Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[admin]

How many cheaper, roadworthy & MOTd, classics still have their original (non-dating) registration numbers on them? why do so many people sell off the number, just to make a quick buck, and replace them with a horrible SK,SL,SV,SU or whatever number??? re-registered cars stand out a mile away, and are probably worth less than if they still had the correct number in place. Ok the drop in value may be less than the £ raised by selling the number, but does everything have to be about making £ with a car? if a car has survived for 40, 50, or whatever years, should anyone be able to strip the number off just to cash in on its standalone value?

Yes the car is your own property, but do we actually own them, or aren't we just curators, preserving them for future generations?

Once a car has lost its number, a link with its past has gone for good. Researching its history is now much more difficult, and no matter how well this car is restored in future, it'll always be not quite original.

Does anyone else agree with me, or is the registration number shown on a car immaterial??

Rick.

[Uncle Joe]

What we are doing with our classics is preserving history for future generations. We can own a car, but we can never own history. Removing the original plates and replacing them with new ones simply shows a complete disrespect for this history.

These people who do this, are in my ´umble opinion, idiots! The kind of people that will make mistakes in the future, simply because they dont look to the past to learn!

[buzzy bee]

The registration is part of the car so should stay with it in my oppinion!

[moggiedriver]

I agree with buzzy bee on this but as long as money can be made on this nothing will be done to change this

[admin]

agreed moggiedriver, so many cheaper classics are losing their numbers, simply because an owner can make a fast buck, without thought to the damage its doing to the preservation world as a whole. When all 100Es, A30s, A35s, Minors, 105Es, Standards and so on all turn up at shows with *AS, *SK, *SV (etc) numbers - ie re-issues - it'll spoil things big time as far as I'm concerned

Rick

[vx4/90]

Another point of view - the number from my car was sold off long ago, and I could not have afforded to buy it if it had kept its original number, which was something very desirable. At least I only had to buy the car, which is, after all, the object I was interested in. Please don't assume the current owner was the one who sold the number, and to me it's an irrelevance at a show.

[admin]

aye agreed it can reduce the purchase price of a car, and yeah its been going on so long that I never assume the current owner sold the number!

just a bit of a shame, thats all, but the main thing is that the car survives



Rick

[Uncle Joe]

This question has been solved here in a rather good way. Our registrations are 3 letters, three numbers, ie ABC 123. If someone wants a personal number, they can pay a sum (5 000 SEK) which goes to charity, and buy any 6 figure-or-less number they want, if its not already been used or bought!

When they vehicle is sold, then the number is kept by the seller, and the original replaced. In this way, everyone is happy.

[admin]

Every now and then DVLA auction off unused (usually recent) numbers, often for big £££, but as far as I know they (or HM Govt) pocket the wonga

R