Anyone seen any good number plates on cars lately?

[MOCAŠ]

Not a new idea though! Radford did this in the 60's to Mini Coopers. Peter Sellers had one IIRC.

Anyway, back on thread...

Hatchback, yes, but 5-door hatchback? That would be stretching it... literally! Seen a 4-door conversion, mind you...

Now, how to bring this back on-topic? I know: Harold Radford used to own the number plate HAR 1, which was widely used in the company's publicity shots... and, according to tyre-shopper at least, it was last on an SLK.

 

[MOCAŠ]

A few more seen over the past week or so...

Between Hampstead and Guildford:
PPH 1L on a VW Beetle drop-top
TAN 11A on a Toyota 4x4 (Land Cruiser?)
JEN 2 on a BMW 3 Series estate
3 HLO on an Audi A6 Avant
DIB 99 on a Lexus
REB 77 on a Ford Focus
RIA 72 on Mercedes C-Class estate

At (or en route to) Stansted Airport:
PWP 5 on a Ford Focus
9 RF on a Range Rover
8 GUN on another Range Rover
RAF 1A on an Audi A4
K1 RKY on a Bentley Continental saloon

Closer to home:
WA 1 on a Volvo S80 (belongs to the Australian High Commission)
ENT 1 on a Mercedes E-Class estate
1 DMS on a Mercedes G Wagen
185 D on a Mercedes E-Class
RGL 5 on a Bentley Continental GT
T1 RAL on a Bentley Arnage
BG 111 on a Mini Cooper S
N10 RGE (spaced as N10RGE) on an Audi Q7
1 VEN on a Mercedes S Class (belongs to the Venezuelan Embassy)

Also saw HR 101 on a Mercedes C-Class outside the head office of Heron International in Marylebone Road.

 

[wallingd]

What a lot of 1s...

in fact with that lot you'd have a field-day if you were just starting out on consecutive number-plate spotting. 1, 2, 3, 5... Just awaiting a 4 .

 

[MOCAŠ]

What a lot of 1s...

in fact with that lot you'd have a field-day if you were just starting out on consecutive number-plate spotting. 1, 2, 3, 5... Just awaiting a 4 .

That reminds me... I saw L4 NVN (spaced L4NVN) on a black Range Rover Sport in Queen Anne St last week. Does that count? Guessing it belonged to Lanvin...

I'm going to end up in therapy at this rate...

 

[wallingd]

Wait till you get to 654.

Damn I said that out-loud.

 

[eGuru]

A couple I saw at the weekend.

The W140 was in excellent condition. This is the S320L Business Edition.

 

[christopherwk]

79 HH and V11 KTA seen on Bentley Continentals in McDonalds car park at Heathrow

 

[Smoo]

E999 ECG ........... ambulance in north yorkshire

 

[LTD]

Saw a beauty today on the southside of Glasgow on a Maserati.

SO0 5LOW

 

[KillerHERTZ]

H15TON

On a Range Rover... In Histon...

 

[tali]

Hatchback, yes, but 5-door hatchback? That would be stretching it... literally! Seen a 4-door conversion, mind you...

Now, how to bring this back on-topic? I know: Harold Radford used to own the number plate HAR 1, which was widely used in the company's publicity shots... and, according to tyre-shopper at least, it was last on an SLK.

And previously

Yes i always double check- lots of supercars are listed as "unspecified" whilst others are wrong body styles

HAJ1S on E Class on the M1 this morning. .

Owned by a Birmingham optician- had the car and plate for quite a long time

 

[Silver CL55]

Saw a Ferrari years ago with PEN 15

Oh I did laugh.
Colin.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Gosh, that photo of the 1990s Radford Mini brings back some memories. It is standing outside Radford's then-showroom in George St, W1, which has been home to a variety of interesting car businesses over the years. I remember visiting it many years ago when it was the London base of Portman, the official UK Lamborghini importer in the 1970s/80s. After Radford moved out, it was taken over by a dealership specialising in Lancia Delta Integrales, which occasionally shared their floorspace with other Italian exotica. As it happens, it's just around the corner from the former Mercedes Mayfair showroom (now Fiat's flagship dealership) where I bought my current SLK.

It's worth mentioning that Harold Radford had a keen interest in personal number plates. He once saw a lorry that was registered HAR 2 and, realising the number would be the ideal counterpart to HAR 1 he gave chase, made the owner an offer he couldn't refuse, and thus became the owner of both the plate and the lorry... only to discover later that the rules at the time did not permit registrations to be transferred from commercial vehicles. He later acquired HAR 11 as a sort of consolation prize, while his wife had JR 49.

It's strange how these threads seem to intertwine. The other day I mentioned that I'd seen HR 101 at Heron's HQ. In 1970, Heron acquired HR Owen from the Swain motor group, which had owned it since 1946 and also owned Radford from 1958-63. HR Owen now operates the UK Lamborghini franchise (including the main London showroom in South Kensington) and have also had a long-time interest in personal registrations: they own HRO 1 (which quite cleverly becomes "HR Owen" if you say it right) and in the late 1960s they set a world record by paying £4800 for RR 1, which they still own today.

 

[cammy]

V27 on MERCEDES CLK 200K AVANTGARDE COUPE.

 

[christopherwk]

Saw Theo P's Maybach yesterday RYM 4N in Pont Street! (behind Harrods)

 

[timwood2000]

HR Owen now operates the UK Lamborghini franchise (including the main London showroom in South Kensington) and have also had a long-time interest in personal registrations: they own HRO 1 (which quite cleverly becomes "HR Owen" if you say it right) and in the late 1960s they set a world record by paying £4800 for RR 1, which they still own today.

They also own HRO 1N which also does the same job as above.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Saw P11 RUU on a White Maybach 57 on Marylebone Road yesterday afternoon.

 

[PXW]

They also own HRO 1N which also does the same job as above.

Heroin??

 

[PXW]

Saw H4P OK on an S class on the M40 this afternoon.

 

[MOCAŠ]

They also own HRO 1N which also does the same job as above.

Hadn't realised they also had that one. They also have 12 HRO, 14 HRO and FEB 1. Presumably since acquiring Jack Barclay in 2000 they can also count RRR 1, JB 1, JB 3, JB 500 and JB 1000 amongst their collection.

RRR 1 can usually be seen in HR Owen's Rolls-Royce showroom in Berkeley Square, but while I quite often used to see JB 1 on a Bentley Arnage out and about in Mayfair a few years ago, it seems it's now on a Jeep Grand Cherokee...