German style number plates on cars

I have seen a couple of these recently – they are UK registrations, but German stylee – i.e. boy racer Golf's and business men c0ck-ends in Beemers and Porsches.

Are they actually legal?

I'm guessing its just the new way of saying PEN15…

No, not legal. Could be that they just like the way it looks, rather than hoping to extend anything.

I think it's to get that 'euro' style.

Whatever that is.

I think it's to get that 'euro' style.

What, mullets for cars?

Not legal as there is set rules on spaceing and size of letters etc. You can bet when it comes round to MOT time they will fit normal plates or go somewhere that will let it pass.
I always think that if you want to be that german then feel free to go there.

do they fool number plate recognition systems?

how do you mean, German style?

and a German copy…. although has a 'D', not 'GB' so not sure if it is a brit car or not. could be with the layout/sturcture of letters/numbers.

do they fool number plate recognition systems?

good point – i'd not thought of that angle

the one that i saw this morning was MVxx two badges/logos and then the final 3 letters – deffo a UK reg

these are the logos here

Maybe we should follow the actual german system whereby the plate belongs to the driver, not the car. Then DVLA could be the sole issuer of plates and anything none standard could be taken off the road with punitive penalty charges.

Just Google 'show plates' – you can get all sorts

I think they do use them to try to avoid ANPR/speed cameras etc. but not sure of their effectivness

i could end up in prison for this but it made me laugh….

And why do some people put badges from other cars on theirs?

For example, a Fiesta 1.1 with a 16v badge from a Saxo VTR.

Or, as I saw last week, a Corsa with an Alfa Romeo badge on the grille.

Maybe we should follow the actual german system whereby the plate belongs to the driver, not the car. Then DVLA could be the sole issuer of plates and anything none standard could be taken off the road with punitive penalty charges.

yeah! then we can be stung for a transfer fee £££'s every time we change car

I don't get it. Its illegal to use non-standard font. People who use a germanic-font face 3points/fine. So why bother?!!! Mad.

They already own a German car. What next, wear lederhosen with their missus in blonde pigtails?

And why do some people put badges from other cars on theirs?

Turd polish anyone?

I don't get it. Its illegal to use non-standard font. People who use a germanic-font face 3points/fine. So why bother?!!! Mad.

Given the amount of non-standard plates you see – I'd suggest the risk is low

uplink spot on.

Resources 🙁

And why do some people put badges from other cars on theirs?

For example, a Fiesta 1.1 with a 16v badge from a Saxo VTR.

Or, as I saw last week, a Corsa with an Alfa Romeo badge on the grille

Never seen it on "normal" cars before, but I guess maybe for a joke? When I was a youngun the tip of my backbox was rusting off while the rest was fine. It looked tatty so for humour I bonded on a Dr Pepper can, as a chuckle at the people with 10" diameter exhausts on a 1 litre. It was an amusing talking point and nothing more and those that knew me knew I was not taking it seriously, but you **wouldnt believe** the number of people who came up and started abusing me for trying to "soup up" my car lol, or in car parks telling me how I apparently thought I was cool but looked a tit. Oh how they missed the point and looked a bit stupid in return.

It was such a funny point that I've carried it on since then, and now have a boddingtons can covering the rusty wiper motor under my bonnet 🙂

I've seen it on cars with engine transplants though [the wrong badge].

Resources

I suppose in the greater scheme of robbings/stabbings/rapings/murderings it does have a lower priority!

bruneep – Member

Maybe we should follow the actual german system whereby the plate belongs to the driver, not the car. Then DVLA could be the sole issuer of plates and anything none standard could be taken off the road with punitive penalty charges.

yeah! then we can be stung for a transfer fee £££'s every time we change car

exactly. really fegging expensive whenever you want to change motor. plus you have to sit down at the Amt (office) for a whole morning dealing with stupid women. just another stealth tax that the germans are happy to pay.

it does make motorway driving more interesting though as you can see from where people have driven. first letters denote the locality.

can't be resources, theyr fairly hot on getting motorbikes with funny plates. Although thats usualy just an excuse to check the exhaust is legal, visor isn't too dark, tires are road spec, etc etc.

I've been stopped by the police 3 times for checks on my plates/car/lights etc. All of which were perfectly legal. I think they just assumed I was a drug dealer driving around at 3am in a boring car lol.

A couple or 3 years ago I spent a whole week running around without a rear numberplate
Come to think of it – the last time I was stopped by the police must have been around 30 years ago

coffeeking- or it could be drink drive checks. Top of our road you can hear the familiar few-whoop of the siren as they are pulling someone over for a check. Friends of ours came round for dinner one Sat night and they were pulled/questioned on the same road.

