This is one of my favorite stories to tell, because it is so improbable, yet my dad insists that it actually happened. Here goes:
In 1977, my dad bought a new brown Toyota Corolla Liftback, and was issued the New Jersey license plate 602-IRF. A year later, he drove the Toyota up to western Pennsylvania - a pretty good distance - to visit his brother. While he was there, they took his car to a restaurant. They came back out after eating lunch, and found that an identical brown 1977 Toyota Corolla Liftback had parked in the spot next to my dad’s. The license plate? New Jersey 603-IRF.
So, not only were two consecutive plates issued to identical cars, but they both happened to end up in the same restaurant parking lot in Pennsylvania on the same day in 1978. What are the chances of that?
Anybody else got an “unbelievable coincidence” story like this?
Weirdly enough, ALMOST the same thing happened to me. A car with the same license number from a different state was parked next to mine. Different make & model, though.
Well, my father and I have (almost) identical cars ('94 Pontiac Sunbirds, blue. His is the V6 version, while mine’s the 4-cyl). And our license plates are (I think) consecutive… but that’s cuz we bought the cars used from the same dealer at the same time. But I suppose finding two blue '94 Pontiac Sunbirds at the same dealer is kind of a coincidence (it was just a little old used car place, not one of those big factory-authorized places that would be more like that…), but not really a big one. Yours is pretty awesome, though.
the odds are 2 to the power of 289,122,896,000,461 : 1 against.
I once got into a black trans am at night (at a night club) instead of my midnight blue camaro. the ignition key wouldn’t work, but the door unlocked. gotta love the 80’s man, memories…
Yes, I appear to have written the word “penguing.” Or, perhaps, my keyboard suddenly malfunctioned, signaling a “g” when I hit the “e” key. What are the odds?
Not a personal story, but I remember seeing on ‘Watchdog’ or something similar (british consumer rights TV show) where two neighbours had bought the same model and colour car, and one of them got arrested on the way to work because he had gotten in the wrong car, started with his own key and merrily driven off… so, what are the odds of two cars opening with one key… and the owners living next to each other…
My grandparents took a tour of the Silk Road in the late eighties. They travel many places, and always bring something along to give to the locals as gifts. Over the years they’ve given away tennis balls, hats, clothes, and various other sundry items. On their trip along the Silk Road my grandfather gave a local boy who came to meet the train an Orioles baseball cap and took a picture of him.
6 years later some friends of my grandparents took the same tour, and upon pulling into the same station, they saw a young man in an Orioles baseball cap. Through the translator they discovered it was the same kid! They took his picture and traded him a Braves hat for the Orioles cap.
They gave the Orioles cap to my grandparents. A little worse for wear, it now sits on the shelf in thier house next to other souveniers from thier Silk Road trip.
A family friend had two of her sons visiting her at the same time. At the time they each had a car whose license plate was identical to the other, except for the last digit. When I noticed this I asked her if both of her sons went to the DMV together to get their license plates issued for their cars. She said no and asked me why. I then pointed out to her the license plate numbers on her sons’ cars. She never noticed this until I pointed it out to her.
My folk’s and my sister’s in-laws bought cars from the same dealer around the same time (just a coincidence) and ended up with the same model car (slightly different colors) and consecutive plates. But they lived just on the next block…
2 years later, my mom buys another car and my uncle, living on the other side of the state, also gets a car. Nearly consecutive plates.
Many years ago at a GSA auction, I was outbid on a 1969 Dodge pickup. I did not see who the high bidder was. I ended up buying a differerent 1969 Dodge pickup about 15 minutes later, not as nice looking but $200 cheaper. I went to my Dad’s house to borrow his tow truck and what do I find on the back of the wrecker? The first pickup I had bid on. We did not know each other was there and I ended costing my dad about $150 on the truck. The truck I bought, though not as nice looking, ran and drove great and is now owned and driven by the neighbor that lives across the street from me. The truck my dad bought was a real dog and was scrapped a few years later.
We were driving from Texas to Colorado to go skiing last year and stopped in Alma (it doesn’t Mater) for gas.
There in the parking lot was the 10 year old jeep I’d just sold a month or so before. My wife and I went over to check it out, incredulous at the coincidence. Sure enough, same tires, dent on the rear bumper, oxidized paint pattern, bent antennae, burn hole in the driver’s seat and interior color combination.
I found the owner inside, only to discover he was the only owner. Our two vehicles were exact copies down to the dents and dings.
My parents pulled into a restaurant lot and parked next to a Toyato almost identical to theirs (I wasn’t born yet so it must have been late 1960s). Different plates from different states though.
The car’s owner came out and they made a joke about having the same car. One of them said “gee, I wonder if my key will work in yours too?.” The other guy tried his key in my parents’ car. It worked. Door and ignition.
My parents’ key could open his door, but not start the car.
Keys are weird.
In residence we had ONE key for both our hallway and our room doors. I thought it weird because there were three rooms in a hall. My key could open the hall door and my room, but not my neighbour’s room. I always wondered how it worked.
My friend Joanna and I were goofing around, and we discovered that my key could open our classmate’s hall, and Joanna’s key opened her room. We were so very, VERY tempted to hide under her bed and scare the shit out of her when she went to bed. Never did though.
