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Sunday 29 September 2013

Car registration plates


Having an extraordinarily wide range of interests, my wife and I found ourselves talking about car registration plates the other day. We both agreed that we hadn’t seen many of the new ‘63’ plates but went on to admit that we probably wouldn’t have noticed them anyway. 

To me, a car with a ‘53’ plate rarely looks ten years old so I tend not to notice its age. Yet once upon a time most ten year old cars would have looked their age and some would have been real heaps. Maybe things have changed.

Better quality bodywork - less liable to rust.
Better quality paintwork - keeps its shine for years.
Static exterior design – cars have been rounded boxes for years.

I think the third point may be significant because who can tell the difference between cars these days? So why bother with new plates every six months - do people still notice? Did they ever?

6 comments:

Demetrius said...

The change in the effective "life" of cars has been astonishing. Back in the 60's and 70's even with modest mileage often you were left with a heap at four or five years.

A K Haart said...

Demetrius - yes, I remember trying to keep the rust on an A40 at bay. Hopeless task.

Woodsy42 said...

Not just the paint but the steel is also much better. The 70s BL stuff used to rust from inside the panels and push the paint off.

A K Haart said...

Woodsy - yes and the design too - fewer water traps and sharp edges.

Anonymous said...

"my wife and I found ourselves talking about car registration plates the other day."

I am trying hard to put this nicely, AK, but do you think perhaps that a little of the excitement in your marriage has, er, rusted away?

A K Haart said...

David - ah but I missed out the most exciting part - we were on our way to Sainsbury's!