Please forgive me for being ignorant, but here in the States we get new license plates every five years. I have the old ones from my Jag (dating back to 89, in fact) up on my garage wall. Is this the case over the pond? I ask because I've got a friend with an M3 and he got a hold of a German number plate for the front of his car, and it looks quite good. I thought an authentic GB license plate for the front of the XJS would look just right. I'll have to make a spacer since the bumper cutout is sized for an American plate, but no matter.

Is there anyone on here with a spare plate (in decent condition) that I could purchase? I'm hoping that someone might have a stack of plates sitting around like I do and might be persuaded to part with one!

 

British plates stay on the car it's entire life. Unless you get some private plates but they cost a fortune...

 

How about this or something similar?

Genuine England License Plate GB UK British United Kingdom | eBay

 

xjsman89,

It might be worth you understanding the UK Registration Plate system as this might influence what type of plate you want. As mentioned, in the UK, the plate is a Registration Plate, assigned to the vehicle at the time that the car was first registered for road use. It then stays with the car forever (unless you "de-register" the plate and register another, perhaps private / personalised plate on the car).

So if you just buy a plate (plenty of places on ebay will, unfortunately, just sell plates to anyone) it might still be the legal registration plate of a UK car. That presumably doesn't matter if you're another country but it slightly defeats the purpose of "having your own" UK plate.

What you perhaps ought to do is fit a plate of a car that has been scrapped, so the plate is now not registered to a UK car.

Also, UK plates after 1963 indicate the age of the car (again unless they've been swapped for a personalised plate). So, unless you fit a pre-63 dateless plate, you might choose to fit a plate commensurate with a 1989 car.

For cars 1st registered from Aug 1 1988 to 31st July 1989 that means a plate "F" then 1-3 numbers then 3 letters (but not I, Q or Z) eg F666 ABC

For cars 1st registered from 1st Aug 1989 to 31st July 1990 that means a plate "G" then 1-3 numbers then 3 letters eg G45 KLM

Hope that helps!

Paul

 

My XJ-S still has it's British plates, though ot needed. If you want, I can give you the front plate (white, I think it was THV xxx G (x = number/digit). I think it is from an 89 too, though one of the previous owners had some private plates...

My German plates will be quite XJ553 like (XJ-S 5.3)

 

Check your state laws regarding front plates. In Ohio, where I live, we are still rather backward, requiring the state issued plate to be displayed in front.


I have a Brit plate that I run, and will occasionally get stopped by a local cop who has nothing better to do, and cited for not having the correct plate. I comply with the citation and then promptly change the plate back to the Brit plate, and run until the next encounter.


In Ohio, you'd think, since we have a Republican Governor and a heavily Republican legislature, we'd be able to get that old chestnut of a law changed. But every time someone puts a bill forward, the police lobby pushes back, and the bills never make it to the floor for a vote.


Numskulls.


Anyway, you are forwarned!

 

Daim,

As I'm sure you know, THV xxxxG is a 1968 registration, so obviously a previous owner took off the original registration and put that plate on the XJS.

Paul

 

I didn't know that, mate. Cheers for telling me!

 

Maybe in Kansas. In Fl and Ga you just get a new reg sticker every year.

 

Wow, everyone! Thanks for all the information. That helped quite a bit!

No worries about front plates here in Kansas. They don't even issue them. They were issued but optional through the 90s, then they stopped altogether.

I looked through the eBay auctions and couldn't find any that appeared to be an 89 plate. I found this one but it doesn't seem to be the correct format.

I would be more inclined to get a plate from a car that I know the history of, at least somewhat. I would take you up on that, Diam, if you would let me have it!

I'm also seeing some yellow and some white plates, what is the story there? White on the front, yellow on the back? I would want a white plate in that case, so that it's accurate!

Thanks again, everyone!

 

Earlier plates were silver or white letters on black background (front & rear).

You're correct about later plates being white on front and yellow on the rear.
The plate on eBay you linked to is an example of a newer (current) format that started in 2001 when all previous combination had been used and a change to issuing reg plates twice per year depending on whether car registered in first part of year or later in year.

The registration you linked was introduced in 2002

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehi...as_territories

 

Sure you can habe my front white plate from my exported car. Just need to find the bumper again It even comes with dealer stamp iirc!

 

That would be great, Daim! I'll send you a PM with info.

I saw a couple plates while browsing that had dealer stamps, but I didn't know what they were called. Are plates with dealer stamps more desirable or something of the sort? I assume you get a dealer stamp from the dealer you buy the car new from, if that is the case?

I didn't know this thread would turn into an education about British license plates, but I'm glad that it did! It's quite fascinating.

 

I always liked the older style GB plates (silver on black), and there are companies who will custom make them or various other styles in any number/letter combo you want. See the link below.

See your Custom British License Plates immediately!

 

xjsman89,

Black letters on the white (almost cream) background is a front plate compulsory fitment in UK for cars first registered after 1st Jan 1973. The black and silver plates were not fitted on new cars from that point although, confusingly, the recent change in taxation means that cars older than 40 years can now fit them! Which means that an 89 XJS will eventually be able to have them by 2029! Mind you, I think it's completely inappropriate for a car to now have them if it didn't have them from new. I have dateless / personalised plates (42 PS) on my 95 XJS, but they have to be the white / yellow ones. I have an original plate for nearly every car that I have ever owned, but they are not for sale. And as many of the cars still exist, it wouldn't seem right for anyone other than the current owner of the cars to display the plates.

My suggestion if you're going to fit one would be to find an F-Reg or G-Reg plate as described earlier as those are the only plates which indicate a UK 1989 XJS.

Good luck with your project.

Paul