28pm

Silvera wrote: »

You say the car is ZS 2***. Do you still have it?
Registrations were generally issued in sequence.

Ya still have it. Have it 11 years now. I'm the 4th or 5th owner, can't remember which exactly. Funny enough it was kept in the same area from '86 to '05 when I bought it. It's a BMW E30 Coupe chrome bumper model. Still has it's original windscreen with the remnants of a parking permit that ran out in '87!

John T Carroll · 11-02-2016 5:46pm

Sam Kade wrote: »

YZK 60 was a 70's VW beetle that we had in cork.
378 MIF was a 1980 VW Derby.

My mother had a 1963 Fiat 600D, KZB 147, which was imported fully assembled from Italy as the Fiat Factory in Longmile Road? had burned down, it lasted for years and years at the Old Head.
I had a 1980 VW Formel E Golf, 514 HZB.

Go Harvey Go · 11-02-2016 6:38pm

jca wrote: »

Am I correct in thinking they didn't use IG as a 2 letter issue either forward or reversed?

Yes, you are.

NI reversed all their 2 letter allocations before starting the 3 letter sequences, very different to here.

And the fact that these reverse two-letter registrations were exhausted quickly - for instance, it took Antrim just eight years (1958-66) to go through 1-9999 IA, 1-9999 DZ, 1-9999 KZ and 501-9999 RZ - may well have been a factor in the decision to issue three-letter registrations with four numbers, unlike on this side of the border and also unlike in England, Wales and Scotland (where all registrations were restricted to six characters before the letter suffix system was introduced in 1963).

jca · 11-02-2016 6:44pm

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

Yes, you are.

And the fact that these reverse two-letter registrations were exhausted quickly - for instance, it took Antrim just eight years (1958-66) to go through 1-9999 IA, 1-9999 DZ, 1-9999 KZ and 501-9999 RZ - may well have been a factor in the decision to issue three-letter registrations with four numbers, unlike on this side of the border and also unlike in England, Wales and Scotland (where all registrations were restricted to six characters before the letter suffix system was introduced in 1963).

It was a very clever move it kept the integrity of the system such a pity they didn't do it here. I wonder will Swansea eventually move them to the current UK system which, although clever in its own way isn't as nice as the old system.

emeldc · 11-02-2016 6:47pm

TZL 887 was my '69 mini i think
431 IK was my '70 Mini 850
7409 ZJ was my 1973 Fiat 128
8706 Hi was my 1974 Fiat 128 SL Coupe

Had 5 or 6 more but the memory isn't what it used to be.

Go Harvey Go · 11-02-2016 7:34pm

jca wrote: »

I wonder will Swansea eventually move them to the current UK system which, although clever in its own way isn't as nice as the old system.

Not at any point in the remainder of this decade, anyway.

Three-letter GZ registrations began in Belfast only three months ago - and when YJZ in County Down is completed later this year, it'll almost certainly be followed by three-letter SZ registrations.

And of course, London's New Routemasters - which are built by Wrightbus in Ballymena - are being given LTZ registrations.

Things will get interesting in the early 2020s, though - Antrim will by then be close to the end of YRZ and thus close to exhausting its three-letter registrations, while Derry City will be close to the end of YUI (it's currently about halfway through VUI) and Fermanagh won't be too far away from the end of YIG, either (it has just started RIG).

As I said in post #252, it's expected that reverse three-letter registrations will follow. If the folks at the DVLA were to take the plunge and move NI over to the AB12 CDE system (presumably with I as the first letter), then it would represent a bit of a waste - especially in Belfast, which by then would only be arriving at three-letter MZ registrations (and with OZ, PZ, the rest of TZ, UZ and WZ still to come).

jca · 11-02-2016 10:38pm

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

Not at any point in the remainder of this decade, anyway.

Three-letter GZ registrations began in Belfast only three months ago - and when YJZ in County Down is completed later this year, it'll almost certainly be followed by three-letter SZ registrations.

And of course, London's New Routemasters - which are built by Wrightbus in Ballymena - are being given LTZ registrations.

Things will get interesting in the early 2020s, though - Antrim will by then be close to the end of YRZ and thus close to exhausting its three-letter registrations, while Derry City will be close to the end of YUI (it's currently about halfway through VUI) and Fermanagh won't be too far away from the end of YIG, either (it has just started RIG).

As I said in post #252, it's expected that reverse three-letter registrations will follow. If the folks at the DVLA were to take the plunge and move NI over to the AB12 CDE system (presumably with I as the first letter), then it would represent a bit of a waste - especially in Belfast, which by then would only be arriving at three-letter MZ registrations (and with OZ, PZ, the rest of TZ, UZ and WZ still to come).

It will be interesting to see what way they'll go. As it is they don't seem too eager to reverse the 3 letter sequences. It wouldn't make sense to me to start the uk type plate in NI at the letter I it would be more obvious to start at AAA and just using more unique looking codes for the county/city identifier. Aren't the old plates much more interesting than our present system where they just tack on extra characters on a whim making the plate a mess with far to many characters. How does the Australian system work so you know? In some states it looks very similar to our old system.

