Old style car registrations

Selucas · 30-04-2011 10:12am

What a great thread!

There's very detailed information about Irish car registrations on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Ireland

I'm currently getting an old Mini from 1980 restored. I'm going to get the original white/red registration plates made so that it will look just as it did the day it was bought. Will post the pics on here when it's finished.

carchaeologist · 07-05-2011 1:11am

Welcome on boards Selucas, glad you are enjoying the thread ! What's the reg of your Mini?

carchaeologist · 20-05-2011 11:22pm

Some more spots from lately....

carchaeologist · 14-06-2011 7:29pm

Some more from lately

Cragmore Matchbox · 31-08-2012 10:17pm

Hi there, I am new to this board but I have been reading the posts.

Very interested in these old style registrations.

I have had many over the years,

NI 8887 Wolseley 4/44
VIU 91 Volkswagen 1200 Type 1
662 BIU Triumph 1300
232 KIU Cortina 2.0GL
5009 IF Morris Marina
5 VYI Volve 265GLE
166 MIU Toyota Cressida
YTI 479 Ford Granada 2.0L
939 EZB Audi 1005D
OIV 432 Daihatsu Charade
Many more but they were post 1987 and with newer style plates.

I was really interested in the pictures posted by other members and I know many of the cars from the classic circuit.

Very interesting thoughts and ideas from many of you.

Cheers

Go Harvey Go · 31-08-2012 10:36pm

Thanks, Cragmore Matchbox.

Do you happen to be from Limerick, by any chance? 'Cause the VW 1200, Triumph 1300, Cortina, Cressida, Granada and Charade were all registered there (the Granada in Limerick City).

And the Charade's registration is of note, as OIV 520 was the last one in Limerick before the change.

Cragmore Matchbox · 31-08-2012 11:42pm

Hi Go Harvey Go

Yes I am from Limerick County ! The Charade was registered late in the year with just 88 or so cars to go to the end of an era.

You are well informed ! As indeed are other members and users. I have been interested in the whole number plating system since I was a child and this was passed to me by my father who was interested in this also.

Anybody interested in the old Trade Plates and which garages had them ? There were hundreds issued and I would love to have a listing for all counties. Maybe some members would have memories or photos or notes. These were the ones in red on a white plate. Usually the format was, for eg. 001 IU with either a triangle or rectangular plate at the upper side. This meant the plate was limited or unlimited. The format was never confused with the reverse format for regular cars because of the colour chiefly. Any info welcome and I will gladly share County Limerick details I have.

gobnaitolunacy · 02-09-2012 7:26am

I think it's unfair that imported vintage/classic cars can't keep their original plates, forced to use crappy EU style numbers which don't look right at all.

Cragmore Matchbox · 02-09-2012 2:25pm

Hi there,

I may be doing something wrong? A notice on my Boards.ie page about new users and less than 25 threads. All Greek to me ! May I not contribute to the Registrations & motoring threads ? Cannot seem to see a method of contacting anyone. I do not want the account suspended. I am NOT from the media, just a private individual interested in Motoring matters etc. Maybe one of the Moderators could contact me by Email and we could clarify ?
Thanks

Cragmore Matchbox · 03-09-2012 1:30am

I agree with you. ZV is boring and uninteresting. It is now also becoming almost illegible with all the digits. It would hjave been soooo much simpler and more regional to have imports use either their own plates (majority coming from UK or NI anyway) and if there were unusual German or other strange plates, just continue a system from the old sequences county by county, for example;

AIU 1000 to AIU 9999
BIU 1000 to BIU 9999 etc

ACI 1000 to ACI 9999 etc etc.
Dublin and other multiple letters counties would have had many more numbers to meet greater demand in those areas.

This system could have lasted for years and years and would be similar in layout to the N.I. system which is very readable and memorable. Then, just leave it at that and not be always fiddling with a system and making it impossible to understand.

Just my opinion for what it's worth.

Any comments ?

