Early Registration Madness???

[trigger]

I have no pictures - thus no proof - but I think I can trump all this by reporting several sightings of a J reg Vauxhall Corsa around Colchester.

I'm in Colchester at the moment, But i can't see it...

[Jon]

Just remembered another early spot I saw once at Tesco in York, circa 1998.

 

Nissan Micra (badged Datsun?) Y reg! Was a dark grey, quite scruffy and I think it had some extra garb, like maybe one of those grilles with driving lights in or something. Once again, no one else would be intersted except those on here!

 

Also saw a Y-reg 5 door Uno listed on Ebay a few years back.

[Gompo]

That e46 is mental. I thought S plates were early. That is a 100 percent great spot.

I saw an S plate E46 today.. I agree with you though.

 

I also saw a 'Y' BMW Mini. I'm sure there's a few about but I've not seen one for quite a while.

[brammy777]

Rare now?

[Vin]

Saw a Fiat Tipo on an E plate once. Looked strange as most started on an F.

I used to see a red E reg Tipo DGT around Tamworth about 7 or 8 years ago, but that was the only one i ever did see.

 

That said Punto's we're available on a L registration, not many left of those early L reg's either as i only see one L reg one knocking about now.

Glad this thread popped up again. As it reminded me that the other day I was looking through an old copy of Motor/Autocar from the Tipo launch. It was launched about 10th July 1988, so there were once 3 weeks worth of E reg models out there........

[M'coli]

Currently in Gairloch, Wester Ross. Didn't have y camera ready whe I saw an 'X' reg Corsa C - damn!

[Torsten2001]

Here's a wierd one, the last generation Audi 80 on an X plate EGH170X I think, I was driving quite fast in the opposite direction! A local number that doesn't look like a private number!

[peter9000uk]

X reg new shape Mongdeo in the works car park, earliest I've seen before has been Y plted

[r.welfare]

I've seen a few X-plate Mk3 Monds - and quite a few Y-plate Mk2s.

 

Mk3 on an X-plate with the V6 would be GR8 4 CHEAPER ROAD TAX, as it's just too early for CO2-based taxing.

[Angrydicky]

Saw a K reg Corsa the other day. Never knew they existed!

[kinkersaab]

I once spotted a J plate 850 saloon ,in white in stranraer, never seen earlier than k before.

[Guest]

I've seen a few X-plate Mk3 Monds

 

 

[Guest]

 

I'm pretty sure I've seen a F-plated mk3 Fiesta.

 

My mate has an F reg Mk3 Fiesta Van, and not an XRV either, a Fiesta van with a load bay instead of back seats and panelled up rear windows. It was running until very recently.

 

Rean?

I was binning a Mk3 Fester and he had a few bits off it to put on his his, hence the black bonnet and tailgate iirc.

 

That's the one.

 

 

It must have been a really early one by the looks of things. I always wondered where it got the black boot and tailgate from. It was an absolute shed when Mark owned it. Didn't stop it from being awesome though. He ran it on wide Capri steels which made the handling, erm, interesting. He later dropped it on GMAX lowering springs, which he cut down further, and fitted RST seats. It had a Weber DGAS carb put on at some point as well.

 

It was rotten as sin but Mark kept shelling out to keep it going. Eventually it got too much, even for him. It had been plated upon plate and he gave it away to a friend of his missus, who ended up scrapping it.

What makes the story slightly weirder is that my drum teacher Dave Kelly owned it for ages, but at that point it was oxide red with Si bumpers all round, and Bonus 90 white wheel trims. Dave then sold it to a builder, who passed it on to Rean's missus' dad, who sold it to Mark.

 

The first time I met Rean I was able to fill him in on his van's history. Conversely, he now owns a really late Mark 5 Cortina. It's 1982 or thereabouts - what I do know is that you could buy a Sierra when it was new. I think Mk14Dr's Escort is a really late one as well - it was built in 1975 - couldn't you buy a Mk2 by then?

 

A lot of people on the VOC reckon my 460 Turbo's one of the earliest left. The model came out in November 1990, and mine was registered in that month.

