Someone on the list recently wanted to know where their car came from in
Britain from the second two letters in the registration # YK
YK is "Greater London" that is the best I can do with the info' you have
given on the list,my book is not very specific.
Unfortunately,the small guide book I have dates from 1968,(I've had it since
I was 9 years old!!!),and it lists many such letters as being under "Greater
London" Which was then the licensing authority and encompassed all the
earlier County Council licensing authorities,ie:"TAN 604F" is listed as
"Greater London" but I have since discovered that the car was actually
registered in "West Ham" which is part of London,Some examples follow:
"FYK 347J" was "London" before "Greater London" came into existence.
"572 CBY" was "Croydon" before being absorbed into "Greater London"
"BHX 459H" was "Middlesex until it was swallowed up by "Greater London" and
likewise,"EMF 482J" and most other registrations with ?MC ?MD ?ME etc were
also Middlesex.
Coventry registrations will be of interest to Statesiders,because many
exported cars wore a Coventry number before being exported,although I don't
know why? unless the factory was testing them on the public roads?
DU as in "WDU 683J" is from Coventry,as is KV and RW and VC and WK.
Warwickshire of course had its own letters.
As to the age of British cars?
A suffux at the end of a number,ie:RAM 660A means 1st Jan 1963- 31 Dec 1963
B suffix means 1 Jan 64-31 Dec 64,C suffix = 1 Jan 65-31 Dec 65,D suffix = 1
Jan 66-31 Dec 66,
then it changed,so E suffix = 1 Jan 67-31 JULY 67,so there were only 7 months
worth of E's.
F suffix = 1 Aug 67-31 July 68,and that is how it has remained ever since,G =
1 Aug 68-31 July 69,
H = 1 Aug 69-31 July 70,J = 1 Aug 70-31 July 71,K = 1 Aug 71-31 July 72,L = 1
Aug 72-31 July 73 etc etc...
And so on,(letters I, O, Q and Z are not used because they have a seperate
meaning.)
On 1 August 1983,the suffix letter became a prefix letter ie: A21 KGF and so
it continued up to the present day,so a car bought new now would be "R123
ABC" R having stated on 1st August 1997.
There is talk of a completely new system now being started using two prefix
letters designed to stop 25% of new car sales here in th UK taking place on 1
August each year,causing big supply problems for the motor industry as
(vain)people rush to be the first in their street to own an obviously brand
new car!!!
Hope this helps and is of interest to our American listers who know their
LBC's British registration if any.
Leon
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