please empty your brain below
Living in a rural location and working from home I think that what you once did in 2.5 hours I would be unlikely to have a hope of completing in 2.5 years, but I like your thinking.

Mel | 16.04.21 - 7:06 a.m. | #

I read this far because I regularly play the first version of the "game" when on a long journey by car. It usually takes about two and a half hours to complete.

Have you thought about ticking off all the registration areas in the country? That's finding all the two-letter combinations at the beginning of the current three-letter suffix to fill in the map of the UK? From AA (Peterborough) to YY (Beverley).

Waterhouse | 16.04.21 - 7:13 a.m. | #

I’ve played Sequential London Identifiers, which is the LA-LY version of that game, but it proved a poor game because several letter pairs are very rare.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 16.04.21 - 7:18 a.m. | #

I'd recommend a visit to a big classic/vintage/veteran car show. Once they restart.

You should be able to spend the day wandering round playing any and all numberplate games to your heart's content. And completing them all, if the show is big enough.

Blue Witch | Homepage | 16.04.21 - 7:19 a.m. | #

Given your love of counting/sequences, have you ever counted how many counts and sequences you are working on at any one time?

Putters | 16.04.21 - 7:26 a.m. | #

You can buy a letter suffix plate - just not direct as a first owner from the DVLA, only from private dealers... as your X and A suffix demonstrate - as those aren't original 60s/70s vehicles.

Interestingly, at least to people who read to the end, the E suffix was only for 8 months while the rest were for a whole year.

Dvl666a. Lol

Ian | 16.04.21 - 7:37 a.m. | #

It was only in Northern Ireland where reverse two-letter marks were issued before any three-letter marks (1958 and 1966 respectively). In Great Britain, three letter/three number combinations were issued before any reverse issues (first issues in 1932 and 1953 respectively). Several small county councils in Scotland were still issuing two-letter/four number marks right up until suffix letters were introduced in the early 1960s.

A and B were always less common as until 1965 suffixes were only authorised for use by local authorities which had used up all their allocated non-suffix marks.

The E-suffix was actually issued for seven months, as the changeover moved from 1st January to 1st August. The S-prefix was also seven months as the changeover moved to March. Since then the changeover has been every six months.

timbo | 16.04.21 - 8:19 a.m. | #

I'm starting to wonder if the Routemaster plate is more than coincidental given their long association with ALDenham works.

Andrew S | 16.04.21 - 10:00 a.m. | #

Why, in 1967, did they decide to move the changeover date to 1st August? I've never seen a clear explanation.

David Cook | 16.04.21 - 10:03 a.m. | #

And, if the discussion was about vehicle registrations and not DG's games/surveys, other plates to talk about include Q plates, BAOR registrations and trade plates.

David Cook | 16.04.21 - 10:10 a.m. | #

My brother & I used to compete over who could spot the new registration letter first during the summer holidays.
I've sort of kept it going by making a mental note of the first new number I see.

All this sounds far too complicated though!

Cornish Cockney | 16.04.21 - 10:22 a.m. | #

Andrew S: that's highly likely: the East Kent Road Car Company, did not, prior to nationalisation, give a fleet number to each of its buses and coaches. Instead, the digits on the registration plate were used: by arrangement, Canterbury CBC's Vehicle Registration dept allocated a block of numbers for each new delivery of buses such that none of the three digit numbers were duplicated in the company's fleet.

David Cook | 16.04.21 - 10:31 a.m. | #

I'd love to see 1xyz. It was on my fathers car in the 50s.

Carl | 16.04.21 - 10:33 a.m. | #

Registrations changed to August in 1967 due to complaints from the motor trade. The peak in demand for new cars on 1st January meant overtime for garage workers preparing the cars over the Christmas holidays. Of course, August created a similar problem with summer holidays. The change to twice yearly registrations was an attempt to break up the peak over 2 separate months.

Fred | 16.04.21 - 10:58 a.m. | #

When I was a young thing in Winchester in the mid-70s I would usually see an Austin Allegro with A 8 as its number plate. Even then I expect the plate was worth more than the car. What it would be worth today to a goon with a large Audi I cannot think.

Philip | 16.04.21 - 2:39 p.m. | #

I did once see the Holy Grail - A1. It was attached to an Austin Somerset, if I recall correctly.

I also recall that "BF" was never issued originally, because the letters were deemed impolite (Those were the days !). Eventually "BF" was allocated to Staffordshire, who were running out of all possible combinations.

Tony (Somerset) | 16.04.21 - 3:31 p.m. | #

A8 is registered to a 5 year old white hybrid Lexus. Someone is sitting on a fortune!

scrumpy | 16.04.21 - 5:52 p.m. | #

carl - XYZ would be a Northern Ireland mark, but no reverse format marks have yet been issued there.

Andrew S - about 100 RMs had ALD marks. Others were SLT, VLT, WLT, BXL, CLT, DYE, ALM-B, CUV-C, JJD-D, NML-E and SMK-F. All were standard London County Council marks. The Routemaster fleet was the first in which the numerical part of the registration matched the fleet number.

Timbo | 16.04.21 - 7:44 p.m. | #

The Lord Provost of Edinburgh used to have S0 as his/her official car registration: I wonder whether this is still the case.

Ian | 16.04.21 - 11:07 p.m. | #

I would say that you should get out more, but that might just exacerbate things!

AndrewR | 16.04.21 - 11:31 p.m. | #

AndrewR - Too late I fear!

Stuart R | 17.04.21 - 11:58 a.m. | #

If you want to continue the 3 letters & 3 numbers game, take a trip to the Republic of Ireland (when permitted) ... they continued with that system until 1987.

ADS | Homepage | 17.04.21 - 12:57 p.m. | #

I think suffix plates are available as personalised registrations - but replacement age-related regs are not allowed to be transferred again. The LH photos in this post (Cortina and Routemaster) have regs in the right era to be original, but the Merc is not 1982 and the Honda is not early 60s!

mark addy | 17.04.21 - 9:41 p.m. | #

Our family's first car was BG 3493 - a pre-war Rover but ours second hand in the mid 1950s. I learned to drive in VSC 38 - a Triumph Herald. We lived near the sea, and I more-or-less rebuilt the body in Jacob's Isopon filler as it gradually turned to rust.

Peter | 18.04.21 - 2:05 p.m. | #











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