 

 

There was until 2002 a Y suffix Isuzu Piazza, that came in as a personal import before the official cars came in during 1986. It was a Bella XE that ended up in a scrapyard because of terminal rot. The Ripspeed blue Piazza that had the full leather interior also pre dated the official Follett cars.

 

One of the Amazon lads on the VOC has a mega early Amazon with the different grille and trim tops. It's earlier than Volvo UK's car if I remember right. I think it's from 1958 and it's two tone - red with a white roof. Amazing how a paint job can make a car with the same shape look dramatically older. In one colour, an Amazon looks like a 60's car.

[Pete-M]

I remember driving a brand new F plate Mk3 Fiesta LX (with optional electric windows). It felt like a giant leap into the future after the Mk2.

[catsinthewelder]

A friends stepdad worked for Nissan in Sunderland. He saw me at the bus stop one day (years back)and offered me a lift into town, I was a bit confused that I couldn't tell what car he was driving. Pre production N16 Almera on a W plate

[Jon]

I was studying at Sunderland uni at the time and often remember seeing a white 3 door V reg one of those Almeras slogging it out as a drving school car. Had no badges on but the cut-out for the Nissan badge in the grill was clear as day and it was quite obviously Almera-shaped, so not really that covert. I also remember seeing either a T or V reg X-type Jag at around the same time, in a street near the centre of York. Surely a prototype?

[mk2_craig]

Saw a Fiat Tipo on an E plate once. Looked strange as most started on an F.

 

I used to see a red E reg Tipo DGT around Tamworth about 7 or 8 years ago, but that was the only one i ever did see.

 

That said Punto's we're available on a L registration, not many left of those early L reg's either as i only see one L reg one knocking about now.

 

Glad this thread popped up again. As it reminded me that the other day I was looking through an old copy of Motor/Autocar from the Tipo launch. It was launched about 10th July 1988, so there were once 3 weeks worth of E reg models out there........

 

Being someone who read a lot of What Car? in the late 1980s as a kid, I remember tons of useless info such as the UK only got an initial batch of Tipos (maybe 500 - 1 per dealer?) before the factory shut down for its summer break, so it was ages before any more were released for sale in RHD. A vivd memory is sitting in the Jersey dealer's turquoise-blue DGT demonstrator - lovely! No doubt well gone now though.

 

Going back to the original post, I am sure WC? ran a C-plate 800 as a long-termer. The story was that they bought the car through the short-lived 'Asdadrive' scheme and that at 13 grand it would have been one of the biggest supermarket receipts ever.

 

Other rarities these days would be C-plate 309s and Renner 21s, also early Primeras/last generation Sunnys circa 1990 as there was a monumental fall-out between the manufacturer and distributor around that time - I'm sure early UK examples of that shape Sunny were badged Pulsar because of this?

[quicksilver]

My dad had a B reg Mitsubishi Spacewagon, a former magazine long-termer that was allegedly the first one in the country. There can't have been many of those on a B and the next oldest I remember seeing was a D reg.

[hennabm]

My own 323 UBL 44Y built Dec 82 and registered Feb 83 before the official launch in UK of March 83.

 

The other press cars were mostly TRX.....Y reg and all now appear to be gone.

Mine appears to be the sole surviving press car from the launch of the E30.

 

All registered in Reading VRO.

[oldford]

I've seen some V reg Skoda Fabias, they were launched on March 1st 2000, first day of the W registration. The V reg ones are likely all dealer demonstrators registered a few days before.

 

Working in car rental in the 1980s saw Y reg Maestros, Sierras, Renault 9s and Novas, A reg Montegos, Orions and Fiesta MK 2s (A300 LLC in an epic flat out trip from Southend one Saturday afternoon) B reg Renault 25s, MK2 Renault 5s MK 3 Granadas (B95 PLM was written off in a few days), MK2 Astras (we used B307NLU for a few weeks as it had a faulty speedo), Mercedes 190s, C reg MK 4 Escorts/Orions, Renault 21s, Peugeot 309s, D reg MK 2 Sierras, F reg MK 3 Fiestas (remember a red one F100 SLC), MK 2 Montegos, 5 door Novas (though these might have been out for some time as the company stopped buying Vauxhalls in the B reg and didn't have any more until F reg), MK 2 Cavaliers Renault 19s, H reg MK5 Escorts, Renault Clios and K reg Mondeos (though I had been up close to them 6 months before they went on sale).

