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Some interesting* facts regarding the old car situation in Germany


Junkman

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A German magazine recently published some statistics that I found rather interesting and somewat entertaining.

Mind you, all these figures are from Germany alone and were compiled for 2016.

 

There were 381,000 cars registered on H plates, which constituted 0.8% of all cars registered.

There were an estimated 1,000,000 cars registered on regular plates, which would be H-plate eligible.

 

The most popular (i.e. numerous) cars registered on H-plate:

 

10. Opel Kadett

 9. Mercedes W113

 8. VW Golf

 7. Mercedes Fintail

 6. Mercedes /8

 5. VW Bulli (Type 2 T1)

 4. Mercedes R107

 3. Porsche 911

 2. Mercedes W123

 1. VW Beetle

 

The most imported classic cars in 2016:

 

13. Datsun 240Z (only 300 new ones were ever sold in Germany)

12. Ford F100 1st gen.

11 .Ford F100 2nd gen.

10. Corvette C1

 9. Corvette C2

 8. VW Karmann Ghia

 7. VW Bulli Typ2 T1

 6. VW Typ 2 T1 Samba

 5. Jaguar E Type

 4. Porsche 911

 3. Chevrolet Camaro 1967-69

 2. Chevrolet Camaro 1970-1981

 1. Ford Mustang 1960s

 

Classics with the highest proportional (i.e. %) value increase from 2000 to 2016:

 

 5. Fiat 500F

 4. Ford Escort MK 1

 3. Mercedes W198

 2. Citroen 2CV

 1. VW Typ2 T2

 

 

I would be really interested in what these figures would be for the UK.

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Makes the German old car scene look a little dull from my perspective. I could go for a fintail Merc but old Volkswagens and the like leave me cold. Where are the Opel Commodores??

 

I guess the British equivalent of the H plate would see something containing all the usual suspects i.e. along the lines of Mini, Minor, MGB, Spitfire, Escort, Cortina, Consul Classic (OK maybe not Consul Classic then)in some order.

 

There must be a way to find out

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Won't the comparison be skewed, though, by the H plate system which relies on conformity and actual take-up?  

 

I would imagine the FBHVC would have some figures but I can't see an easy way to get it from their website.  

 

HMRC or Border Force whatever they are called now should have some import statistics.   Again, actually obtaining these would be a pain I imagine.

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Classics with the highest proportional (i.e. %) value increase from 2000 to 2016:

 

 5. Fiat 500F

 4. Ford Escort MK 1

 3. Mercedes W198

 2. Citroen 2CV

 1. VW Typ2 T2

 

 

I would be really interested in what these figures would be for the UK.

 

Well, I can tell you that my 2CV was purchased for £450 in 2000, and was worth the square root of f*ck all by 2016, mostly because it was in bits and rotten as hell. Now, it's probably worth £5000, and all I've had to do is sink about £10,000 into it since 2000. Bargain.

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Junkman, can you enlighten me on German number plates- Noticed whilst there that most have black letters, although some were red, and some green. What's the story? Also do they have some sort of private plate system, as I saw a few "coincidences"...post-62-0-18957700-1498515876_thumb.jpg

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I think (iirc from fuzzy memory) German plates is to do with their tax system and area. If you move area, you need to re-register and get new plates. I remember this because a polish housemate boyfriend was very surprised that over here we date cars on their registration plates.

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Barry Cade., on 26 Jun 2017 - 11:23 PM, said:

Junkman, can you enlighten me on German number plates- Noticed whilst there that most have black letters, although some were red, and some green. What's the story? Also do they have some sort of private plate system, as I saw a few "coincidences"...attachicon.gifIMG_20170621_110658200.jpg

 

OK then, deep breath...

 

Large plates with black script are normal car / motorbike, lorry, etc. plates (with "H" suffix for historical vehicles, "E" suffix for electric vehicles, area code letters on the left used to be separated from the rest of the letters / digits with a dash before 1994)

Large plates containing black script with the area code only followed by numbers (i.e. no other letters) are "official" ones, e.g. police, etc.

"Seasonal number plates" are like normal car / bike, etc. plates but contain a starting month placed above an ending month on the right hand side of the plate in a small font, like a fraction

Large plates with red script are "temporary" plates for cars / bikes, etc. similar to our trade plates but available to the general public too because I had one on my old Suzuki DR500 for a while

Smoll plates with black / blue / green script are "insurance" plates for mopeds / mobility scooters, etc. - the colour changes each year so insured vehicles are easier to identify

Smoll plates with red script are temporary "insurance" plates for mopeds / mobility scooters, etc.

Large plates with black script and a yellow band on the right are another form of temporary plate for normal cars / bikes, etc. valid only for 5 days

Large plates with black script and a red band on the right are export plates

Large plates with green script are for tax-exempt vehicles e.g. agricultural equipment

Large plates with black script and a 0 instead of the area code are diplomatic plates

...and then there are plates with black script and special letter codes for military (X or Y with a German federal flag on the left), government, some police forces, etc.

 

And yes, you can pay extra at the Verkehrsamt to get certain letter / number combinations on the proviso that they start with the area code in which you register the vehicle.

 

So, is everyone happy with the British system? :-D

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Junkman, can you enlighten me on German number plates- Noticed whilst there that most have black letters, although some were red, and some green. What's the story? Also do they have some sort of private plate system, as I saw a few "coincidences"...attachicon.gifIMG_20170621_110658200.jpg

 

 

 

The letters before the stamp (formerly a hyphen) are the place the car is registered at.

The letter/number combination that follows is the actual reg.

The H means it's registered as a historic car.

'Official' vehicles (Communal, Police, Federal) only have the place letters and a number combination.

Red characters mean it's a dealer plate.

Green characters mean it's tax exempt. Only agricultural vehicles, trailers specifically for sporting goods/animals,

showman's vehicles and certain vehicles for disaster relief are completely tax exempt in Germany.

 

You can always chose the letter/number combination after the stamp, i.e. the actual reg. All you need to do is say you want a certain combo

and if it is not yet taken, you can have it. This is 'officially' free of charge, but it is customary to make a small donation to a local charity

'for the effort'.

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These used to be used as export plates, but they've been replaced by the ones with the red stripe on the right.

 

The reason for the change was that the oval plate could only be used on cars with protruding bumpers.

Once not every car exported was a Beetle, the plate became difficult to mount.

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How many Germans have a moped strapped to their campervan and use it while on holidays?

At least it's insured, as opposed to the millions of UK reg cars driving around in Spain for a decade or three.

Or somebody I knew who rode a Benelli Tornado on Dutch plates for years.

 

Neither he, nor the Benelli, were Dutch.

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