Late registration madness

[vanmartinrooy]

When I was a kid in the late 80s, our family car was a Chevette estate on a C plate. It had been used from new as a runaround on a massive army base nearby (might have been Aldershot barracks), so they didn't bother register it until it was sold on. I saw another near identical one around a few times, which presumably came from the same place!

 

Still remember my dad getting pulled over, as some eagle eyed policeman noticed the reg was about 3 years too new...

[SierraMikeHotel]

An M-plate Maestro has popped up locally (I'm always rushing to work when I see it so haven't got a photo yet, but I will try).  It's a right old shitter but it seems to be in daily use and possibly for commuting as I always see it parked in slightly different places.

Without Googling it, I think they were still available new in 1994 but I'm willing to be wrong on that.  I'm also aware that some were manufactured elsewhere under licence and wandered back here to be registered later (Tim Moore wrote a superb travel book from the driving seat of an R-plater).

 

Whenever I see the thing it strikes me that you'd have to have been patriotic to the point of blindness to buy a new Maestro in 1994.  Why on earth would you have this rather than a 306/ZX?  Golfs and Escorts were in the doldrums then, but surely still better than this.

[uk_senator]

Saw this on a dereliction site, taken a few years ago from what I can make out. The picture description was a Ford Granada, when I've checked the reg to see if it was officially registered as the wrong car, its coming back as a Taurus, registered in 2010, last MOT`d in 2013, with only 67km in between..

[bezzabsa]

Late reg Maestro's were kits that got sent to Bulgaria (IIRC) then re imported back to the UK....Ledbury I think

[Hendry]

An M-plate Maestro has popped up locally (I'm always rushing to work when I see it so haven't got a photo yet, but I will try).  It's a right old shitter but it seems to be in daily use and possibly for commuting as I always see it parked in slightly different places.

 

Without Googling it, I think they were still available new in 1994 but I'm willing to be wrong on that.  I'm also aware that some were manufactured elsewhere under licence and wandered back here to be registered later (Tim Moore wrote a superb travel book from the driving seat of an R-plater).

 

Whenever I see the thing it strikes me that you'd have to have been patriotic to the point of blindness to buy a new Maestro in 1994.  Why on earth would you have this rather than a 306/ZX?  Golfs and Escorts were in the doldrums then, but surely still better than this.

 

Im sure M was the last of the genuine Maestros sold through the UK Rover dealer network, anything newer will be a Ledbury or some other Bulgarian CKD kit, and theres another, cant remember the name, apple-something?

 

Agreed im not sure why youd buy one when the excellent mk3 Astra was kicking about then, guess they mustve been cheap, because they were shite in 1990 when my father bought a 1986 D plater, rusted to buggery, all the electrics failing and absolutely falling apart by the time it was 8 years old. 

[Kringle]

Don't forget these may not be their original plates, as pure vanity I would love to waste some money on buying KR17GLE to match my long used username and stick it on my 2010 daily. Red herrings yus?

[SierraMikeHotel]

Late reg Maestro's were kits that got sent to Bulgaria (IIRC) then re imported back to the UK....Ledbury I think

That's what I was thinking of, thank you.

[adw1977]

Don't forget these may not be their original plates, as pure vanity I would love to waste some money on buying KR17GLE to match my long used username and stick it on my 2010 daily. Red herrings yus?

DVLA won't allow a plate that makes the car appear newer than it is.

[sierraman]

Sheffcortinacentre would probably be the person to answer the query with the cortina.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Being a taunus on UK plates as said prob exforces,b/c reg mk5s are usually again as said stockpiled ones.

One thing I've never come across is a H reg mk3 or P reg mk4 seen P reg tau us mk4s & T rev mk5s are seen in the professionals & a few road tests.

[sierraman]

Who stock piled them?

[lesapandre]

The secret stockpiler.If I won the Euromillions - not a piffling 1 or 2 million but the whole full-fat 120 I'd stockpile rare cars I'd in my converted aircraft hanger. How about buying every one of a particular car? 

[lesapandre]

Every Allegro Vandenplas

[lesapandre]

All of them

[Lord Sterling]

Spotted on New Year's Eve (and sadly in a hurry, so no better shot available) - Rover (800) Sterling 2-dr, registered Sept 1999 according to DVLA.

 

20171231_160040.jpg

 

Late reg madness, or were a fair few of these registered on a V-plate?

