PY, private car registrations for your car

Car registrations - an introduction

Car registrations legislation evolved through the following events. In 1896 the first legislative act governing the use of petrol powered cars came into being and according to London's Science Museum, sometime during 1896 the first petrol driven car appear on Britain's roads, a 1888 Benz. The purpose of this act was to promote the use of the motor car as a viable and efficient means of transport aside from the train.

Within five years of the first car appearing there were in excess of 101,500 cars in 1901 and the consequence of this became evident as more and more pedestrians were injured or killed as a result. History records that on August 17th 1896 the first pedestrian to be killed was Bridget Driscoll whilst the first passenger to be killed in a motor car was on 23rd February 1899.

Tracing the vehicles involved in accidents became a major concern as there was no licensing laws in place at this time. Consequently, The Motor Car Act of 1903 came into being.

Car registrations most famous A1

In 1903 A1, the first of the car registrations was issued by London County Council to Mr Earl Russell who had camped outside the council offices overnight in order to secure the registration for his own car. He beat his nearest competitor for this car registration by only 5 seconds, demonstrating how collectable these number plates were even at the start of issue. Nearly 100 years on the late Roy Palmer bought A1 from Dunlop and sold it along with its younger brother 1 A, both numbers were quickly transferred to two white Bentley Azures ready in time to collect the Royal owner arriving at Heathrow via private jet.

Car registrations have since evolved to become a major source of interest to many thousands of motorists throughout the UK with most registrations increasing in value significantly.