01670 786151 (9am - 9pm) 
Suffix Number Plates.
The term "Suffix Number Plates" refers to car registrations that were in use from February 1963 through till July 1983. They were introduced around the same time as the M.O.T. test and were useful for identifying which cars were subject to that test ( 3 years old or more ). Each registration ended with a letter which signified the age of the vehicle. The format was three letters then a space then one two or three numbers followed by the new suffix letter
Incidentally, in common with ageless registrations it is possible to identify the area of the country the vehicle was first registered by the last two letters of the first part of the registration number.
The letter I and Z were never used as these were reserved for use in N.Ireland, also the combination MAN was also reserved for the Isle of Man
This was the first time that a car's age was clearly displayed for all to see and started the mania which has gripped the U.K. ever since of having the current years car.This has somewhat been diluted of late due to the 6 month change of age identifier on new number plates and also the format of the current style plates which many people have difficulty understanding.
Sufix number plates can be usefull in trying to spell names as they have three letters a number and then another letter, this format can be used to create some excellent private number plates such as CHR 1S.
Many of the unissued suffix registrations have been released by the DVLA for purchase in one of their various auction, they have not as yet been made available in the same way as prefix and current style registrations.
If you have any questions regarding any of the above , please contact us by email or telephone.
Back to Glossary Index
