There follows a list of Registrations I have spotted on my travels (mainly around Edinburgh)
What it 'Looks' What it should
Like ! Comment ! be !
A1 ZOOM' Mine! -a black line under the 7 makes all the difference! A17 OOM
CAB  IT On a Taxi of course! CAB  1T
SUE  IM A Lawyer perhaps! SUE  1M
J 4 LOO On Portaloo Transporter! J4  LOO
D 4 ICES Surprisingly, not on Ice Cream Van! D41  CES
GRASS Didn't let this grow under his feet! GRA  55
OK SIR Seems OK to me OKS  1R
A 3 TOW A Free Tow - on a Tow Truck of course! A3  TOW
BOLOX Sounds Rude! 80  LOX
KILTS On Kiltmaker's Range Rover! K1  LTS
ASKIT Got a headache? -or ASK IT ASK  1T
R SKYE His name or where he came from? R5  KYE
ALL VAT VAT (Value Added Tax) what we ALL pay for! A11 VAT
LOONAR Careful placing of black screw is out of this world! 100 NAR
TEPID Won't get in hot water over this combination! TEP 1D
MIO MYO What were the words of that song? M10  MYO
2 ERR is Human! 2 ERR
BISMTH Keep taking the powders! B15 MTH
TOM  I  SAY I say' well placed' Tom! TOM 154Y
RIO TWO Three's a crowd in Rio presumably! R10  TWO
LOUIE Don't mess with Big Louie! LOU  1E
DISKO You can't spell - but can you dance? D1 SKO
BLAIR Its 'No Fair' that some people can get the exact name! BLA  1R
MARCO Go for the 4 Marco ! M4 RCO
HI GIRLS A real woman pleaser! H151  RLS
DUN IN The way I feel ! DUN 1N
PAERL Pearl can't spell- she's probably not a singer either! P4 ERL
B  BOYD Mr. Boyd - I presume! B8  OYD
FIB 132 Bit of a liar! FIB 132
HORNY Making 8 into 0 (white screw) must turn you on! H8 RNY
LI LOW What I'll have to do soon if you don't like this page! L1  LOW
B4  LAG On Pipe Insulation Company Van ! B4  LAG
BIG GAV Too big to argue with this combination! B15 GAV
5 OK Four's OK too ! 50  K
HIS  OWN His own prerogative to make a D like an O ! H15 DWN
SADIE Not sad for SADIE ! SAD  1E
H1YPE You hardly see the surplus 1  ! H1 YPE
14  BRU Our Other National Drink 14 BRU
JOINER Joiners Van - as expected + a couple of black screws! J111 NER
K SERA Sera ! - Whatever will be, will be……………… K 5 ERA
FYFIE A Fifer perhaps ! FYF 1E
FIDES Mr. Fides presumably ! F1 DES
ECKIE Wee Eck's motor ! ECK  1E
NI  BOVA No Bother to this chap ! N18 OVA
BIG YEL On Yellow Sports Car ! B16 YEL
BIG LEN Big idea Len ! B16 LEN
S1VES A name perhaps ! S1  VES
MANDY Mandy - what more can I say ! M4  NDY
M6 EAN Ian is not mean but drives the M6 a lot ! M6 EAN
A SOBBY A Sobby tale is this ! ASO 88Y
MISERY Not so miserable with this Reg. ! M15 ERY
BITMAC On Road Tar Lorry - Very appropriate! B17 MAC
LITHO On Reprographics Van ! LI  THC
BISHOP Good placing of screw make him all  Religious ! B15 HGP
KARIE No cares for Karie ! KAR 1E
A10  BOT A 'Tanned' Bot  (on UV Tanning Machine Delivery Van!) A 10 BOT
KICKK Don't kick this one into touch ! K1  CKK
LIMCA  A Name perhaps ! L1  MCA
TULIS A place in Aberdeenshire or a name ? TUL  1S
100 KM  The distance this Merc. won't go on a gallon ! 100 KM
DOTIE The Department of Transport can't complain about this one ! DOT  1E
HUGH  G A black screw to you, Hugh ! H11 GHG
