A1, parked in Cathedral Close, Exeter in front of St Martin's Church, May 1948The A1 registration plate is a United Kingdom vehicle registration plate that was first issued in 1903. It has since had several owners and has been transferred between many different vehicles. While it was the first vehicle registration issued in London, it is not the first issued in the United Kingdom.
In 1903, the Motor Car Act, which mandated the registration of motor vehicles, became law. [2] It took effect on 1 January 1904, though the first number plates were issued in late 1903. [3] The A1 registration plate was issued by London County Council in December 1903. From surviving records, the first number known to have been issued is DY1, issued in Hastings on 23 November 1903. [4]
The plate was issued to the second Earl Russell for his Napier car. [5] There are different accounts of how Russell obtained the plate, with many stating he queued all night for it, [5] or he made his butler queue all night. [6] [7] However Russell served in the London County Council as an Alderman from 1895 to 1904, and was at one time chairman of the council highways committee. [8] All the first London registrations with single-digit numbers went to politicians connected with the London County Council or their relatives. [9] [Note 1]
In 1906, Russell's car, with the registration, was sold to the Chairman of the London County Council.[ citation needed ] In 1907, it was bought by George Pettyt. He was the head of the Maudes Group, a car dealership. [5] [10] [Note 2] Prettyt successively transferred the registration to each of his personal cars over the following years. [11]
Pettyt died in 1950. His Sunbeam Talbot 90, which then bore the plate, was bequeathed to Trevor Laker, a former editor of Motorcycle and Cycle Trader, and a company director of John Bull Rubber. [5] [12] In 1951, Talbot transferred the registration from the Sunbeam-Talbot to a new Austin A90 Atlantic, which became the 37th car to use the plate. [5] A condition of Prettyt's bequest was that Laker would use the plate for his lifetime, then it was to be sold and the proceeds given to a dogs' charity. In 1959, Laker sold the plate for £2,500 and donated the money to The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, with Laker allowed to continue using it for his lifetime. [13] [5] In 1970 Laker died, and the buyer–Dunlop Rubber–took ownership and rights to the plate. [5]
Dunlop put the registration onto a Daimler limousine that was used to transport VIPs to and from the Dunlop factories.[ citation needed ] The plate was used for a brief period on the Director of Engineering's car, a Mini. The tyre division later took ownership and it was used for promotional purposes, including the marketing of the Denovo "fail-safe" wheels.[ citation needed ]
In 1985, BTR plc gained the A1 plate after it acquired Dunlop. The company's headquarters in Birmingham placed it on a Ford Granada. [14] In 2000, the plate was bought by Jefri Bolkiah after its sale by Insignia Registrations alongside the plate, 1A. The plates were placed on matching, white Bentley Azures.[ citation needed ] As of 16 March 2023, the plate is assigned to a black 2007 Mini Cooper S Auto. [15]
A2 was obtained by David Waterlow (London county councillor); A3 went to Joseph Allen Baker (chair of the LCC highways committee; his brothers George Baker and Philip Barton Baker got A8 and A9). A4 was allocated to Mark Mayhew (London county councillor); A5 - Sir William Bell (alderman of LCC); A6 - John Dickson-Poynder (London county councillor);A7 - Willoughby Dickinson (chairman of LCC).
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or license plate or licence plate, is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. All countries require registration plates for road vehicles such as cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Whether they are required for other vehicles, such as bicycles, boats, or tractors, may vary by jurisdiction. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the vehicle or vehicle owner within the issuing region's vehicle register. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, while in others it is unique within a state or province. Whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. There are also electronic license plates.
In Ireland, commonly referred to as the Republic of Ireland, vehicle registration plates are the visual indications of motor vehicle registration – officially termed "index marks" – which it has been mandatory since 1903 to display on most motor vehicles used on public roads in Ireland. The alphanumeric marks themselves are issued by the local authority in which a vehicle is first registered.
