USA SIZE BUT UK LEGAL LICENCE PLATE

[Mitsuru]

Here is a question
According to my local car parts store, they cannot make me a number plate,
up in the American number plate size to fit the replacement number plate
bracket. They stated that "even though the car was manufactured in the
USA, it came originally with a European standard registration plate bracket.

Is this true or are they not as clued up on the legalities on this subject?
Or am I missing something?

I have just purchased a replacement number plate bracket designed just
for the neon and it's an oem one but USA plate size(W 12" H6")

A show plate would not pass an mot now apparently as they look for the
kite mark, who made it and their details etc.
That is according to at least a couple of sites I've looked at, here is one.

http://www.craigsplates.com/import-number-plates

But as they say anybody can say anything on the internet and say it is
fact when it's not, so I thought it bes to ask here.

[Luxobarge]

But as they say anybody can say anything on the internet and say it is
fact when it's not, so I thought it bes to ask here.

And "here" is also the internet, or am I missing something?

[Mitsuru]

How many people use this forum?
so the more people who have read the above might be able to
point my to the right bit of law or rules regarding it.
Police do have a lot of laws etc to remember, and might not know
the full nitty gritty on this.

Where as if you can point to specific rule or regulation to show
that it does meet them, and show them where it is, they are less
likely to pull someone else when it is the police and plate makers
who are wrong.

[hobby]

The chances are it would be traffic cops that pulled you and I suspect they'll know the number plate law inside out... Looking at the many illegal looking plates around i think it's just down to luck of the draw if you even get pulled for them...

[tractorman]

I suspect the answer is in two parts.

It is illegal for a supplier to sell "old type" plates (they must have the supplier's post code, be of a certain size and style) and they must have registration documents, photo id and all sorts of details before they can supply plates. I don't know the exact date for the change - it could be before the XX 51 YYY type of number came in

There are suppliers that will sell "Show Plates", which are illegal to use on a road vehicle (this would include something like "VW GOLF !" or "MITSURU"). I have one on the back of my 1969 tractor - which had silver on black plates (which cannot be supplied under the new regs). Plod probably won't notice if it's new or old - and TBH, they probably won't care either - it's in keeping with the vehicle, cleaner than the original and I doubt they'd want to chase a 40+ yo tractor about the county.

This brings in the second part: when was the plate first fitted? If you could prove that a plate was fitted before the "new" rules, you would be OK. However, if you go and buy a plate for an older car today (eg N 999 AAA), you would have to have one made to current regs, not the regs that were in place when the car was made.

While there have been articles in PC about number plates - types of font etc and dates for various fonts, colours and the like, I would suggest that a US plate has been illegal for some years - the ones you see in mags are probably show plates; though I have seen some on the road with such plates.

As hobby says, it's debatable if the Police would actually do anything - there are loads of illegal plates about and I think that the shape/size/style is supposed to be part of the MOT - damage is also there, but I know of more than one car that has passed with a cracked plate!

[suffolkpete]

I suspect the answer is in two parts.

It is illegal for a supplier to sell "old type" plates (they must have the supplier's post code, be of a certain size and style) and they must have registration documents, photo id and all sorts of details before they can supply plates. I don't know the exact date for the change - it could be before the XX 51 YYY type of number came in

Not strictly true, the type of plate you can display depends on the date of first use of the vehicle. For post 2001 vehicles you must use the specified font, pre-2001 you are allowed to use a larger font and pre-1973 the old style white or silver on black plates are allowed. A smaller plate is allowed on imports where the design of the vehicle is not suitable for the standard plate. As Mitsuru's car was sold new in the UK it must use a UK plate. American style plates are never legal. Curiously, the MoT doesn't check for the BS AU152 marking although it does check the reflectivity. The police are very lax though, I knew someone who had a Northern Irish (three letters and four figures) number made up to look like a German number plate. He drove around Britain like that, I think he thought that he could get away with more motoring misdemeanours by being mistaken for a tourist (it was an LHD car). The business of providing ID is a separate issue, brought in to prevent the use of false plates.

[TerryG]

The DVLA specifies plate size regardless of the age of the vehicle and there are various ones that are UK legal.

Mr DVLA says this:
Standard Oblong plate - 524mm x 112mm
Standard Square plate - 285mm x 203mm
Large Front plate - 524mm x 112mm
Large Rear plate - 533mm x 152mm

So if any of those will fit then you are OK. There is a fine of up to £1000 for misrepresenting your registration number the DVLA can also cancel the number.

[JPB]

They can indeed, Terry. Some years ago, before the Polis was as fussy about such things as he or she is now, the owner of a very nice old XJ6 lost the right to use his car's original plate - OKT 1M - as he arranged the characters to spell out "OK Tim". The person concerned had been warned twice and, the third time he was tugged by the fuzz for it, he lost the plate and ended up with a Q reg.

I believe that the same punishment can be handed down for clear transgressions regarding font and size of backgrounds. Strange one though, because I always find a plate easier to remember if it has something different about it, such as a crazy font, non-reflectives on a post-1972 car or one that's intended to make a modern car that may well have been built in the USA (like a Honda of a certain age or a Benz ML 4x4) appear to have come from there. Man, that's a rare old treat.

[OneCarefulOwner]

The key fact here is that the car came with Euro-sized plate mounts. The only time it's legal to have USA/JDM sized plates with the motorcycle-sized font is if there's no room to mount a Euro-size plate. Retrofitting smaller mounts will still cause a fail.

[jimmyybob]

How did rover get away with these.??