Caddyvanman · 06-09-2012 10:38am

Any idea what year or vehicle this is: TZM 490

Go Harvey Go · 06-09-2012 9:27pm

Cragmore Matchbox wrote: »

I agree with you. ZV is boring and uninteresting. It is now also becoming almost illegible with all the digits. It would hjave been soooo much simpler and more regional to have imports use either their own plates (majority coming from UK or NI anyway) and if there were unusual German or other strange plates, just continue a system from the old sequences county by county, for example;

AIU 1000 to AIU 9999
BIU 1000 to BIU 9999 etc

ACI 1000 to ACI 9999 etc etc.
Dublin and other multiple letters counties would have had many more numbers to meet greater demand in those areas.

This system could have lasted for years and years and would be similar in layout to the N.I. system which is very readable and memorable. Then, just leave it at that and not be always fiddling with a system and making it impossible to understand.

Just my opinion for what it's worth.

Any comments ?

Not a bad idea at all.

Of course, once those extended sequences were completed, they could move on to the corresponding reverses (1000-9999 AIU, 1000-9999 BIU, etc).

Caddyvanman wrote: »

Any idea what year or vehicle this is: TZM 490

Galway, spring 1975.

It doesn't show up on Cartell or Motorcheck, so the vehicle in question has obviously long since been scrapped.

patcaff · 08-01-2013 7:37pm

Hi Guys,
Anyone know when the reg 961 JZO might have been used or an older one 21 TRI. Any help would be really greatly appreciated.
Pat

patcaff · 08-01-2013 7:38pm

I should have said both are Dublin registrations. AFIK.

Go Harvey Go · 09-01-2013 7:19am

patcaff wrote: »

Anyone know when the reg 961 JZO might have been used or an older one 21 TRI. Any help would be really greatly appreciated.

961 JZO was issued around the late summer of 1981, and 21 TRI in early 1975.

patcaff · 09-01-2013 12:11pm

Thanks for the info on 21 TRI Go Harvey Go. Really appreciated.m Now here is one to test you- 114 iiz , a Mayo reg. Renault 12.

Go Harvey Go · 10-01-2013 7:49am

patcaff wrote: »

Now here is one to test you- 114 iiz , a Mayo reg. Renault 12.

Early 1978.

r3nu4l · 16-01-2013 9:59am

Here's one. Anyone know what year this car was registered in?

473 EZJ

It was a Vauxhalle Chevette L (Opel Kadet)
According to Cartell the car or log book is alive and well.

Go Harvey Go · 17-01-2013 6:03am

r3nu4l wrote: »

Here's one. Anyone know what year this car was registered in?

473 EZJ

It was a Vauxhalle Chevette L (Opel Kadet)
According to Cartell the car or log book is alive and well.

Mid-1980 in Dublin.

r3nu4l · 17-01-2013 10:25am

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

Mid-1980 in Dublin.

It must have been an import though right? It was a Vauxhall and the Opel brand was the one on sale through dealer forecourts in Ireland (Republic anyway). So if the car was registered in 1980 in Dublin, could it have been older and imported from NI?

Blue850 · 19-01-2013 12:21am

Vauxhalls were sold new in Ireland, probably up until the Chevette was replaced in 1984

L1011 · 19-01-2013 11:55am

I believe some dealers of that era were branded as "GM Opel Vauxhall" or something similar; there's a derelict Opel/Fiat/Citroen dealer in Meath that still has this branding on it anyway.

21-01-2013 2:01am

Cragmore Matchbox wrote: »

I agree with you. ZV is boring and uninteresting. It is now also becoming almost illegible with all the digits.

Unfortunately I now think that ZV is the lesser of two evils. While I would have initially preferred, for example, 79-D-xxx over a 5-digit ZV reg, the fact that said reg would now be 79-D-120xxx is worse.