The Rootes Group or Rootes Motors Limited was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. Run from London's West End, the manufacturer was based in the Midlands and the distribution and dealers business in the south of England. In the decade beginning 1928 the Rootes brothers, William and Reginald, made prosperous by their very successful distribution and servicing business, were keen to enter manufacturing for closer control of the products they were selling. One brother has been termed the power unit, the other the steering and braking system.
Jensen Motors Limited was a British manufacturer of sports cars and commercial vehicles in West Bromwich, England. Brothers Alan and Richard Jensen gave the new name, Jensen Motors Limited, to the commercial body and sports car body making business of W J Smith & Sons Limited in 1934. It ceased trading in 1976. Though trading resumed in 1998, Jensen Motors Limited was dissolved in 2011.
Talbot is a dormant automobile marque introduced in 1902 by British-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot business during the First World War.
Sunbeam Motor Car Company Limited was a British automobile manufacturer in operation between 1905 and 1934. Its works were at Moorfields in Blakenhall, a suburb of Wolverhampton in Staffordshire, now West Midlands. The Sunbeam name had originally been registered by John Marston in 1888 for his bicycle manufacturing business. Sunbeam motor car manufacture began in 1901. The motor business was sold to a newly incorporated Sunbeam Motor Car Company Limited in 1905 to separate it from Marston's pedal bicycle business; Sunbeam motorcycles were not made until 1912.
The Sunbeam Alpine is a two-seater sports roadster/drophead coupé that was produced by the Rootes Group from 1953 to 1955, and then 1959 to 1968. The name was then used on a two-door fastback coupé from 1969 to 1975. The original Alpine was launched in 1953 as the first vehicle from Sunbeam-Talbot to bear the Sunbeam name alone since Rootes Group bought Clément-Talbot, and later the moribund Sunbeam from its receiver in 1935.
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A vanity plate or personalized plate ; prestige plate, private number plate, cherished plate or personalised registration ; personalised plate or custom plate is a special type of vehicle registration plate on an automobile or other vehicle. The owner of the vehicle pays extra money to have their own choice of numbers or letters, usually portraying a recognizable phrase, slogan, or abbreviation, on their plate. Sales of vanity plates are often a significant source of revenue for North American provincial and state licensing agencies. In some jurisdictions, such as British Columbia, vanity plates have a different color scheme and design.
The Motor Car Act 1903 was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament that received royal assent on 14 August 1903, which introduced motor vehicle registration, driver licensing and increased the speed limit.
Motor vehicle registration is the registration of a motor vehicle with a government authority, either compulsory or otherwise. The purpose of motor vehicle registration is to establish a link between a vehicle and an owner or user of the vehicle. While almost all motor vehicles are uniquely identified by a vehicle identification number, only registered vehicles display a vehicle registration plate and carry a vehicle registration certificate. Motor vehicle registration is different from motor vehicle licensing and roadworthiness certification.
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The U.S. state of Ohio first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1908, although several cities within the state issued their own license plates from as early as 1902.
A. Darracq and Company Limited was a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines in Suresnes, near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after he sold his Gladiator Bicycle business. In 1902, it took effect in 1903, he sold his new business to a privately held English company named A Darracq and Company Limited, taking a substantial shareholding and a directorship himself.
Clément-Talbot Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturer with its works in Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington, London, founded in 1903. The new business's capital was arranged by Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, shareholders included automobile manufacturer, Adolphe Clément, along with Baron Auguste Lucas and Emile Lamberjack, all of France.
Vehicle registration plates are the alphanumeric plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle, and have existed in the United Kingdom since 1904. It is compulsory for motor vehicles used on public roads to display vehicle registration plates, with the exception of vehicles of the reigning monarch used on official business.
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Vehicle registration plates, commonly referred to as number plates, are the mandatory numeric or alphanumeric plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle. The Crown dependency of Guernsey is outside the United Kingdom and the European Union, and its islands have registration marks that are different from those used in the UK. The international vehicle registration code for Guernsey is GBG.