MIO  MOR More words from a song ? M10 MOR
40  WAT More power required ! 40 WAT
HARKY A Nickname perhaps ! H4 RKY
K  SKYE The twin of R Skye ? K5  KYE
KAREN No 4's on Karen ! K4  REN
10 CL C&L Catering Van ! 10 CL
NABBY Well Nabbed sir ! N4 BBY
HI1  BOB Well Hi to you too Bob ! H11  BOB
MISS  HR Don/t ever get married  HR ! M15 SHR
JINXT Do you feel lucky ? J1  NXT
A1  ARMY The best in the 'Forces' ! A14  RMY
MARIO Super ! Mar-10
M8  TAR On Road Tar Lorry - What else ! M8 TAR
UR  SEX You are sexy too ! URS  3X
AIRDS Nice on Mr. Aird ! A1  RDS
ASSON Better on than off ! A5  SON
EE  99 The joy of a cone with a flake ! EE 99
SOLLO On your own here ! SO  110
L2  TWO Double two to you 'L' ! L2  TWO
L  SELS I'm sure he does ! L5  ELS
LAURA Tell Laura I love it ! L2  URA
ASK  GR Who else would I ask ! A5  KGR
A7  SAB On a Saab naturally ! A7 SAB
MINGO Stay away from the Bingo Mingo ! M1 NGO
N  BOBE Bobby N ? N8  OBE
II  LOW Don't get too low ! 11 LOW
ASK  100 Ask any more and you'll get the same answer ! ASK 100
R  ISLAY Is there a river Islay in Islay ? R15  LAY
RIVA  G This takes the biscuit ! R1  VAG
KIMEN She'll be Kimen round the mountain….. ! K1  MEN
ERSI That’s a polite way of putting it ! ERS  1
100 P  Worth more than a Quid ! 100  P
LAGGS "Northern Insulation" Van ! L4  GGS
8V Eight valves are better than 4 ! 8 V
NI  LOVE Well I love it ! N11  OVE
BIFFY No Road Rage Please ! B1  FFY
TERSA Don't be Terse Teresa TER 5A
HM1 Your Majesty ! HM 1
DAV  II Good on ya Dave Junior ! DAV  11
HII  BEE A particular Football team in Edinburgh ! H11  BEE
'LLLLL' L of a plate ! L4  LLL
FIBBS Don't lie to me ! F1 BBZ
SEMIT You'll be warm in winter anyway ! SEM  1T
1  RBS on Royal Bank of Scotland mobile Bank ! 1 RBS
BP  OIL on British Petroleum  promotions vehicle ! BPO  1L
XX2 Double Cross you Too ! XX 2
DSS 1 Not on the Dole with this plate ! DSS 1
A  BOOB Two are regarded as better ! A8  OOB
I  ERR Well don't we all ! 1 ERR
KISSY Show off ! K1 SSY
ALL WAX What a shine ! A11  WAX
ANDIE Tres Handy Andie ! AND  1E
A  3  CUT Much better than paying for one ! A3 CUT
POO4 You're not one are you ? POO 4
JR 2 But who killed JR  I ? JR  2
A1  2  ERR So it's OK to be wrong sometimes ? A12 ERR
MEE 1 Me too ! MEE  1
AIDUS Help is at hand ! A1  DUS
MS  FIT No you will fit in somewhere ! M5  FIT
K99 WUF Canine supporter no doubt !! K99 WUF
VIII Eight in any language ! V 111
A  2  LOW Not too low for me ! A2  LOW
ALL  AYR Support your home town (in Ayrshire) ! A11  AYR
LI  SUNG Chinese gentleman perhaps ! L15  UNG
AHEAD Another black screw gets you ahead ! A11  EAD
L 4  JAG On Jaguar ! L4  JAG
BSC  1 Whatever happened to the British Steel Corporation ! BSC  1
2000  DL Better than a 2000 GLX  ? 2000  DL
CRAIG Nice one Craig! CRA 1G
NESSIE No monster ! NES  51E
PUBIG Bit naughty if it was a C ! PUB 1G
I  O  TAX So do I !!!! 10  TAX
   
COMMENTARY
Car Registration numbers can be fascinating seeing the combinations that some owners come
up with ! Most people will choose combinations of their initials but these are mainly not listed
here.