The Royal Scam · 21-01-2013 2:08am

My father followed a guy home in a mk2 Escort with the reg 810 JIM , offerred him cash for it there and then . and drove it home. My dad Jimmy is a little crazy

tonyheaney · 07-01-2016 7:16pm

trying to trace an irish reg OIU 792 anyone know who i might be able?

L1011 · 07-01-2016 7:18pm

Scrapped (or otherwise not on the road) before 1992 by the looks of things

Go Harvey Go · 07-01-2016 7:23pm

tonyheaney wrote: »

trying to trace an irish reg OIU 792 anyone know who i might be able?

The vehicle with this reg is not on Cartell, as alluded to by L1011.

But there are no doubts about where the reg is from and when it was issued - Limerick in late 1965.

Good to see this thread active again after nearly three years, BTW...

dandyelevan · 07-01-2016 7:31pm

Rookie145 wrote: »

This has me thinkin', it was IE or EI that was the Clare reg.

IE was Clare. There was one famous Clare No Plate.
EIE 10.
'EIE AYE OHH'

Another was the Kilkenny number plate RIP 13. No one wanted that number so if I remember correctly, a Kilkenny Priest took it eventually.
All the 'Z' numbers were Dublin,. except ZB (Cork) and ZM (Galway)

Go Harvey Go · 07-01-2016 7:50pm

dandyelevan wrote: »

IE was Clare. There was one famous Clare No Plate.
EIE 10.
'EIE AYE OHH'

Another was the Kilkenny number plate RIP 13. No one wanted that number so if I remember correctly, a Kilkenny Priest took it eventually.
All the 'Z' numbers were Dublin,. except ZB (Cork) and ZM (Galway)

EIE 10 was issued around April 1963. The less memorable reverse, 10 EIE, was issued around October 1979.

RIP 13, meanwhile, dates from around October 1968. There were no reverse RIP registrations, though - probably for very good reason.

Quite a few of the Z codes were taken by other counties and cities - Cork also took ZK and ZT, Cork City ZF, Meath ZN, Donegal ZP, Wexford ZR, Kildare ZW, Kerry ZX and Louth ZY.

Truckermal · 10-01-2016 9:08pm

What county was EIS/DIS???

Go Harvey Go · 10-01-2016 9:15pm

Truckermal wrote: »

What county was EIS/DIS???

Mayo, 1984/85.

Silvera · 11-01-2016 10:38pm

Good to see my thread going strong!

Blue850 · 12-01-2016 12:32am

dandyelevan wrote: »

IE was Clare. There was one famous Clare No Plate.
EIE 10.
'EIE AYE OHH'

A "1963" Mini

Go Harvey Go · 12-01-2016 8:31pm

Too bad that MIN 1 was given to a Mk1 Escort rather than a Mini (and later transferred to a Nissan Micra)...

Fortunately, a good number of VWI registrations in Waterford City (September 1985 to October 1986) were given to Volkswagens: VWI 200 was given to a Jetta, VWI 300 to a Passat, and VWI 500 and VWI 600 to Golfs.

tonyheaney · 13-01-2016 10:30pm

Trying to trace the year,

what i have so far is its the savoy theatre November 6th & 7th 1982 but it could be 87, by the Taxi says 97 sim, was the 97 the year.

Go Harvey Go · 14-01-2016 12:50am

tonyheaney wrote: »

Trying to trace the year,

what i have so far is its the savoy theatre November 6th & 7th 1982 but it could be 87, by the Taxi says 97 sim, was the 97 the year.

No years on the old system.

97 SIM was issued in Galway in early 1983.

And the blue Ford alongside appears to be registered 21 OIU - which was issued in Limerick in early 1979.

tom_k · 14-01-2016 10:30pm

tonyheaney wrote: »

Trying to trace the year,

what i have so far is its the savoy theatre November 6th & 7th 1982 but it could be 87, by the Taxi says 97 sim, was the 97 the year.

