VOTE Number Plate Spreads Political Message

As we all know, private number plates continue to be used, either to promote a company, inform everyone of a favourite football team, or to spread another great message. It now seems that number plates are being used to spread political messages as well!

In New Zealand, a Dutch-born grandmother, Maria Van Der Meel, has spent nearly $750 on the personalised number plate 'VOTE'. She hopes that the plate will encourage a better voter turnout at November's general election.

Last year, Maria carried a "Still Not Voted?" sign in the run-up to the local body elections but, this year, she's made the shrewd choice of using an inspirational number plate to spread the word.

In my opinion, this is a far better idea than holding up a flimsy old sign. With a number plate, she needn't get arm ache, can move further afield with far less effort, and does not need to use up valuable time making new signs when the old ones get damaged. A number plate is indestructible! Ok, perhaps not literally, but you know what I mean!

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'THE 571G' Number Plate Fetches £10,000!

Hello all!

It's yet another glorious Monday morning. I just couldn't wait to get out of bed this morning, I really couldn't...

On Friday, I reported some great sales at the DVLA's latest number plates auction. I also mentioned that 'THE 571G' was also going under the hammer. Well, you may have had some guesses for what the impressive plate may have got. In actual fact, news reached Regtransfers HQ on Friday afternoon that 'THE 571G' fetched £10, 690!

I'm not surprised myself, though I did think that the sale may have crept up a little further than that.

So, overall the auction seems to have been a real success. People obviously just can't get enough of private number plates!

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'6B' Number Plate Snapped Up For Tidy Sum

It's yet another successful week for personalised number plates as prestigious registration '6 B' has been sold for an incredible £130,000! Considering the plate had a reserve value of £8,000, I'd say that the sale is pretty impressive. Not only is the plate rare but it also resembles 'GB', short for Great Britain, which could be another reason for its huge popularity.

'6 B' was just one of the registrations snapped up at the three-day DVLA auction in Wansford, Cambridgeshire. Other great plates sold were 'OWN 1T', which fetched a respectable £33,174, '510 HU' (£13,595), 'CAR 111E' (£13,343) and '85 A' (13,217).

A plate which goes under the hammer today, the last day of the auction, is 'THE 571G'. Surely this plate, which resembles the Top Gear driving LEGEND, The Stig, will fetch a tidy sum? The plate looks great, so I'll be amazed if it doesn't generate some fiesty competition.

So there we have it. Yet another excellent example of the popularity of personalised registrations. It's all sunshine and joy from me today. Let's hope it stays that way.

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Women Scared To Do Battle?

Today, there is a certain piece of news which I find particularly eye-catching. According to the DVLA, there seems to be a distinct lack of females taking part in the public auctions that currently take place across the UK. Of the 9,400 motorists who have registered to bid in sales for personalised number plates this year, it's been reported that a mere 9% of bidders are women.

It's not exactly surprising that this has led to the, quite frankly, horrifying accusation that women are not turning up because they are scared to do battle with the men. Being a woman myself, I find this just a tad irritating. Surely many of you men out there are aware that women are quite capable of holding their own?

Hmm. I do have to admit that the statistics do show a lack of female involvement though, but I will not believe that this is due to fear. Please! There must be some other explanation. It's certainly not due to a lack of interest, as statistics also show that personalised registrations are extremely popular with women. Right, I'm going to have a think about a possible explanation. I simply refuse to believe this idea that women are afraid to do battle with men. Don't most women "do battle" with men most evenings, and generally win?

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Driving Licence Havoc

Hello all!

It's yet another heart-warming autumn day (I say this as I shudder in my seat and swear I can see hints of snow in the rain currently hitting the window) and here I am to provide you with some more useful information, which I'm sure you number plates fans will thank me for.

This morning I came across a piece of information from the DVLA and felt it was my duty to make the billions (perhaps more) of Regtransfers Blog visitors aware of it. If not already aware, photo card driving licences have a ten-year limit on them before having to be renewed. As you may have guessed, holders of the first issue of photo card licences are required to renew them this year. According to the DVLA, in the summer of 1998, *Oh Summer, where have you gone? Or rather, when were you ever here?*, 16,136 new licences were issued. However, so far this year, only 11,566 drivers have renewed them.

If not updated, drivers face a fine of £1000. So, if you have a licence from 1998, it's in your best interests to get it renewed. I know it's a total pain but it's definitely worth doing.

Apparently, 300,000 licences will be due for renewal next year so, unless word gets round, it looks like there'll be a bigger problem next year. The DVLA is using targeted publicity to let drivers know. Luckily though, I'm here to spread the word, so anyone who's anyone will be informed in plenty of time, I'm sure!

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S1 Number Plate Sells at Auction for £400,000

The UK car registration number S 1 sold today at a sale held by Bonhams the auctioneers at the Goodwood Revival Festival. The full price paid was £404,062.50, a figure far in excess of the £250,000 that had been the amount mentioned in press speculation before the sale.

S 1 was one of the first number plates issued in Edinburgh. It was initially released in 1903, the same year as the first issue of the legendary A 1 plate in London. The first owner of S1 was Sir John MacDonald, Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland, who was one of the country's first motor vehicle owners.

The price paid for the S1 registration makes it the second most expensive registration in the history of British private number plates. The holder of the UK record is currently F 1, which was purchased in January by businessman Afzal Kahn of automotive styling studio Project Kahn.

