The DeLorean Owners Club UK Forum

hi all

finally have a W reg from DVLA.

now my car came from New York state.

at states-plates.com, they have a new york plate, with statue in graphics.

would you have this?.

will i get pulled over?, and would you put Delorean at the bottom or DMC 12?.

any other ideas before i order on Wednesday.

thankyou

Hi Steve,

On VIN# 4400 I ran US plates from States Plates for about five and a half years. I only got pulled over by the police once and that was because they wanted to have a look at the car, nothing to do with the number plate!

I had the date across the top (in the left and right corner) and DMC-12 across the top. Under the reg number it said DeLorean but in hindsight this was a bit superflous because I also had the stainless bumper letters on the back to make the name stand out more.

You can just about make out the style of extra text I had on my plates in this pic.

from a 'legal' point of view, all plates now have to conform to a set
standard of font and spacing due to things like ANPR and 'Safety Cameras'.

AFAIK, USA plates and Jap plates are pretty much the same, so you have
to make sure (if you've got a rear bezel) that the plate lettering fits in the
space, which is about 11"x5", rather then the 12"x6" (ish) that they normally
are.

From reading up on other forums where people are getting done for illegal
plates, this doesnt only mean illegal fonts and spacing, but it also means
logos on number plates are a no no too.

There are guys (and girls) on the Astra forum who have been fined £30
by the police for having a Vauxhall logo where you would normally have
the GB/Euro logo.

Slogans appear to be ok, I've got them on Flopsy's plates, and I've never
been pulled or had an MOT tester fail them.

Hope this helps,

The reglulations are a little contradictory. The rules state that an imported car can use the standard size and spacing as a motorbike plate... but if you do that, you don't have enough room for the correct border spacing.

I have my plates made with the correct font, with the correct spacing but "squashed" ever so slightly vertically so that there's a visible border around the edge. For example:



I've supplied countless plates and never heard of anyone getting stopped. It's common sense, and I like to think most coppers are blessed with at least a bit of it. There's no other way to be any more "legal" without removing the bezel.

You are allowed a slogan under the number.

stunned_monkey Wrote:There's no other way to be any more "legal" without removing the bezel.

You are allowed a slogan under the number.

Unless you invest in the Euro-Surround



invented by some british genius.

James

On my car I have an 80s style California plate on the back. This was made by these people: http://www.platemyride.com/sim_usa.php You can try out different plates and text on there I chose california because thats where my car went when it was new. I havn't ever been pulled over, but I do know its illegal and keep the legal one in the boot..err bonnet. :wink:

This was my car on the previous number, and it reminds me of a motorbike plate a bit. The fonts are slimmer than usual...



Or, if you are lucky enough to have to have only 5 figures in your reg, then it can all go on 1 line and be perfectly legal...... Well almost....



But me being me, I went one step further to get that nasty yellow off the ass end of the car........



Like Claire said, most of the reason our number plates have to comply with a certain criteria, is that if one of the speed cameras/road tax camera's/red light cameras/buslane cameras can not pick it up, then thats lessens the finer's "revenue".

If you don't break the law, then you won't get fined. Personally, I don't host a dodgy number plate to evade speed cameras, I just think yellow is naff, and you can possibly avoid paying a fine by keeping the yellow one in the car, and swapping it over if the copper is unreasonable. Black and silver is legal on cars that are pre 1973 I think, so unless it's a really good policeman who knows his stuff, then I think I'll run the gauntlet with it!

FLE's one above is (was) a standard motorbike plate - cheers for illustrating my point that officially you haven't got the legally required border top and bottom :roll: stupid rules :lol:

I like the way the BLM2Y looks like it has inverted commas either side! Unfortunately BLM 2Y is a dated plate (1983) and the coppers will know that that's illegal.

John Hanley (and AFAIK its new owner) got away with DEL 4L in black/silver for ages. A copper would have to know the DeLorean isn't that old.

Hi Steve.

Just gone through the same headache. My local plate maker has the legal font and letter size. However if you have more than 1 number before the W then to comply you'll have two lines. One extra problem is the rear bezel will slightly obscure the top row of letters unless you remove the bottom clip (behind the bezel). Problem then is theres no support and the plate could drop lower. One fix would be to sticky pad it to the rear facia and then put the bezel back on. This is too much trouble and you'll end up with a gap around the plate.
Point 2 is that legally you need the postcode and BS number on the bottom of the plates to confirm legality for MOT. Forget this as the rear bezel will cover this too.

My advice is get what you want, and address it when your pulled or have an MOT set (just fit them for the MOT) Most times I've been stopped on other cars with "dodgy" plates they've been more interested in the cars and if the plate is reasonably practicable (great phrase) you'll be ok.

Just made these for my car.



Strictly speaking the letters are about 15mm legally too short, but my argument is that its the only way to sensibly fit it to the car without being obscured by either a "main dealer" frame or the rear bezel.

However if you mis-space, wrong colours, non reflective (us plates), use italic's or strategically placed bolts your asking for trouble.

Good luck

Best Regards
Darren

stunned_monkey Wrote:I like the way the BLM2Y looks like it has inverted commas either side!

Actually Martin, it's 1983.......

Looks like inverted commas from a distance though!



And although the yellow on the rear of the car wasn't the decider of me changing it to black.... The main reason was after 6 months of the plastic one being in there, air bubbles got under it (because of the heat?), and it looked awful. Thats why I decided to go for a metal one, and went with black for a change..... It's identical otherwise!

Ben

Darren C Wrote:non reflective (us plates),

Actually US plates are reflective. Whenever I take a pic with the flash i get a big white splodge at the back of the car :wink:

hi thanx all

now ordered, a us plate 60mm letters, New York across the top, which is where it came from (after the factory!!)

1981 and Delorean also.

i'll fit as best as possible.

by the way i am amazed the cops haven't sussed out the black plate, as it would stand out.

due to collect car Saturday from PJGrady

thanx

steve.s Wrote:due to collect car Saturday from PJGrady

thanx

Steve, you will not be disappointed mate, those guys work wonders - and
having seen your car when I picked Flopsy up, I just know you'll be
gobsmacked by the transformation

Hi Steve,

Visited PJ Grady's yesterday car looks sweet !

Dan, the original US plates from my car (Blue & yellow Califorinia) are NON reflective.

It may depend on the source? I do know Craigsplates Isle of man do US style with reflective backgrounds as an option. I suppose it depends where your plates were made and what was ordered.

Whatever they are just enjoy!

Regards
D

Ah the old blue ones yes your right. They were phased out in the early 80s to the one I have. The one I have is reflective and all their plates since are all reflective.