Number plate rule

[vernon]

Hi, just a note about the MOT rules,
The EU insists that replica cars registered after 1st January 1973 must have reflective number plates to pass the MOT.
Most MOT testers did not bother with number plate types, as long as you had number plates, but now the rules have changed.
Fit nasty white and yellow plates to your replica for the MOT, if registered after 1973.
You might be lucky and your Mot garage turn a blind eye, but I don't think so.
Happy motoring.
Vernon

[NATONEIL]

Vernon

This rule has been about for some time but it is only recently that MOT centres have started to get tough with it. The greater problem is the ANPR camera fitted to many police cars. Older ANPRs could not read the B&W plates and so it was hard to identify that a car is running with a show plate, newer ANPRs can read them and flag up the year of registration which if the police driver is feeling grumpy can mean you get pulled over.
I have my B&W plates on with modern reflective plates bolted on top, so I can take them off at shows or when my car needs to pass as a real SS100. On the whole 1 in a 100 notices them and in the 1970s you saw many people upgrade their number plates to the better modern ones.

[vernon]

Number plates were only an advisory item in the mot test until 2013, now if the plates are wrong type, damaged, missing or non standard it is now a failure.
According to my garage/MOT tester.
I also have two sets of plates, but I use the old ones most of the time when on local roads, but the new type on long journeys.

Vernon

[ptjs1]

Vernon,

I think it is appropriate that replicas such as yours should be allowed to have silver on black plates. It feels unfortunate if an MoT tester or even police ANPR can pick you up on such a contravention.

However, if the MoT tester can now fail a car which has mis-spaced plates such as those contriving to tenuously spell a name, or using the plate fixing bolts to create a letter, then I feel that can only be to the good! If I ran a constabulary I would have one officer dedicated to catching all the inappropriate number plates, which could generate a substantial income in fines! Two offences and I'd confiscate and crush the car! That probably explains why I'm not a Chief Constable!

Paul