Baby I got your, erm, number?

Once upon a time car numberplates used to reflect the location/area/district where the car was first registered, as well as identifying the year that the car was first registered (ask your dads, kids).

AAX 123X, for example, was originally registered in Monmouthshire in 1999.

And then, apparently, we were in danger of running out of available car registrations.

So the brains who run this kind of thing for the UK had to come up with a cunning plan.

After what one imagines to be a particularly boozy long lunch in the pub, one Thursday afternoon, the brains came up with a genius masterstroke.

The new registration numbers would look like this:

WP03HMG

Or like this:

WP53HMG

Brilliant!

Now, without too much thinking, the year of first registration is immediately apparent!

WP03HMG clearly signifies that the car was first registered in 2003.

Excellent.

And WP53HMG equally clearly signifies that the car was first registered in, erm, 2003!

But the second half of 2003, not the first half.

Yay!

And WP14HMG identifies that the car was first registered in 2014.

And WP64HMG very cleverly shows that the car was first registered, erm, in 2014 too.

Umm.

But the second half of 2014.

Obv.

Well this is all completely clear and transparent, yes?

I said yes??

Now, let’s look at the letters. HMG (in our guinea pig registration of WP14HMG) signifies nothing at all.

Or signifies nothing helpful.

It’s the two letters at the front that we’re interested in.

WP means, erm, Bristol.

Because W signifies ‘west of England’ and when suffixed with a ‘P’, that means Bristol.

It just does.

For the sake of transparency, obv.

You might have thought that BS14HMG would be better (because ‘BS’ is the actual postcode for, erm, Bristol).

Well yes, you might.

In fact, the vast majority of places in the UK have a two letter postcode.

Wouldn’t it have been fantastic to have that much transparency on a car registration?

Just use the postcodes?

But the brains who make these decisions shied away from this concept.

For reasons best known to themselves.

As is the frankly nonsensical method they came up with of denoting the year of registration.

So here, for those who don’t have brains the size of a planet, and for whom the transparency of our vehicle (because this actually applies to all registered vehicles and yes I know I’ve used the word ‘car’, but that’s because it’s quicker to write ‘car’ than it is to write ‘vehicle’, OK?), is a list of location identifiers for car registrations in the UK:

