Thread: Beware of creating so called amusing personal plates

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Yes, under the interstate agreement, the states divided the alphabet up for plates in the format ABC-123 some time in the early 1950s (my father in 1953 had ALC-963 in NSW). Qld started with "N", but it was well into the 1960s before they were into the "P"s. I had a car PAD-428 in 1966, but when I moved to Qld and first registered a car there in 1963, it was NRF-912; but all the motor registry paperwork still assumed that numbers were the previous system, using the format Q12345, so I suspect they may have only just adopted the system in 1963. NSW changed first (from AB-123) because they had run out of numbers.

The series in my Sig has a numberplate that starts with NYR,registered in Qld,very early 1966,so your dates are pretty spot on.

Originally Posted by scarry

The series in my Sig has a numberplate that starts with NYR,registered in Qld,very early 1966,so your dates are pretty spot on.

Jan-Feb 1966

Originally Posted by Old Farang

I am not sure when it changed in WA, around 1967 or so I think. All our vehicles up until then carried Shire number plates that incorporated some connection with the Shire. We were in the Dardanup Shire and our plates were; DA ***. Some also had letters followed by a DOT, as in Albany town were just A ***, and the Shire A (dot) ***.

From time to time the WA newspaper would publish a list of all the number plates and which Shire they belonged to. As kids it was a good guessing game when out on the road trying to identify where each car came from.

Before merging into a city - Kalgoorlie rego started with "KMC" (Kalgoorlie Municipal Council), Boulder rego started with "BD" (Boulder District).
Since the two merged to form the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder, local rego plates now start with "KBC" (Kalgoorlie Boulder Council).

I've had a few cars with KMC rego over the years, but now have "BMKAL" on the D4 - though my trailer still has a "BD" plate.

When I was at White Trucks australia we sometimes had a WA owner pick up his new pride and joy from the Brisbane factory. No need for permit to drive unregistered vehicle. They would arrive with plates and rego. certificate from their local shire council issued when the truck was still on the assembly line. Tare weight? Dimensions? Take a guess.

Back in my dealership days there was more than one instance when new cars registered to "religous" organisations were issued with ???-666 plates. In each instance nobody further up the ladder picked up on it and it was only when the detailers more or less refused to fit the plates that the issue was rectified.

Originally Posted by austastar

Hi,
In Malasia (1968) the first letter indicated the State, the second, the year and four numerals started at 0 for the numeric total as the year progressed,
Somehow that made plates easier to remember as you could identify out of state vehicles, their age and guess their renewal month.
I can't see any method/logic in our present system.
Cheers

I'm not sure if it is just coincidence, but here in Qld my rego starts with a "9" and renewal is in Sept and my brother's starts with a "5" and his renewal is May.

Hmm, October November December would all start with 1 and the extra digit would lead me to think it may just be a coincidence.
Cheers

My Disco is a September Qld rego and leads with a 3.