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Vehicle Registration Numbers

ChrisM

ChrisM

Super Moderator
Staff member
Can anyone please tell me where the early registration prefix "N" originated? (Trying to locate a street scene from a Birmingham family album - suspect it may be Edinburgh rather than Brum).

Is there a decent online list of all these registration numbers somewhere?

Thanks.

Chris
 
"N" on its own (i.e. 'N 1234') was issued in Manchester, starting in 1903.
Can you post the picture??
 
Thanks, Lloyd. Here's the pic. The car which has just whipped across our tram's bows has a reg. of something like N 3698. Date: from around 1920, I think.

Was hoping it was Brum but that looks unlikely. Then thought Edinburgh. But now it's more likely to be Manchester unless the car was far from home. Don't know if the underground electricity supply for the trams gives any clue. And the skyline of course.

(Can't blame anyone for not marking up this image at the time as it comes from a small negative, almost certainly taken by my father).

Chris
 
Thanks very much for that, Lloyd. I'll probably send it to the bloke who runs that site in case it's of interest.

Your confirmation ties in well with a spell my father had in Edinburgh at a local barracks after having been wounded on the Western Front. (Although a born and bred Brummie he had found himself in the Cameron Highlanders Regiment.) This dates the photo to the first half of 1919.

Chris
 
I recall that Brum mainly used the registration letters with an 'O' though not all with an 'O' are Brum. EG - OO was Middlesex and OD was - I think Plymouth. My Dad had MOG ('OG') on a van this [OG] being used for commercial vehicles I think along with 'VP'. HA was used by Midland Red I htink but know someoen will be able to confirm or correct.

The AA used to print a list in its year book but stopped when the registration style changed around 1973.

My Dad could pinpoint most registrations with accuracy. Not all that useful a skill but I am still pleased when I spot one I recognise.
 
Thanks, Bernie, very useful.

I used to use the AA roadbook for that purpose when our family rattled our way down to Devon every summer from 1945 onwards in a 1940 Ford Prefect (FOK 535). It was always interesting to discover where the car we were following came from. The Brum ones were always easy provided you didn't fall into the OD, OO, OR, OS, OT, OU, OW, OY or OZ trap and that became instinctive after a while.

Chris
 
ChrisM said:
Thanks, Lloyd. Here's the pic. The car which has just whipped across our tram's bows has a reg. of something like N 3698. Date: from around 1920, I think.

Was hoping it was Brum but that looks unlikely. Then thought Edinburgh. But now it's more likely to be Manchester unless the car was far from home. Don't know if the underground electricity supply for the trams gives any clue. And the skyline of course.

(Can't blame anyone for not marking up this image at the time as it comes from a small negative, almost certainly taken by my father).

Chris
Click to expand...

Have a look at this up to date one I thought it was Princes Street and well done Lloyd:)

https://www.camvista.com/scotland/edinburgh/histedin.php3
 
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