Anyone seen any good number plates on cars lately?

[Mike Walker]

CLIO NOB on, surprisingly, a white Renault Clio at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent last night. Nice!

 

[MOCAŠ]

FU2 used to belong to the 70's porn star Fiona Richmond and probably still does

It didn't, and it doesn't.

Although she had the use of it, FU 2 belonged to Richmond's former partner, Paul Raymond until the mid-Seventies, when it was sold to Hanna Smart (wife of Billy 'circus' Smart Jnr). She had it on a W140 at one point (before it was swapped on to her husband's Corniche) and has been for sale with Reg Transfers for the best part of ten years now – current asking price: a cool £525,000. Any takers?

Incidentally, that Corniche had previously been registered BS 1, a number that you may remember as having been used on Brett Sinclair's Aston Martin DBS in the 1970s caper series, The Persuaders. Smart Jnr had inherited the number from his father, who had given permission for it to be used in the series. It was eventually sold to a bloke in Orkney with the same initials, who also owns about half a dozen other BS plates (including BS 15, which is on an SLK). The letters BS were originally issued in Orkney.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Sorry if this one has appeared already but many years ago I arranged insurance for a Lotus Esprit Turbo reg M1. I knew a Nigerian chap called Oti whose number plate was OT1 and more recently insured a Ferrari for a city guy reg 1PO - Initial Public Offering!

Interesting post. Mr Oti used to work at the Nigerian Embassy; seems OT 1 found a new owner somewhere in Rugby during the 1980s.

M 1 has an interesting history. It was orginally issued to a Darracq in 1903, but spent most of its life (from 1924) on an 1897 Benz that was latterly on display at Tatton Park and took part in at least one London-Brighton run. It's very unusual for a plate that's on such an early (albeit not quite the original) car to be released into the cherished market. It's now on a Mercedes, apparently.

 

[Primo]

Interesting post. Mr Oti used to work at the Nigerian Embassy; seems OT 1 found a new owner somewhere in Rugby during the 1980s.

M 1 has an interesting history. It was orginally issued to a Darracq in 1903, but spent most of its life (from 1924) on an 1897 Benz that was latterly on display at Tatton Park and took part in at least one London-Brighton run. It's very unusual for a plate that's on such an early (albeit not quite the original) car to be released into the cherished market. It's now on a Mercedes, apparently.

Mr Oti may have worked from the Nigerian embassy but he was an 'entreprenneur' rather than a diplomat! The plate was on a Shadow whereas the standard diplomat car for most African countries was a 280S.

 

[Primo]

Has anyone else seen a black Chanel delivery van reg No5?

 

[Gridlock]

It's a few pages back

 

[MOCAŠ]

Mr Oti may have worked from the Nigerian embassy but he was an 'entreprenneur' rather than a diplomat! The plate was on a Shadow whereas the standard diplomat car for most African countries was a 280S.

This may just be down to timing. He was Third Secretary (which is a diplomatic rank) at the embassy during the 1960s, but the plate was indeed his own rather than an officially assigned one.

 

[MD5]

I saw this number plate in Norwich last week, which made me chuckle.
Good for an anti drink-drive campaign, I think!

Darren

I used to see a beemer locally, reg P15 DAS, which made me laugh. Also drove past a new (then) Peugeot 405 on the M5 once, reg F155 OLE.

Vera (I think) Forte, a wife of one of them, used to have V 40 on a Renault 5 type of car.

TW08 UGS on retention, in my drawer!

 

[Michael G]

XXI 9 on an RR sport.
And YC52 VEG on a Sprinter fruit and veg van.

 

[bh13coupe]

Has anyone else seen a black Chanel delivery van reg No5?

page 394 post 5903

 

[christopherwk]

^ thanks I was going to say!

Anyway, today I saw SPA 1N on a black W220 outside the National History Museum, and BO55 KGB on a black BMW X5 further down the road (towards Harrods).

 

[tali]

Interesting post. Mr Oti used to work at the Nigerian Embassy; seems OT 1 found a new owner somewhere in Rugby during the 1980s.