John T Carroll · 11-02-2016 10:49pm

In the Family from March 1977, a VW Beetle......4441 PI.

greendragon3 · 11-02-2016 11:37pm

CorkMan_ wrote: »

I have an October '86 BMW E30 3 series that was registered in Dublin. Love the old plates. Mine starts with ZS xxxx.

dads ould orion was ZS , think she was 86' if i remember correctly ,

i was never allowed drive it but my younger brother got it one night to " court " the wife ( then girlfriend ) and on the way home he lost her ( the car not the girlfriend ) and put her in a bog on her roof !!
he got some unsuspecting farmer out of his bed with a 135 Massey and they righted her and he dropped her back home and never said a word ,

the ould fella got in her the next morning to head for work and noticed a load of green sludge on the roof cloth and wondered what he must have been at to get her in that state ( the car not the girlfriend ! ) ,

anyway it wasn't till a good few years later he owned up to what had happened but the annoying part for me was the jammy git rolled her and didn't even break a wing mirror ??? and yet i wasn't allowed drive it in case i wrecked it !!!???

ive included a photo of said beast and yes that is me trying to load a goat of all things into the boot ( dont ask ) .

jca · 11-02-2016 11:40pm

greendragon3 wrote: »

dads ould orion was ZS , think she was 86' if i remember correctly ,

i was never allowed drive it but my younger brother got it one night to " court " the wife ( then girlfriend ) and on the way home he lost her ( the car not the girlfriend ) and put her in a bog on her roof !!
he got some unsuspecting farmer out of his bed with a 135 Massey and they righted her and he dropped her back home and never said a word ,

the ould fella got in her the next morning to head for work and noticed a load of green sludge on the roof cloth and wondered what he must have been at to get her in that state ( the car not the girlfriend ! ) ,

anyway it wasn't till a good few years later he owned up to what had happened but the annoying part for me was the jammy git rolled her and didn't even break a wing mirror ??? and yet i wasn't allowed drive it in case i wrecked it !!!???

ive included a photo of said beast and yes that is me trying to load a goat of all things into the boot ( dont ask ) .

The numbers are my fathers original phone number before eircom added a myriad of digits to it:D:D

emeldc · 12-02-2016 10:45am

Here's my old Fiat 128 3p that I had in the mid 80's. Registered 1979.

Go Harvey Go · 12-02-2016 7:53pm

jca wrote: »

How does the Australian system work so you know? In some states it looks very similar to our old system.

Not really familiar with Australian plates, TBH.

I do like the systems used in most US states and Canadian provinces and territories, though - Idaho's county-based system in particular.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Idaho
http://licenseplates.cc/highs.php?where=ID

I also like France's old department-based system (replaced by a national AB-123-CD system in 2009) and the two province-based systems used in Spain (superseded by a national 1234 ABC system in 2000).

Ruu · 13-02-2016 12:16am

We had a Fiat 500 in the early 80s and it was LZN XXX (2 numbers and a letter I think but I can't remember).

madmaggie · 13-02-2016 12:40am

You are all taking me back with these old regs. After leaving school in the early '80's, I was put on work experience in the local motor tax office. They had a massive back log of filing to be done, and muggins got the job of doing that. By the end of it I could rattle off any county registration. Forgotten it all now, of course.

Out anywhere with my late Granny she'd say "I see (IC) a County Carlow car". That joke wore a bit thin.

Go Harvey Go · 13-02-2016 1:12am

Ruu wrote: »

We had a Fiat 500 in the early 80s and it was LZN XXX (2 numbers and a letter I think but I can't remember).

LZN 1-999 were issued in Meath at the end of 1978 and the start of 1979.

greendragon3 · 13-02-2016 12:06pm

madmaggie wrote: »

You are all taking me back with these old regs. After leaving school in the early '80's, I was put on work experience in the local motor tax office. They had a massive back log of filing to be done, and muggins got the job of doing that. By the end of it I could rattle off any county registration. Forgotten it all now, of course.

Out anywhere with my late Granny she'd say "I see (IC) a County Carlow car". That joke wore a bit thin.

it is a real pity that all the old reg's have been lost to the new system , they should make a data base of all available " old reg's " in shannon and re-issue them for a fee for the vintage men .

Silvera · 13-02-2016 2:25pm

greendragon3 wrote: »

it is a real pity that all the old reg's have been lost to the new system , they should make a data base of all available " old reg's " in shannon and re-issue them for a fee for the vintage men .

I have suggested this many times before (I even wrote to the relevant minister some years ago suggesting same...received some vague reply). It would stop the 'tax book sales' / plate swopping thats going on amongst some people in the classic car scene in Ireland :mad:

Silvera · 03-03-2016 6:54pm

An Irish number plate collector interviewed in 1970...

http://www.rte.ie/archives/2015/1111/741140-collecting-number-plates/

Go Harvey Go · 03-03-2016 8:47pm

Silvera wrote: »

An Irish number plate collector interviewed in 1970...

http://www.rte.ie/archives/2015/1111/741140-collecting-number-plates/

Great find, Silvera.

I've seen those old American plates in colour many times on numerous fan sites and on Ebay - so it seems strange seeing them on black-and-white film from not long after they were issued. :eek:

Can't resist pointing out the following: at the time of that report, Leitrim still hadn't reached IT 9999, whereas Dublin had already raced through the reverses of RI and IK and was onto reverse YI.

And I'm sure Mr Garry was well aware that reversed registrations would soon arrive in his neck of the woods: County Limerick was up to YIU (though Limerick City was only at NTI).

tonyheaney · 03-03-2016 9:09pm

LOL I just realised i reignited two long dead threads this one nd an areal photography hope mods ok with that

Silvera · 04-03-2016 12:15am

tonyheaney wrote: »

LOL I just realised i reignited two long dead threads this one nd an areal photography hope mods ok with that

Ya cant keep a good thread down!

Old style car registrations

Comments