With over 40 years in the number plate industry, Regtransfers has facilitated some of the most unusual plate purchases, guiding each one from the initial concept through to its arrival on the vehicle.
What are the most common reasons people buy plates?
To understand what is unusual, it is essential first to understand what is usual.
The vast majority of privatfor grabse registrations are purchased as a symbol of ownership, much like writing your name on an item to mark it as your own. Name-based plates can take various forms: initials, last names, first names and even witty nicknames.
While some name-based registrations are purchased for personal and proprietorial value, others can stem from a desire to stand out. After all, every number plate is designed to be seen, read and identified.
Beyond just that, a private registration can open up an endless avenue for self-expression. Passions often take centre stage, as demonstrated by the king of hairdressers, Nicky Clarke. Regtransfers facilitated Clarke’s playful personal plate, H41 RDO, which cunningly spells out 'hairdo'.
This use of platespeak (using numbers for similar-looking letters) transforms something originally intended for taxation and registration into a means of projecting personality, passion and even your business wherever you go.
Another reason people invest in number plates is their niche but lucrative value. The very nature of private plates lies in their exclusivity, which exists in two forms. The first is scarcity and can be most simply understood by dateless plates, which don’t indicate a vehicle’s age and are the only formats that begin or end with a number. Their limited supply often increases their value over time, making them an attractive asset.
The second is a more implicit exclusivity: the socioeconomic status associated with owning a personalised plate. While this perception is widespread, it is in fact misleading, as personalised plates can be relatively affordable and widely accessible.
Having framed the more ‘normal’ incentives behind buying a plate, we can now understand the true grit behind the more unusual purchases.
Asset plates
As previously established, plates to commemorate one's name are more than orthodox. But Rachel Brabbins' commemoration steered further south when she purchased a plate from us back in 2006. Rachel features in The World of Personal Number Plates (Autumn 2007 edition).
Having long been affectionately known by the nickname 'Bottom', Rachel decided to embrace the joke by taking back the punchline and drive BOT 70M around on her Mini Cooper.
Rather than shying away from it, Rachel transformed her nickname into a badge of pride. The plate “certainly raises a few smiles” and prompts all the obvious jokes, Rachel tells us. Although by putting the nickname on her plate, she made sure the joke was now on her terms.
Let Rachel and her BOT 70M plate be a gentle reminder that humour can be owned rather than endured. Perhaps a plate doesn’t always need to be a name or a birthday, but a moving punchline. After all, personalised number plates are never just numbers; they’re stories.
Satisfied in having had the last laugh, Rachel swapped out her BOT 70M plate and it is now up for grabs on Regtransfers.co.uk
Post-mortem plates
When it comes to unusual number plate purchases, few stories are as moving as Nichola Dix’s. Her story encompasses just how strong the passion for plates can be, so strong that it transcends into the afterlife.
Nichola’s late husband, Bob Dix, was a divisional fire officer who nobly risked his life for others every day. Bob had quite an affinity for plates, yet sadly never got the chance to buy one for himself.
The day before Bob’s funeral, Nichola had an idea. She decided to “get the number plate BOB 1 made up, just to lay in his coffin” and fulfil his final wish. Placed with him in his grave, the plate became his final possession, a powerful symbol of both who he was and how he was loved.
The story of how number plates aided Nichola’s healing journey didn’t end there. Realising just how much comfort lying BOB 1 to rest with her beloved brought her, she purchased N100 BOB from Regtransfers.
“The N is for Nichola, and 100 signifies the score in darts, as Bob used to love to play in the old days, along with many other sports. He was cruelly taken from me aged only 56. The number plate gives me such comfort, I can’t tell you. I come out of work and it's like he is there waiting for me.”
For Nichola, these plates aren’t just any old pieces of acrylic; they can keep those lost right beside us.
Pet plates
What might at first glance appear to be a randomised collection of letters and numbers is, for Sian Spicer, something much more personal.
Most families, understandably, form deep attachments to their pets, and for some, that affection extends to a private registration. While it may not be the most conventional inspiration for a plate, it is certainly not unheard of. In fact, Regtransfers can confirm that the number is a lot higher than you might think.
Mrs Spicer first encountered the plate B16 PYR and was immediately drawn to it. The Spicer household was home to two particularly large Pyrenean Mountain Dogs. In platespeak, the first three characters read as 'BIG', while 'PYR' subtly abbreviates Pyrenean.
Pictured proudly in the boot of the family car are the two big, fluffy companions who inspired the purchase. Charlie, shown on the right, has been a familiar presence on the family journeys for over six years, while little Georgina joined the family much later on. Together, they were frequent passengers in the family’s Peugeot 205, a car that had long adapted to transporting its oversized canine cargo.
Judging by appearances, the dogs seem more than happy with their own personalised number plate.
Vindication
Another remarkably unusual purchase revolves around the plate V9 OGH. The reference is clear: the one-eared nineteenth-century Dutch artist, Van Gogh. However, this is not simply a passion plate owned by any typical collector or art enthusiast, but a convicted criminal. Meet David Henty.
Henty is now a well-paid and respected artistic imitator, but in his earlier life, he spent time behind bars... twice. To become the reputable imitator he is now, he took some quite measurable lengths to acquire the skill. If you have not perhaps already guessed, Henty was a criminal forger. He was initially jailed for imitating the most official identification there is: passports.
In time, his forgeries escalated from passport forgery to selling stolen cars with fabricated registration documents. However, during his incarceration, Henty impressively redirected his talents by applying his meticulous eye for detail to replicating the works of Van Gogh. This marked the beginning of an unusual, but more lawful, career creating convincing imitations of The Greats. He has since been very open about his craft, unlike his earlier exploits, and his story is nothing short of captivating.
Having long since served his sentence(s), Henty has been a law-abiding man. His passion for embodying the works of Van Gogh has continued from paint strokes to Charles Wright fonted registrations like the aforementioned, V9 OGH, which he now proudly sports on his fancy Fiat Abarth. He also acquired V90 GHS from Regtransfers, becoming quite a fanatic for private registrations.
Ironically, Henty's past crimes directly contradict the fundamental purpose of registration plates. This perfect paradox creates a profound sense of vindication for Henty and his story comes full circle: from fabricating official legal documents to becoming a prolific and legitimate purchaser of them.
What is your story? What is your plate? Search for your perfect registration.