Sometimes it won't always be obvious to the outsider what it might mean but most of the ones
listed above are. It is a 'cheat' (and illegal) to space numbers and letters to make them look like
something else but a black screw or a black line 'inadvertently ' can change the meaning, and
numbers can be letters and vice versa (e.g. 4's as A's, 5 as S   or even 3's as E's,
The British system was originally up to three letter and three number combinations ABC 123
then reversed 123 ABC. In 1963 prefixes appeared representing a new suffix letter for each year
ABC 123A were started when the original combinations ran out of numbers. It then became
such a  major selling point (showing you had a new car) that  the year letter was changed to
1st August each year initially and then changed to twice a year (presently in March and Sept.). 
After they ran out of combinations in 1984 the letter went to the front (A123 ABC).
Certain letters are not issued as prefixes such as I, 0, Q and Z and so some combinations
are not possible. The old prefix letter system ran out in September 2001 and we now
have a double letter (location code) double number year code system.
The first two letters reveal where the car was registered, the next two show the vehicle's age,
and the final three are randomly selected letters which make the sequence unique.
The dating system for the middle digits  begin at 51 for those vehicles that are registered
Sept 01 then 02 for those registered in March 2002. After that, the two roll forward  ,
chronologically; the September 2001 registrations marked 52, and 03 for those in
March 2003 .
It is said that Scotland has a larger proportion of cars with Personal Registrations than
anywhere else in GB (approx. 1 in 10 cars.) Its also much easier now to transfer numbers
between cars after the Government's Department of Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) got
in on the act and started selling plates. Costs vary from about £200 at the bottom end to
£10,000 for the most 'Select' Registrations, although some very special plates can cost a
great deal more than that!
One reason 'private' or 'select' registrations are so popular is of course that it 'hides' the age
of the car. There is now a whole industry in the selling and transfer of plates.
Recent issues
Prefix letters
E- Aug 1987 - July1988
F - Aug 1988 - July1989
G- Aug 1989 - July1990
H - Aug 1990 - July1991
J - Aug 1991 - July1992
K - Aug 1992 - July1993
L - Aug 1993 - July1994
M - Aug 1994 -July1995
N - Aug 1995 - July1996
P - Aug 1996 - July1997
R - Aug 1997 - July1998
S - Aug 1988 - Feb1999
T - Mar 1999 - Aug 1999
V - Sept 1999 - Feb 2000
W - Mar 2000 - Aug 2000
X - Sept 2000 - Feb 2001
Y - Mar 2001 - Aug 2001
Double number dates (in middle)
51 - Sept 2001 - Feb 2002
02 - Mar 2002 - Aug 2002
52 - Sept 2002 - Feb 2003
01 - Mar 2003 - Aug 2003
53 - Sept 2003 - Feb 2004
04 - Mar 2004 - Aug 2004
54 - Sept 2004- Feb 2005
05  - Mar 2005 - Aug 2005
55  Sept 2005- Feb 2006
06  -- Mar 2006 - Aug 2006
56   Sept 2006- Feb 2007
07 - Mar 2007 - Aug 2007
57   Sept 2007- Feb 2008
08  - Mar 2008 - Aug 2008
58   Sept 2008- Feb 2009
09  - Mar 2009 - Aug 2009
59   Sept 2009- Feb 2010
10  - Mar 2010 - Aug 2010
60   Sept 2010- Feb 2011
11  - Mar 2011 - Aug 2011
61   Sept 2011- Feb 2012
12  - Mar 2012 - Aug 2012
62   Sept 2012- Feb 2013
13  - Mar 2013 - Aug 2013
63-  Sept 2013 Feb 2014
14   - Mar 2014 - Aug 2014