ANOTHER Great free magazine!

The Spring issue of Regtransfers.co.uk: The World of Personal Number Plates is out now. To order your copy (and don't forget it is FREE!) please pop along to the Regtransfers website and tell us where to send it.

This issue features celebrity interviews with Theo Paphitis from BBC TV's Dragons' Den. Theo is a confirmed private number plates enthusiast and owns several fantastic examples. He and various family members have some fine personal registrations, but most impressive are the plates that reflect the business brands with which he is perhaps most famously associated. Can you decipher RYM 4N and LA53 NZA? Both are famous high street store chains. Theo is the second of the Dragons we have featured and, as one might expect, he has some strong opinions on how to run successful businesses.

Also in the latest edition is a candid interview with former Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis. Ellis, who owns AV 1, the ultimate Aston Villa number plate, tells us how he went from Navy service to business success and a position as chairman of a top football club. He also relates the story of his efforts to aid the tsunami-hit communities of Sri Lanka.

All this and your favourite regular features too!

The Quest for A 1

Regular visitors to the Regtransfers website, readers of our free magazine (see above) and those with an interest in car registration numbers are probably aware of the number A 1. This legendary regstration was one of the first ever issued (although not actually the first, despite claims made elsewhere), and is generally accepted as the ultimate UK car number.

It was issued to Earl Russell in London in 1903, but in recent years it has slipped "under the radar" as far as number plates historians are concerned, and there have been conflicting reports regarding A 1's whereabouts and what kind of vehicle currently displays it.

Regtransfers.co.uk is embarking upon a quest to discover, and document, the current status of A 1 and thus to bring the history of this iconic number up to date. We will, of course, respect the privacy of the current owner but, judging by the number of enquiries we get from the public and from the media regarding A 1, there is a real desire to know that it still exists and to find out where it has spent the last few decades. Regtransfers.co.uk feels almost duty-bound to make an effort to locate this piece of British motoring heritage. To that end, we are launching a campaign to find A 1. We will be publicising the quest in the media, and there will be a reward for the information that finally leads us to A 1.

If you know the current whereabouts of A 1, then please contact us at a1@regtransfers.co.uk or telephone 01582 470089.