MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MG Y Type - Reproduction UK number plates.

To our UK friends : I'm keen to purchase a set of period-correct number plates in the style that I remember being on my uncle's YA in Dovercourt (Essex) in the sixties. I want to fix them to my own YA over here, on special occasions. As I recall, the plates were a sort of brushed aluminium on a black background. Could anyone recommend an outfit who would make up UK plates to order, with a registration of my choice, purely for static display purposes? As would be the case anywhere, it would not be legal in Qld. to drive the car with the local plates obscured.
Look forward to any advice. Regards, John.
J.P. Hall

Hi John
May I suggest that you contact a friend of mine, who has run a number plate business for several years.I have already spoken to him and he is sure he can help you.
He is Malcolm Green of Number plates4U;
mhplates@np4u.co.uk
Let us know how you get on as it may be of interest to other overseas owners.
Regards
Keith

Keith D Herkes

Thank you Keith - that's great. Will follow up and let you know the outcome. Have just picked up a 2 owner '47 TC, so together with the TD, I may have to order a job lot!Regards, John.
J.P. Hall

Another MG John !, well done.

My YA Saloon has the Qld Rego of OWL543 - I should get a UK style plate for display purposes too, along with a Monte Carlo Rally Plate perhaps ?.

Tony
The Classic Workshop
A L SLATTERY

Hey Tony - yup, that's it for me, I reckon! 61 now, retire in 2 years, and spend the rest of my time visiting like-minded friends, and maintaining ours. If I knew how to do it, I'd post a picture of the number plate style I have in mind - maybe someone else on this thread might do it for me. Cheers - John.
J.P. Hall

Hi John,

I've attached a photo of the plates Ive just bought for my YA....

They may be the ones you're after....but unfortunately they are the most expensive...!

The beauty of this type of UK plate is that it can be made as short as the registration number allows....other UK plates usually have a border but have to be cut down due to the distance between the 'D' lamps...and this always looks wrong.

Rob

Rob King

Goodness me, Rob - what a beautiful finish on the burgundy panel and the D-lights. The number plates appear to be the raised letter type, whereas the ones I'm after were flat silver lettering. Sorry, I should have made that clearer.John.
J.P. Hall

There are many different styles that the UK used over the years John. Original MG Y era ones were stamped out of a single piece of aluminum.

Paul
Paul Barrow

John....have a look at this link for Framptons, they do all styles but remember what I said about the space between the D lamps....most UK plates were 20 1/2" long.

http://www.pl8s.co.uk/CarPlates.html
Rob King

Hi John

I have used Framptons for the raised white digits on the YT. Rob is quite correct on the space for the rear plate. However, the beauty of these plates is that they are borderless. A large number of classics just use the bog standard pressed aluminium plates with borders. The advert that Rob has posted shows the styles that were commercially available at the time. Tippers are another long established supplier as another source.

The front borderless plate can be quite easily seen on the attached pic.

It is not quite as straightforward as it used to be to acquire a registration plate. You will need to provide proof of ownership etc, Though you will find the requirements of the suppliers on their respective websites.

Hope that helps!

All the best

Jerry

J P BIRKBECK

Hi John, repro plates are availed from several sources on Ebay. Just put in a request for "Show Plates" and choose the style you require. I prefer the pressed aluminium plates as they are contempory with the the early 1950s. Technically these show plates are not street legal even in UK as they can be bought without any proof of ownership of vehicle. Now that road tax discs are no longer required on British cars this means that anybody can clone any number plate without a duplicate check of the number displayed on the windscreen. Photo shows actual plate and show plate for one of my cars.
Regards, Mick

M C Bath

Provided the Pressed Aluminum from Framptons is borderless you should be OK with it. The original Y era ones were borderless.
Paul Barrow

Rob: good point about the available width; I'll keep it in mind.
Mick: that's exactly the style I have in mind; definitely borderless. I hadn't thought of ebay.
Jerry, Paul and Keith Herkes: I've emailed Malcolm at Number plates 4 U, but no reply yet.Incidentally, neither NP4U nor Framptons seem keen to publish their prices!
Thanks all for the help.
J.P. Hall

Hi Guys, plates with borders are contempory with all our cars as they were produces in pressed aluminium from 1930 to 1963. Borderless plates are also correct as there was no mandated distinction in the overall design back in the 1950s. As long as numbers were correct size and spacing they could even be hand painted back in the day! If anybody really wants to get an expert opinion on plates available for any period British vehicle go to www.tippersvintageplates.co.uk and they can advise and produce perfect reproductions.
Mick
M C Bath

Mick got there ahead of me - I bought a set of plates from Tippers for my car: Tippers are enthusiastic experts in all this, and can advise on period-correct styles and letter forms for any age of car. I chose the polished aluminium characters, and though certainly not cheap they look very good and have lasted well. Tippers made a rear plate to the precise dimensions I gave them, and it fits the panel beautifully.

To the point discussed above about borders: I still have the original 1951 front plate for my car, and it is bordered with the Bluemels badge at bottom centre.

Remember also that until 1963 British plates used characters that were 3.5" high. This reduced to, I think, 3.125" when the seventh character, for the year letter, was introduced in 63-64. I see quite a few well-restored cars of the fifties and earlier using the smaller, later characters. Do I sound obsessive?? :-)

Tim Griggs

Tim, I'm following up the Tippers lead, especially given their willingness to fabricate to size.
A bit o.t., but what a beautiful photo of your car - is it in fact black, or a very dark and desirable green?? It's that sort of picture that stimulates me to battle on with the resto of Y3348! Regards, John.
J.P. Hall

This thread was discussed between 28/10/2014 and 30/10/2014

MG MG Y Type index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG MG Y Type BBS now