Indeed that could well be it hora, I'd not considered that as it was a fair way from any pubs/clubs, but it was on a main road between two towns so a good spot to get people.

They were always very amicable. They did on one occasion ask for permission to search the car, went round the interior and under the arches etc. Nothing to hide on my part so I just sat and had a natter with the other officer. Rather they stopped more people to be honest!

The badge thing really annoys me too. Mostly as the only person who cares whether your SH$%%Y little fiesta is 16V or not, is probably going to know know that A:It isn't. B: thats the badge off a VTS, which just looks silly. Also see lots of Msport badges on cars that aren't BMW and turbo stickers on things that are brown.

mind you, my first care was a 1.1 litre fiesta with and XR2 front bumper. written in the dirt in the back (I ever cleaned it) I had 1.1 TURDO. the number of people who'd get het up about that and start mouthing off saying it isn't a turbo etc… funny times. For a short time I had a massive bolt on upswept double exhaust tip. It looked really funny coming out the back of a fiesta but "sadly" someone stole that!

On the subject of number plates I actually think the German system is far better than the UK one. The plates are issued locally so you have the first 1-3 letters to indicate where the car is registered eg, a car from Berlin has the first letter B- followed a series of numbers and letters. This means it is easy to spot someone from out of town so if they are driving like a numpty you know they are probably lost. Plus when you sell the car the car has to be re-registered by the new buyer at his/her local office (which makes car theft that much more difficult here as only the registration offices have the machines to make the plates)so the car will have a different set of plates. Plus it stops people being obsessive about the registration year of the car like in the UK.

I'm guessing its just the new way of saying PEN15…

PEN15 belongs to Steve Parish, ex-gp motorcycle racer, team mate to Barry Sheen, TV commentator and importer of the Fart Machine.

They did on one occasion ask for permission to search the car, went round the interior and under the arches etc.

They did this to me once – I said yeah go for it, just dont open the asda bag for life in the boot as thats wet cycling gear thats been in the car for a week. They through me a dirty look and then went directly to the bag, emptied it and searched it. It was stinking.

Turns out that if you say not to search something they have to search it or something similar. They were not happy bunnies… 😳

They did re-pack it all nicely for me though!

@ Roter Stern….. people are still snobby/obsessed where their car is registered.

a friend is willing to pay the extra to keep his Berlin plate (his mum lives there) rather than have the ADW zeichen we have here (CO).

also, you'll here people in munich slagging off drivers from out of town, but prehaps that is just munich.

Very illegal but not one of the most bad things that Police look out for…but they will issue you with paperwork and potential fines if the plate isn't removed and replaced with a UK-legal version – mate had one on his Edition 30 Golf – just the front one…police stopped him and got some paperwork done and lectured him…he swapped the plate over there and then and instead of a fine he was told to get it approved by a certified MOT garage that it was back to UK-legal…which he did.

I think they look nice but I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of the Police stopping me and issuing me with notices and stuff…

It's really prevalent in the VW scene, particularly with late model cars (ie non aircooled). The pic that alpin posted appears to be a (UK registered) mid eighties mk2 Golf for example

Have to go against the grain here and say that it looks really nice, although I hate the dreadful italic fonts that some people use on other motors… 🙂

Why are people such tw*ts with regards number plates? Or anything else for that matter, tbh.

The plates are issued locally so you have the first 1-3 letters to indicate where the car is registered

They have that here too. C for Wales, A for Scotland and anything else for England – then the second letter narrows it down. So my car is CF for Cardiff.

Having said that, less than 50% of the cars in Cardiff have CF on their plates I'd say.

A for Scotland

Nope – A is for Anglia. S is for Scotland…

Whats with the tyres not wide enough to fit onto the rims as well? Surely any sort of vigorous driving is out of the window?

I've been stopped by the police 3 times for checks on my plates/car/lights etc. All of which were perfectly legal. I think they just assumed I was a drug dealer driving around at 3am in a boring car lol.

Sure you weren't ragging it round a car park checking out your new tyres ❓

please tell me what "boy racer Golf's" look like?

@vdubber67 mk4 owner myself, think they look good at shows but running them illegally gets my goat.

The pic that alpin posted appears to be a (UK registered) mid eighties mk2 Golf for example

[pedantic]Looks like a mk1 golf cabriolet to me 🙂 [/pedantic]