 

Rare old beast in N. Ireland anyway. Looked well cared for, at any rate.

The mk2 Rover 800 seized production around mid to late 1998 but was on sale until mid 1999 when the 75 came out. There aren't many V-reg models. I think the latest one I've ever seen was a Y-reg 820. The latest of the 1st-gen 800 was supposed to last until 1991 on a J-plate but there were a couple that made it to K and apparently even an M-reg.

[Kringle]

DVLA won't allow a plate that makes the car appear newer than it is.

Learn something new every day, thanks adw1977.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Various fleet buyers as said the BBC kept cortinas to be fitted out as ob cars.

 

The emergency services did it with various jam sarnies SD1s & the like.

[forbeslongden]

December 2002, latest I’ve seen.

[SRi05]

06 Raver 75? Thought the oldest one of these would be an 03/04

[BorniteIdentity]

06 Raver 75? Thought the oldest one of these would be an 03/04

There are some 08 platers around; in fact I remember not so long ago there was a garage around Bristol selling them with delivery miles on them for top money.

 

What’s even more confusing, is a lot of them are pre facelift! Something in the back of my mind is saying they were meant for the Caribbean market, but that might be horse shit.

 

https://goo.gl/images/FsrVmj

[danthecapriman]

there were B plate cortina80 estates  knocking around in normal use as run out stock   ( and possibly even later reg in BBC local radio use as  the beeb stockplied them  while  doing a new  radio car  design and spec  )

BBC definitely stockpiled them. I did a bit of research into my ex BBC Transit mk2 OB van and found some pics and odd details about some of these Cortina's too. There weren't that many but they did definitely get stockpiled, latest ones I've seen pics of were mk5/80 estates on D reg (86) plates. No idea how many, if any have survived though.

[bub2006]

December 2002, latest I’ve seen.

I've seen a few 52 plates all in white. Think it's mentioned on here somewhere that it's to do with police force?

[fiatdaft]

Found on my photo bucket

 

X reg zx, import probably.

 

 

 

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[Essex V6]

Im sure M was the last of the genuine Maestros sold through the UK Rover dealer network, anything newer will be a Ledbury or some other Bulgarian CKD kit, and theres another, cant remember the name, apple-something?

 

Agreed im not sure why youd buy one when the excellent mk3 Astra was kicking about then, guess they mustve been cheap, because they were shite in 1990 when my father bought a 1986 D plater, rusted to buggery, all the electrics failing and absolutely falling apart by the time it was 8 years old.

 

I have to stand up for the much maligned Maestro - my folks had three of them on the bounce and they gave very little trouble and were actually pretty good to drive. In contemporary tests, they invariably wiped the floor with the equivalent Golf, Escort and Astra

[BorniteIdentity]

I have to stand up for the much maligned Maestro - my folks had three of them on the bounce and they gave very little trouble and were actually pretty good to drive. In contemporary tests, they invariably wiped the floor with the equivalent Golf, Escort and Astra

 

CONCUR.  I jumped from my MK2 Golf straight into my brothers Maestro back in 2000, and was very pleasantly surprised with how it conducted itself.  The 1.3 was very willing - good viability, easy steer, gearbox was easy - perfect 2nd car for him.

[Essex V6]

What could have been - ARG's planned facelift - how neat is this!

 

Definite shades of the original Ibiza

[Talbot]

I'm sure I saw someone somewhere photoshop the deep crease out of the sides of a Maestro.. it brought the car right up to date and looked waaaay better than it does as standard. It was a brave move to have such a strong shape in the side of the car, and it did it no favours IMO.

[adw1977]

I'm sure I saw someone somewhere photoshop the deep crease out of the sides of a Maestro.. it brought the car right up to date and looked waaaay better than it does as standard. It was a brave move to have such a strong shape in the side of the car, and it did it no favours IMO.

There was certainly a Montego facelift proposal with smoothed out doors, what looks like a full size mockup was made.

 

https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/austin/maestro/concepts-and-prototypes-lm10-and-lm11-facelifts/

[Pillock]

Cover up the headlamps and you've got a slightly wonky Rover 800

[Owain71]

There are some 08 platers around; in fact I remember not so long ago there was a garage around Bristol selling them with delivery miles on them for top money.

 

What’s even more confusing, is a lot of them are pre facelift! Something in the back of my mind is saying they were meant for the Caribbean market, but that might be horse shit.

 

https://goo.gl/images/FsrVmj