Hi Tony,

On the leftmost of the photo the parked car seems to be a white Mercedes W124, this model I believe wasn't introduced until 1985. Behind that is what may be an Isuzu Gemini (possible 1985-86) or is it a Saab 9000 (first produced 1984), behind that is a Nissan Micra K10 which I don't think was introduced to the European market until 1983.

Unless I'm mistaken on any of these three identifications, I would suggest that the photo was not taken in 1982 but on a later date.

Hope this helps.

Hearse 1 · 15-01-2016 12:05am

Definitely pre June 1987 as City of Dublin Bank was not there then!!

Patch123 · 15-01-2016 12:19am

I think behind that merc is a rare beast - an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

tom_k · 15-01-2016 12:57am

Patch123 wrote: »

I think behind that merc is a rare beast - an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

I think you're right. A great spot!

Silvera · 16-01-2016 2:32pm

Yes, that is indeed a Giulietta!
A rare car then...and now (although I do know of a red '82-WW' example currently in use by an Italian car fan).

Silvera · 01-02-2016 4:08pm

Registration plate 'cloaking / 007' device found on criminal's car in Argentina :eek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G5lNRUscJaA

https://youtu.be/L1SkuGXa5MU

CorkMan_ · 09-02-2016 11:45am

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

Silvera · 09-02-2016 5:38pm

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.

Yes, iirc, 'ZS' (or was it 'SI' ?) were the last old style (Dublin) plates before the start of the 'Year' (i.e. '87 D') plates.

jca · 09-02-2016 6:21pm

I saw a NI focus recently AGZ **** anyone know which county it's from. I know Fermanagh used IG as they used up IL, is there another county or city coming to the end of their available letters. Strange that they never reversed the 3 letter numbers only the 2 letter sequence.

Go Harvey Go · 10-02-2016 2:52am

Silvera wrote: »

Yes, iirc, 'ZS' (or was it 'SI' ?) were the last old style (Dublin) plates before the start of the 'Year' (i.e. '87 D') plates.

ZS 8709 was the last old-style Dublin plate.

jca wrote: »

I saw a NI focus recently AGZ **** anyone know which county it's from. I know Fermanagh used IG as they used up IL, is there another county or city coming to the end of their available letters. Strange that they never reversed the 3 letter numbers only the 2 letter sequence.

AGZ is Belfast (but issued from Swansea, as all NI registrations have been since mid-2014).

CorkMan_ · 10-02-2016 1:39pm

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

ZS 8709 was the last old-style Dublin plate.

Would they have been issued in order as my car was registered in October '86 and is ZS 2***
and can't see that many being registered in that time frame to bring it up to 8709.

Silvera · 10-02-2016 8:43pm

CorkMan_ wrote: »

Would they have been issued in order as my car was registered in October '86 and is ZS 2***
and can't see that many being registered in that time frame to bring it up to 8709.

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

Go Harvey Go · 10-02-2016 10:19pm

Don't forget that registrations could (and still can) be booked and then issued later.

CIÉ usually booked big blocks of registrations for its buses - for instance, it booked VZI 1-340 in May 1966 for its first 340 D-class Leyland Atlanteans, the last of which was not built until mid-1970.

Meanwhile, Dublin first issued ZS registrations in July 1986, after racing through SI 1-9999 (January to April) and ZG 1-9999 (April to July).

ZS 8701, the ninth-last registration, was issued on an imported Volvo Amazon. Here's a thread dedicated to that car:

http://irishvintagescene.forumcircle.com/viewtopic.php?t=430&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

And, from that thread, here are two photos of the car itself:

jca · 11-02-2016 12:43am

Go Harvey Go wrote: »

ZS 8709 was the last old-style Dublin plate.

AGZ is Belfast (but issued from Swansea, as all NI registrations have been since mid-2014).

Thanks for that. If I hadn't been so lazy and looked up my book I would have seen it for myself. I wrongly assumed that GZ wasn't issued the first time around like GI,IG and ZG. 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.

Old style car registrations

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