[Taff]

hows about this for an early plate

 

 

 

thats amusing, a mate has a pair of rally-spec-ish mk1 escorts on N plates, would be funny to get them side by side

[M'coli]

They're re-shells, I've seen a Escort mk3 shell (with an Atlas rear axle )on an H-suffix. It's easier to re-shell a knackered rally car whilst maintaining the reg number than to try to get a "new" car its competition logbook from the MSA.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I remember driving a brand new F plate Mk3 Fiesta LX (with optional electric windows). It felt like a giant leap into the future after the Mk2.

 

Me too. I rented a 1.1 Poplier Plus in 1989 to go from Oxford to Darlington. I turned up at the Ford dealer (Hartford Motors) and was amazed to find it was a new Mark 3. It was quite a neat little car, a radiant red 3 door. Buzzed it up there at 90, and back again.

 

Regarding R reg E46's; they were launched in April 1998 but there were supply problems. The press cars were R plate (R177RRD is a press car) but they weren't really available until August.

[quicksilver]

Thought I saw a sure-fire candidate for this thread the other day - G49KRP on a Mk5 Escort van. Alas it was not to be, when I got to the front I realised it was a post-96 model with the big smiley grille, new in 2001 apparently and re-registered with an older mark for some reason.

[Black_GT]

Saw an F-reg Metrocab the other day! Don't recall ever seeing one on an F...

 

The vehicle details for F684 PYR are:

Date of Liability 01 09 2012

Date of First Registration 17 03 1989

Year of Manufacture 1989

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 2500cc

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type HEAVY OIL

Export Marker N

Vehicle Status Licence Not Due

Vehicle Colour RED

Vehicle Type Approval Not Available

[cms206]

Saw an F-reg Metrocab the other day! Don't recall ever seeing one on an F...

 

The vehicle details for F684 PYR are:

Date of Liability 01 09 2012

Date of First Registration 17 03 1989

Year of Manufacture 1989

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 2500cc

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type HEAVY OIL

Export Marker N

Vehicle Status Licence Not Due

Vehicle Colour RED

Vehicle Type Approval Not Available

 

 

DSC00044 by xahldera, on Flickr

[HillmanImp]

Saw an F-reg Metrocab the other day! Don't recall ever seeing one on an F...

 

The vehicle details for F684 PYR are:

Date of Liability 01 09 2012

Date of First Registration 17 03 1989

Year of Manufacture 1989

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 2500cc

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type HEAVY OIL

Export Marker N

Vehicle Status Licence Not Due

Vehicle Colour RED

Vehicle Type Approval Not Available

 

DSC00044 by xahldera, on Flickr

 

smart arse

The British or Commonwealth English counterpart of the American English "smart ass" (probably the form in which it was invented, before being borrowed back into British English).

 

Calling someone a smart arse is intended to pull them down a peg or two for adopting a position of superiority, especially intellectual:

(1) through sarcasm,

(2) by using obscure knowledge to score points off other people, or

(3) just being too f**king smug when they're right about something.

"Oh, Alice, you're such a smart ass."

"Actually, Bob, I would prefer to be insulted using the correct, British English pronunciation: 'smart arse'."

"But, Alice, I think you'll find 'arse' has been pronounced 'ass' since at least Shakespeare's time, and therefore far pre-dates the division of English into British and American variants."

 

[Wilko220]

An even arser smart...

 

[cms206]

smart arse

The British or Commonwealth English counterpart of the American English "smart ass" (probably the form in which it was invented, before being borrowed back into British English).

 

Calling someone a smart arse is intended to pull them down a peg or two for adopting a position of superiority, especially intellectual:

(1) through sarcasm,

(2) by using obscure knowledge to score points off other people, or

(3) just being too f**king smug when they're right about something.

"Oh, Alice, you're such a smart ass."

"Actually, Bob, I would prefer to be insulted using the correct, British English pronunciation: 'smart arse'."

"But, Alice, I think you'll find 'arse' has been pronounced 'ass' since at least Shakespeare's time, and therefore far pre-dates the division of English into British and American variants."

 

 

 

[Black_GT]

Touche sir!