Car registration letters	(DVLA) region	DVLA office
AA, AB, AC, AD, AE, AF, AG, AH, AJ, AK, AL, AM, AN	(east) Anglia	Peterborough
AO, AP, AR, AS, AT, AU	(east) Anglia	Norwich
AV, AW, AX, AY	(east) Anglia	Ipswich
BA, BB, BC, BD, BE, BF, BG, BH, BJ, BK, BL, BM, BN, BO, BP, BR, BS, BT, BU, BV, BW, BX, BY	Birmingham	Birmingham
CA, CB, CC, CD, CE, CF, CG, CH, CJ, CK, CL, CM, CN, CO	Cymru	Cardiff
CP, CR, CS, CT, CU, CV	Cymru	Swansea
CW, CX, CY	Cymru	Bangor
DA, DB, DC, DD, DE, DF, DG, DH, DJ, DK	Deeside to Shrewsbury	Chester
DL, DM, DN, DO, DP, DR, DS, DT, DU, DV, DW, DX, DY	Deeside to Shrewsbury	Shrewsbury
EA, EB, EC, ED, EE, EF, EG, EH, EJ, EK, EL, EM, EN, EO, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EV, EW, EX, EY	Essex	Chelmsford
FA, FB, FC, FD, FE, FF, FG, FH, FJ, FK, FL, FM, FN, FP	Forest and Fens	Nottingham
FR, FS, FT, FV, FW, FX, FY	Forest and Fens	Lincoln
GA, GB, GC, GD, GE, GF, GG, GH, GJ, GK, GL, GM, GN, GO	Garden of England	Maidstone
GP, GR, GS, GT, GU, GV, GX, GY	Garden of England	Brighton
HA, HB, HC, HD, HE, HF, HG, HH, HJ	Hampshire and Dorset	Bournemouth
HK, HL, HM, HN, HO, HP, HR, HS, HT, HU, HV	Hampshire and Dorset	Portsmouth
HW	Hampshire and Dorset	Portsmouth (Used exclusively for the Isle of Wight)
HX, HY	Hampshire and Dorset	Portsmouth
KA, KB, KC, KD, KE, KF, KG, KH, KJ, KK, KL	-	Luton
KM, KN, KO, KP, KR, KS, KT, KU, KV, KW, KX, KY	-	Northampton
LA, LB, LC, LD, LE, LF, LG, LH, LJ	London	Wimbledon
LK, LL, LM, LN, LO, LP, LR, LS, LT	London	Stanmore
LU, LV, LW, LX, LY	London	Sidcup
MA, MB, MC, MD, ME, MF, MG, MH, MJ, MK, ML, MM, MN, MO, MP, MR, MS, MT, MU, MV, MW, MX, MY	Manchester & Merseyside	Manchester
NA, NB, NC, ND, NE, NF, NG, NH, NJ, NK, NL, NM, NN, NO	North	Newcastle
NP, NR, NS, NT, NU, NV, NW, NX, NY	North	Stockton
OA, OB, OC, OD, OE, OF, OG, OH, OJ, OK, OL, OM, ON, OO, OP, OR, OS, OT, OU, OV, OW, OX, OY	Oxford	Oxford
PA, PB, PC, PD, PE, PF, PG, PH, PJ, PK, PL, PM, PN, PO, PP, PR, PS, PT	Preston	Preston
PU, PV, PW, PX, PY	Preston	Carlisle
RA, RB, RC, RD, RE, RF, RG, RH, RJ, RK, RL, RM, RN, RO, RP, RR, RS, RT, RU, RV, RW, RX, RY	Reading	Reading
SA, SB, SC, SD, SE, SF, SG, SH, SJ	Scotland	Glasgow
SK, SL, SM, SN, SO	Scotland	Edinburgh
SP, SR, SS, ST	Scotland	Dundee
SU, SV, SW	Scotland	Aberdeen
SX, SY	Scotland	Inverness
VA, VB, VC, VD, VE, VF, VG, VH, VJ, VK, VL, VM, VN, VO, VP, VR, VS, VT, VU, VV, VW, VX, VY	Severn Valley	Worcester
WA, WB, WC, WD, WE, WF, WG, WH, WJ	West of England	Exeter
WK, WL	West of England	Truro
WM, WN, WO, WP, WR, WS, WT, WU, WV, WW, WX, WY	West of England	Bristol
YA, YB, YC, YD, YE, YF, YG, YH, YJ, YK	Yorkshire	Leeds
YL, YM, YN, YO, YP, YR, YS, YT, YU	Yorkshire	Sheffield
YV, YW, YX, YY	Yorkshire	Beverley

So that’s the geographical bit.

Do you want a handy decoder for the year of registration ‘clarity’ too?

You do?

Well try this:

Year	1 Mar – 31 Aug	1 Sep – 28/29 Feb
2001/02	Y	51
2002/03	02	52
2003/04	03	53
2004/05	04	54
2005/06	05	55
2006/07	06	56
2007/08	07	57
2008/09	08	58
2009/10	09	59
2010/11	10	60
2011/12	11	61
2012/13	12	62
2013/14	13	63
2014/15	14	64
2015/16	15	65
2016/17	16	66
2017/18	17	67
2018/19	18	68
2019/20	19	69
2020/21	20	70
2021/22	21	71
2022/23	22	72
2023/24	23	73
2024/25	24	74
2025/26	25	75
2026/27	26	76
2027/28	27	77
2028/29	28	78
2029/30	29	79
2030/31	30	80
2031/32	31	81
2032/33	32	82
2033/34	33	83
2034/35	34	84
2035/36	35	85
2036/37	36	86
2037/38	37	87
2038/39	38	88
2039/40	39	89
2040/41	40	90
2041/42	41	91
2042/43	42	92
2043/44	43	93
2044/45	44	94
2045/46	45	95
2046/47	46	96
2047/48	47	97
2048/49	48	98
2049/50	49	99
2050/51	50	00

Clear now?

Of course it is.

You’re welcome.