101 things you didn't know about number plates

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1. The world's first national vehicle registrations system was introduced in Holland in 1899. Britain followed in 1903. The first plate issued in London, was A 1.

2. The earliest known celebrity cherished number plate was T 8, owned by Harry Tate (1873-1940), a Music Hall Artist. It is now owned by Johnny Tate of the sugar company Tate & Lyle.

3. Although the number plates 7 ONY and CHE 21E are available, the Prime Minister and his wife are unlikely to buy them, for security reasons.

4. Cherie Blair is reported to have bought a bed for their youngest child Leo, in the shape of a Lamborghini, together with the Downing Street plate LEO 10.

5. HM The Queen owns A 7, whilst her daughter, Princess Ann used to hold 1 ANN on her car, but had to take it off for security reasons.

6. HM The Queen Mother had NLT 2 and her son-in-law HRH Prince Philip has OXR 1.

7. 3 GXM was Princess Margaret's plate and YR 11 is the Duke of Kent's.

8. DS 500 is owned by the former Liberal party leader David Steel. I wonder if Jeffrey Archer still owns ANY 1.

9. Barry Fry, the manager of 'The Posh' Peterborough FC, bought POS 11 from dealer Regtransfers.co.uk. He thought David Beckham might like to buy it from him for his wife Victoria 'Posh Spice', but Becks said she dislikes her nickname. In any case they already own W77 DVB.

10. Convicted sex offender, Jonathan King, is reported to have lured boys to his bachelor pad, driving them there in his brown Rolls Royce with the private plate JK 9000.

11. Entertainer Max Bygraves, sold his beloved MB 1 to Regtransfers.co.uk, along with the Rolls Royce it has been on for over 30 years. He reputedly refused up to £50,000 for it from Mercedes Benz.

12. A Regtransfers.co.uk sales person was sickened to receive an enquiry for the plate 11 SEP, just days after the terrorist attack in New York.

13. VIP 1 was originally issued for the Pope’s visit to Ireland. Sold by dealer Regtransfers.co.uk in 2001, it is back on the market again.

14. MS 1 is the most expensive number plate on today's market, priced at a cool £250,000.
(* These prices have now been superseded and the most expensive number plate is around £350,000.)

15. MS 1 was first owned by Henry Adolf Salvesen - he acquired it on 28 December 1903.

16. The new style number plates came out on 1st September 2001. Some of the best ones are DE51 REE, LE51 LEY and AR51 NAL.

17. The DVLA have issued many 'naughty' plates: PU51 SUC, SHA 61N, P9 RNO, EA51 LAY and even PEN 15 (bought by Steve Parrish, former British motor-cycle champion).

18. The plate J1 HAD (Jihad being the Muslim name for a holy war) was banned as soon as the J registrations came out in 1991.

19. Jimmy Tarbuck is the envy of every comedian in the UK with his number plate COM 1C.

20. Lennie Bennett, the comedian and television quiz show host, had the last laugh with GAG 22.

To find out about 21 to 101 you'll have to order the book.

	Some historical facts about number plates
	An extract of the 'All you need to know about Registration Numbers'
	Some interesting stories about people and their number plates