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Number Plates Security Campaign by Local Cops

Our local constabulary here in Dunstable is working to bring the problem of number plates theft and cloning to the attention of the public. As part of this campaign they are taking practical measures to try to make it more difficult for thieves to nick local car registration plates.

Earlier in the year the police visited several locations and offered to replace drivers' existing number plate screws with a tamper-resistant version designed to prevent unathorised removal of the plates.

The police will be offering this free service again at additional Car Accessory Protection Scheme days in November and December. They will be in Tesco’s car park in Skimpot Road between 11am and 3pm on Tuesday, November 25 and between the same times on Thursday, December 18, at Sainsbury’s in Luton Road.

PCSO Abigail Single (pictured above) said: "As word spreads about the CAPS days they are getting increasingly popular. We'd urge motorists to put the next couple of dates in their diaries and come along if they can."

Anyone with information about numberplate theft can contact police, in confidence, on 01234 841212 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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New Number Plates Feature

I have added a new section to the Regtransfers.co.uk website. It's a news section, a bit like that on the Numberplates.com site. The reasons for adding it are:

1. Not all RT visitors go to the number plates club site
2. It will allow us to cover more news and to adopt a different style and angle to that of Numberplates.com

The focus will be pretty broad, covering mostly number plates and car registrations news from around the world, but also any motoring-related items that we think may have relevance, or be of interest to you.

The news section is linked from the "News and Articles" and "Public Relations and Press" pages which you can locate in the main left-hand menu of the RT site. But here's a wee shortcut to save you time... RT News section.

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Number Plates On Top!

Although I recently reported that motorists are set to take up garages' finance loans in order to grab themselves a brand new car this autumn, it seems the dreaded credit crunch is affecting all areas, as sales of new cars are expected to plummet over the coming year, making new car sales the lowest in 42 years.

As mentioned recently, the credit crunch is resulting in an increase in number plates thefts as unlawful drivers attempt to get away with not paying for fuel, etc. It seems these thieves are not fussy when it comes to where they nab them from - it was recently reported that a milk float in Surrey had its plates removed, so police may be initially shocked to find the 'culprit' not paying congestion charges, or hurtling off at top speed without paying for petrol, is a kindly old milkman.

According to reports, it seems the sales of personalised number plates are not following the same pattern, however. Despite the country's economy problems, private car registrations continue to catch the eye of drivers, and sales continue to rise year on year. It seems more and more people are catching onto the fact that, unlike cars, which inevitably decrease in value over time, number plates continue to be a great investment, especially if well chosen.

So, once again, number plates come out on top! Yippee!

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Improved Safety At Manchester Airport?

The news has just flown my way that Manchester Airport is getting ready to introduce new cameras which will be able to automatically record up to 600,000 number plates every 24 hours.

Unsurprisingly, the cameras have been introduced due to minority suspect vehicles and are an attempt to create a safer environment. All vehicles entering and leaving the airport will be recorded, meaning that police will be able to track anyone they would like to intercept. Although primarily an anti-terror measure, Greater Manchester Police say that it will be great for checking for ininsured or stolen vehicles as they will be able to check them against information stored on the Police National Computer and the DVLA database.

This all sounds very promising, but anyone who read my blog from yesterday will know that, due to current UK rules, anyone with a foreign number plate has a fair chance of being untraceable! So, it may well create a safer environment to a certain degree but, for the moment, there will continue to be some who manage to slip through the net!

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Attack of The Untraceable Number Plates

Coming across a speeding maniac is irritating enough but, should we see a camera flash him or her, we can at least get some satisfaction in the thought that they've been caught and will have to pay the penalty. Well, this may be true of UK drivers but it has recently been revealed that the council is losing thousands of pounds due to untraceable, foreign number plates.

Foreigners driving in the UK only have to register with the DVLA if they are staying in the country for over six months. This means that those who decide not to abide by the law by speeding, parking on double yellow lines, or overstaying time allowed in car parks, are getting away with it. Ipswich Borough Council has lost £29,890 since Oct '05 due to writing off 427 Penalty Charge Notices, while councils in Suffolk are tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. And this is all due to untraceable foreign number plates.

According to a spokesperson for the Department of Transport, a Local Transport Bill is currently going through Parliament. This should improve communication between the DVLA and registration authorities abroad, meaning that offenders can be traced.

Well, let's hope so! It seems only fair that those who decide to break the rules should pay the price. This is a Europe-wide problem, so let's hope that all offenders, no matter where they are, can soon be traced.

Sorry to deliver yet more miserable news to you all. Perhaps it's the cheerless weather taking effect on me. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with something a little more uplifting. Oh drat, now I've gone and got your hopes up...

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'58' Registrations Released

Well, the sun is shining and I am full of good cheer, which is rather fitting seeing as today is a day for BIG news. Many have been eagerly waiting for it and, finally, today is the day for the new '58' registrations to be released!

Sales of personalised number plates continue to increase as each year skips by. (That's right, it'll be time to fetch that Christmas tree out of the loft again before we know it!) In the first half of 2008, over 120,000 personalised '08' registrations were sold and, despite the credit crunch, this figure is set to double as the '58' registrations become available from today.

In order to be the proud owner of a newborn registration, it seems drivers are happy to splash out on brand new cars. With the UK's economy looking at its worst for many a year, it just goes to show what it means to motorists to have a great car registration as over half the buyers out there opt for car finance loans. Although research shows that garages' finance offers will result in an overspend of an average £1000, proud drivers are prepared to make this sacrifice.

It may sound a bit odd to some, but that's the power of number plates. Once they've got you, that's it. You're a loyal fanatic for life!

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