M 1 has an interesting history. It was orginally issued to a Darracq in 1903, but spent most of its life (from 1924) on an 1897 Benz that was latterly on display at Tatton Park and took part in at least one London-Brighton run. It's very unusual for a plate that's on such an early (albeit not quite the original) car to be released into the cherished market. It's now on a Mercedes, apparently.

M1 sold for 331k -making it most expensive UK plate at the time.It is owned by Mike McComb and was on his Bentley GTC previouisly.
Oddly, no show on DVLA for M1

 

[MOCAŠ]

M1 sold for 331k -making it most expensive UK plate at the time.

Yeah, I forgot about that bit. Seem to remember now that there was a post about it earlier in this thread.

 

[MOCAŠ]

SOF 1

On a lexus in my neighbours garage.

Is there also an M Class registered ANN 9 on the premises, by any chance?

 

[MOCAŠ]

Been a while since I last posted any sightings on here, but a stroll through St James's and Mayfair this evening yielded a bumper crop:

R 2 - RR Phantom (belongs to restaurateur Richard Caring, as does B 4)
DBZ 60 - Aston Martin DB7 Zagato (absolutely stunning!)
7 SM - Smart ForTwo Cabriolet (looked like it hadn't moved much since 8th March )
55 K - Audi R8
80 E - Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG (seen earlier this week in the same area)
TCC 1 - Mercedes-Benz S Class (W221)
ADG 1 - Mercedes-Benz S500
1 HKG - Mercedes-Benz A Class (W168)
1 JTY - Jaguar X Type estate
KAZ 7 - matt black Bentley Arnage (probably a wrap)
NUR 88 - BMW 6 series
PJC 111 - Range Rover Sport
JIA 111 - Mercedes-Benz SL55
IIL 777 - Bentley Arnage (oddly, the sevens were all upside-down letter Ls!)
VO 143 - Aston Martin V8 Volante
9 CLD - Mini
10 JRD - Mercedes-Benz SL AMG
15 NY - Jaguar XK8
16 MY - Mini Cooper S
28 CS - BMW 5 series
JEM 2 - Toyota Previa (does this belong to dealership Jemca, perhaps?)

A few embassy cars:
QTR 1 (Qatar) - W221
SUD 1 (Sudan) - W221
12 BMS (Bahamas) - Volvo S80 (I think)

And a special mention goes to X5 CUS, just because it was on CLK rather than an X5.

 

[Alfie]

Is there also an M Class registered ANN 9 on the premises, by any chance?

Nope.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Reason for my question is that SOF 1 belongs (or at least belonged) to Woking-based water softener businessman Harvey Bowden. He also has a Transit-based promotional vehicle registered 100 HWB, and his wife Ann had ANN 9.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Saw 1 MB yesterday afternoon in Iver. On a Silver R170 SLK., quite apt that it's on a Merc...

Great plate, I recall that Max Bygraves had MB 1.

That's actually on a white SLK, which I see buzzing around every now and then. The plate belongs to industrial paint manufacturer Trimite Ltd, who are based in Uxbridge and also own MB 2, MB 6, 1 T, 1 CAR, MH 3 and OAO 1.

Bygraves reportedly declined several offers from Mercedes-Benz UK for his plate over the years, but after he eventually relinquished it a few years ago it was snapped up by a lottery winner for his wife.

 

[timwood2000]

7 SM - Smart ForTwo Cabriolet (looked like it hadn't moved much since 8th March )

That belongs to Stirling Moss - really! The reason it hasn't moved is that he had a serious fall down the lift shaft in his house recently and he has been in hospital

 

[MOCAŠ]

That belongs to Stirling Moss - really! The reason it hasn't moved is that he had a serious fall down the lift shaft in his house recently and he has been in hospital

Yes, the fact that it was parked a few doors down from his house spoke volumes. It can usually be found in a nearby street that offers far more direct access to Park Lane, so it was clear that it's been parked up for the duration. He is reportedly in good spirits and is making a good recovery, though, which is remarkable at his age and probably testament to the fact that he's always kept himself in pretty good shape.