Rules for Black and Silver Number Plates

You may lose the right to display a registration number if it is not displayed correctly. You can`t rearrange letters or numbers – take a look at the INF104 pamphlet: “License Plates and License Plates” – it tells you which font height and size measurements are legal. With the rule changes from 1 January 2021, vehicles built before 1980 are exempt from TÜV and tax and can display silver and black license plates. The continuous exemption for roadworthiness testing and vehicle tax has been decoupled from the license plate rules, they have changed the law for that monitoring, and you stick to being built before 1980. The good news is that the tax exemption has been maintained, but you may want to have your car or motorcycle inspected every year. The historic black and silver license plate has been around since 1903 and was issued in the UK under the Motor Cars Act 1903 to ensure that all vehicles can be legally recognised in the event of a road accident or recovered in the event of theft. The plates were not completely random, each area had its own unique identifiers. Two-letter codes were used to indicate the area in which the vehicle was registered. As the number of registered vehicles increased, a random letter was added to the pair. When they ran out of those combinations, they reversed the pattern and you had numbers in front of the letters. ABC 123 became 123 ABC. Enter your zip code to find the nearest license plate supplier – they will assemble your license plate to the required standard.

Registration plates of vehicles used from 1. January 1978, must: Due to a correction to the DVLA on 1 January 2021, vehicles built after 1 January 1980 cannot carry a conventional registration plate, i.e. with white, silver or grey letters on a black plate. This also applies if the vehicle is more than 40 years old and is registered in the DVLA tax class “Historic vehicles”. It was a strange quirk of the law with the reintroduction of the tax exemption for rolling roads. Without knowing it, the government had allowed all vehicles in the Free Road Fund (VED) category to be equipped with old-fashioned silver and black license plates. The reflective plastic silver on the black plates does not look correct at all. Especially with modern cars that are no more than 40 years old.

This maestro wouldn`t look good with them. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) introduced the new rules following the “unintended consequences” of the guidelines published in 2015. Your vehicle must have 8 or more points from the table below if you want to keep the original license plate. 5 of these points must come from the original or new and unchanged chassis, monocoque body or frame. Have you ever wondered how long licence plates have been around? Well, the very first one was published shortly after the passage of the Motor Car Act 1903 and contained only two characters: A1. Licence plates have been issued to vehicles in the UK since 1940 with the introduction of the Motor Car Act 1903. This law meant that all motor vehicles had to be registered in an official register. It also introduced licences for drivers.

It`s not worth circumventing these rules. There is a nice warning on the DVLA website that says: If you are allowed to display a black and silver license plate, you can only have it made by a registered supplier. The gov.uk website has a helpful resource to help you find your nearest license plate supplier. If you are eligible for a black and silver license plate, the next step is to find the nearest supplier for a registered license plate. You will be able to bring your license plate up to the necessary standards. You can find your nearest official supplier by visiting gov.uk/number-plate-supplier and entering your postal code. Every proud owner of a classic car usually wants to keep the vehicle as close to its original condition as possible. The owners will do their best to preserve or restore everything from the paint to the performance of the classic. Of course, this also includes black and silver license plates.

Today we received information directly from the DVLA on the information on black and silver license plates coming into force from 1 January 2021.