I saw a Mass. plate the other day with just the number 7 on it. The lowest I’ve ever seen.
Honorable mention: I also saw a PA. plate with just a number 39 on it.
Anyone else out there have any examples?
SFP
In California, I’ve seen plates with 3 letters and 3 numbers, as opposed to the current single number then 3 letters then 3 numbers.
Well, I’ve seen plenty with the number “1” - just yesterday I saw CBN 1. But I’m in England, so that may not count.
Usually, very low numbers are reserved for current or former office holders. I’ve driven a car with Virginia plate “1.” It was the former governor’s car.
Not necessarily. I know a person who has told me his goal when he applies for a license plate is to get the lowest number possible. One of his cars has “3”, another has “8”, and he is definitely not an office holder. This is Virginia as well, BTW.
Here in ireland, a number plate starts with the year the car is made (currently 03), then 1 or 2 letters denoting the city in which it is registered (D for Dublin, C for Cork, L for Limerick…you get the drift), followed by the actual registration number. Cuppla days ago I saw this plate:
00 D 2
lowest I’ve ever seen.
sorry, “city” should be “county”
Former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci had just plain old “1” on his car. I used to see it all the time. Not so much now. Here in RI there is a lottery for low numbered plate numbers. I’m not a native, but I suspect it’s crooked.
Hey Hirundo82, I’ve seen one of your friend’s cars! I was going to post that I saw Virginia plate #8 (not a congress or delegate plate) a couple of years ago on a Volvo on I-66 in Arlington. I collect license plates, and would probably trade my car for a plate number that low! Granted, my car is a piece of junk, but still…
Those low numbers are real prestige items in most areas, and highly sought after. I have heard that in this state you usually need friends in high places (or a friend at the DMV) to get a number under 100. My grandparents had a nice low numbered plate in another state (#1234) and once upon a time, the motor vehicle department tried to swindle my grandmother (who was in her eighties at the time) out of her plate by giving her some doubletalk about how they had to issue her a new number when she renewed her plate. Fortunately, she saw through the ruse. Go grandma!
I have a Vermont license plate at home that’s number 158. It’s from 1919. I also have a Montana dealer plate from 1958 that’s number 8, a 1981 New York “U.S. Congress” plate that’s number 4-2, and 1972 Virginia taxi plate that’s number H27.
-malden (Virginia #9D4)
Traditionally, Indiana’s governor gets a plate with a star and 1.
-
-
- It’s the same in IL, apparently. Some years back a former govenor died, and the legislature voted to let his wife keep (using) the license plate that had only a number “6” on it.
~
- It’s the same in IL, apparently. Some years back a former govenor died, and the legislature voted to let his wife keep (using) the license plate that had only a number “6” on it.
-
Out here in Elmwood Park, IL (a suburb of Chicago) I’ve seen this big black car, possibly a cadillac or lincoln, with the number 1. I don’t know who drives it but they must hang out around here cause I’ve seen it a few times.
The state of Oregon does (did) the “1” for governor thing. I once say Tom McCall’s car with the “1” plate many moons ago. A lot of states do that, but sometimes there’s a lottery among the elgible as to set who gets what.
Georgia has had some really weird plates. Many large companies and organizations can get their own series made. The Big Shot will then usually be “permitted” to chose “1”. E.g., the president of Georgia Tech would have had the plate “[GeorgiaTech GT logo] 1” a few years back. Since the logos where frequently emblems and such, not even composed of letters, this lead to a lot of “1” plates around. Some attempt at clearing up the confusion has been made recently. (“So, lady, you said the car that drove thru your house and down the road had the plate ‘purple splotch’ 2047?”)
In Nebraska, plates are issued with the pattern (county number)-(letter)(serial number), leading to each county having a plate bearing (x)-A 1 - with x being numbers from 1 to 93. Well scratch 1, 2 and 59 from that scheme, since there are finally too many vehicles in those counties to make it feasible. What used to be 1- 2- and 59- plates are now the more conventional 3 letter-3 digit pattern.
Those low plate numbers were definitely a status symbol, and still are in counties where the DMV clerk is cooperative enough to paw through the boxes of plates and get you the number that’s been in the family for years.
-mdf
I have a friend whose license number is 13, but I have seen another car around here with the plate number 4, and another with 18.
The mayor of Albany, NY traditional had a single letter plate: A
Northwest Territories, Canada, has only numbered plates unless you’ve ordered a ‘vanity’ plate. I know the family that has 1 as their plate number, and in fact was the insurance broker for 1 through 6.
Here in Queensland, Australia, motor vehicles were first obliged to be registered with a number plate in 1922. (Which is going back a fair way I’m sure you’d agree).
Well the Transport Dept simply started a numeric counting sequence from Q1 thru Q9999. After the number plates broke 10,000 the Transport Dept decided to follow the California model of mixing 3 alpha and 3 numeric which continues to this day.
However, the original Q9999 plates are still usable and are now very, collectible and desirable. If you’re lucky enough to own one of those plates, the Transport Dept will renew the plate with an absolutely brand new version from the factory any time you ask for it. It’s a funny thing, but the Queensland Transport Dept has quite a sense of tradition attached to it.
Anyways, a dear man I know who owns various business interests etc, well he and his son own a few of these plates. He currently uses “Q2” on his brand new Bentley, and he uses “Q666” on his Lamborghini Diablo (which is a very funny thing if you get the joke) and they use “Q911” on a Porsche GT3. I think they also use “Q6000” on a Ferrari 360 Spider as well.
That plate “Q2” looks very, VERY official on the Bentley, I must say.
The colour scheme on all these plates is really subdued - nothing except a white letter against a black background. No other writing.
Similarly, the license plates on cars driven by members of the California State Assembly are “A” followed by the appropriate district number. I assume the rest of the state government does something similar.
In Idaho the license plates have a county code that precedes the actual number. In less populous counties most of the numbers are relatively low.
That said, in Ada County, the most densely populated county in Idaho, I’ve seen the car that was issued the “1” plate. I don’t know if it belonged to the governor or the mayor of Boise or some other higher dignitary. It was a white sedan, a nice car, but nothing really fancy.
My late aunt, who lived in a mostly rural county, had the number 11 on her car for as long as I could remember.