From: harold@ccl.umist.ac.uk (Harold Somers)
Newsgroups: rec.music.beatles
Subject: Re: Abbey Road Cover - What does it mean?
Date: 8 Sep 92 15:37:21 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre

In <1992Aug31.163010.19726@galileo.cc.rochester.edu> jwlr@okeeffe.cc.rochester.edu (James Willer) writes:

>In <1992Aug31.055934.27430@mr.med.ge.com> hinz@picard.med.ge.com (David Hinz Mfg 4-6987) writes:

>>I heard that that Beetle sold at Southeby's a few years back for some ungodly
>>sum of money.  How do they know it was the right one?

>It has been said that in Britain cars are assigned license plates for
>life. (Quite unlike the US, where a car gets new plates with each change
>of ownership...)

This is just to confirm that this observation is absolutely correct,
EXCEPT that there is a mechanism for transferring desirable number plates
from one car to another. British registration numbers are always
made up of one of the following sequences - 

1, 2 or more usually three letters + 1, 2 or more usually three numbers +
a final letter*
(cars registered before August 1983)

or

a single letter* + 1, 2 or more usually three numbers + 1, 2 or more usually 
three letters
(cars registered since August 1983)

only very old cars (registered before 1961) deviate from this pattern

* the single letter indicates the date of initial registration of the
car, and hence its age. This year's cars for example all begin with K. A
number of letters  are omitted from the sequence (I,O,Q), and in 1970
they switched the letter-change day from Jan 1st to Aug 1st, because it
was affecting sales. By my calculations, an "F reg" car would have been
registered in 1966.

Now, (if you're still with me), because of the restrictions on possible
sequences of characters, cars whose registrations happen to spell out a name
(e.g. ELV1S) or message (e.g. H15 CAR) become very valuable, and are
bought for prices far exceeding their value without the number plate.
Then the number plate is switched to a new car.  What you CANT do in this
country, unlike in the States and Canada, is have a number plate made to
order; nor can it consist only of letters; nor can it consist of numbers
and letters other than in the prescribed sequence. Finally, offensive
number plates are not used. I actually got the local police - after
something of a struggle - to do something about a car I had seen in 
my neighbourhood whose number was FKY 1D, but whose owner had had the 
letters arranged thus: FK Y1D - 

Now back to Beatles-related things

So it IS possible that the 28-if car sold at auction isnt the original 1966 
Beetle: but a check against the chassis number would confirm it. Also,
the Ministry of Transport would have a record of the history of the
car(s) in question, so the buyer could be guaranteed of its authenticity.

If anyone wants to know how they can tell from the registration number 
WHICH CITY the car was registered in, stand by for another even longer
explanation. It's more or less arbitrary, but for example a car
registered in Liverpool would have LV as the last 2 of the three letter
sequence. So for example, if you wanted to buy the car whose number plate
is ELV1S, you'd be looking for a car initially registered in Liverpool in
1975/76. Although the link between LV and Liverpool is moderately
obvious, this is not generally the case.

If anyone knows any Beatle car registration numbers, I will be happy to
decipher them for you! The same sysytem applies to motorbikes and even
"mopeds" (such as the one John used to own which I have seen in the
Beatles museum in Liverpool)( a moped is a motorised bicycle) by the way....
Newsgroups: rec.music.beatles