Even Stephen's

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In those days you could not simply transfer the number, you had to buy the whole car. The Corsair cost him only £20, but getting it home to Leicestershire was a further £50! That wasn’t the end of the story however, as he actually had to register the car in the name of his father’s business because the rules required the vehicle to belong to someone else for 6 months before the number could be transferred. This led to 6 months of complaints from the neighbours about a wrecked Corsair in the driveway.

In 1976, through a newspaper advert, Stephen then managed to snap up 9 SWL, complete with an Austin 1100 and transferred the mark - when the transfer fee was still only £5! - to his Mini, which had previously been graced with HAY 212L and 84 SWL. When finally sold, it was given the ‘cover number’ RYD 956L, which meant that no less than 4 different registration numbers were showing in the tattered and fading old-style log book. 9 SWL has since adorned 11 cars since first acquired.

Two years later, Stephen thought ‘his number was up’ when he gave chase to an off-duty policeman. He could not believe his luck when he saw PC Ray Smith driving another Mini bearing the registration SWL 9 - the ‘twin’ of his own pride and joy - through Shepton Mallet in Somerset. The officer did not mind being flagged down and it was just the ticket as he eventually gave in to sheer persuasion and persistence and sold Stephen the rusting car - which he drove regularly for about 3 years until the hydrolastic suspension collapsed - together with the ‘arresting’ number plate.

Stephen assigned the number to his prize possession - a 1962 Morris Minor, which was considered to be one of the family. Stephen’s grandmother had bought it when she decided to learn to drive at the age of 70! The Morris has covered only 39,000 miles, averaging just 1000 miles a year since it was acquired and the back seat has never been used! Stephen has entered it in several Norwich Union RAC Classic Runs. On the day of the transfer inspection of the Mini, the clutch master cylinder failed and with great difficulty he drove the 60 miles to the local vehicle licensing office where the staff were highly amused that he should be transferring a number to and not from a Morris Minor! The 1968 Mini was given the cover number BYC 285B, implying it was 4 years older than it actually was.

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