POST-WAR PHOTOS FROM JP
These early pictures are of varying quality and interest, but still need to be exhibited for the sake of the members. They are now identified to save readers’ energy….
OC-436 from Finland area O – Oulu, travelling in Britain during the 1940s. 1939 US Ford V8 identified by Colin Spong. Pemberton archive
D 6116 from Sweden, seen in central London circa 1947. D=Södermanland (Nyköping). Pemberton archive
Swedish bicycles had plates, too! 57147 here, in London, if that’s a London taxi at left….
RPWO gives: 1939 Finland plates were revalidated for 1940 by painting the border black. Later “1940” plates were issued for new registrations and these are thought to have been used until 1945. Some 1943 plates were black painted wood, some dated 40 and some were in use as late as 1948. This black 1940 plate H.4268 is coded for Hame. The car is thought to be an early Skoda Pemberton Archive
This car may be a prewar German *Hanomag (convertible), seen by member Pemberton in Oxford during the 1940s. M 8257 is from the Swedish area of Malmo. Pemberton archive. (*2015-Now identified as an Adler by reader Spong)
N 39. – . A low number from N=Halland (Hamstadt) by John Pemberton in 1940s Denmark. An American Mercury. Pemberton archive.
AH=Hessen,1945-56 (US zone of Germany)(Lorrach). Messerschmidt bubblecar. AH 23-45. Pemberton 1945-56 in London
B/H 25-3323 from Hamburg in the British Zone from 1948-56. Note the massive ‘D‘oval. Somewhere in England on an Opel, by J. Pemberton, 1949.
A Finland pre-war Opel A-5026, coded A for Helsinki (Helsingfors) using the 1940 issue of the 1930-49 series, photographed by John Pemberton in Scandinavia.
A 1946-8 American Ford registered in the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Thomas (1947 T-14) visits Denmark about that time, and is allocated a Temporary Use (red letter K) Copenhagen plate K 110-067 (to permit it to legally circulate in Denmark). (This was because US/USVI had not been a signatory to the Convention which authorised international travel on their licence-plates.) Such temporary imports to Europe often showed their original foreign plates as well. Pemberton archive
R codes Reykjavik, Iceland. R 56 seen in England somewhere, 1950s, on an unidentified American car. John Pemberton
BH-4510. A Vauxhall Velox (c.1951) in London in the early 1950s. BH (in Cyrillic) hails from Bosnia-Herzegovina, by then a component of Yugoslavia. Pemberton archive
H 85 17. Rare Denmark-built motorcycle identified by Roger Kimbell in his comment below. H coded Præstø from 1919-58. Pemberton archive
The motorcycle with the DK plate is a rare Nimbus 4cyl in line down the frame machine. The only Danish motorcycle manufacturer I believe. Roger Kimbell.
Luxembourg series showed LUX below on the rear plate and above on the front plate. 6681 here on the series which ran from 1895 to 1940(!), although, oddly, this Buick(?) and photo are from the 1950s…. John Pemberton picture, taken in Denmark.
A-11829 A= Oslo, Norway Fiat? John Pemberton in GB
F 647 — F=Buskerud, Norway, taken in Denmark by member Pemberton, during 1940s. Another unknown American car model.
Z-9643 on a pre-war car from Norway, where Z coded Vestfold from 1929 to 1971.
R-7800 is a Dutch Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Oxford. R was a special allocation for temporary/foreigner registration from 1920 to 1951. Pemberton archive.
The rare Portuguese red-on-white diplomatic CD/10-46, seen on a grand limousine, – a 1940s Buick Eight. Dates of the introduction of this series are unknown, as are the embassy codes. Pemberton archive
8860-B ucharest, borne by another American behemoth – a convertible Packard Super Eight Convertible Sedan model – so someone very rich. (In 1940’s Romania??) Car i/d by contributor ‘BlackVolga’. Pemberton archive
VI-2623… A Morris Oxford from Spain circa 1950 in London. VI=Álava (Vitoria )
Alex Kafka writes: This Monegasque photo MC-1818 is doubly interesting: if I’m not mistaken, “LDVG” to the left of MC-1818 is a Connecticut vanity plate, metal validation tab included.
You may need to download and enlarge the photo to see the vertically aligned letters “CONN”. This style was used from 1937 to 1947, and 4-letter personalized plates were allowed from 1945 [RPWO paragraph (y)]. So this CT plate must be from 1945-47.
Connecticut was the first U.S. state to introduce personalized plates (called “initials plates”), already in 1937. Only two or three letters were permitted at first.
John Pemberton shot this double-plated Cadillac Fleetwood in London around 1947.
The first motorcycle in the photos with the DK plate is a rare Nimbus 4cyl in line down the frame machine. The only Danish motorcycle manufacturer I believe. The R 7800 plate on the second machine is an American Harley-Davidson ( just post war I think) VBR R
Sent from my iPad
Roger – remarkable identification. This is an occasion when we might utter the words of the Blessed Michael Caine – “Not a lot of people know that!”
Fantastic photos and historic documents, every one of them.
Is 8860-B Bucharest?
Interesting to see the pre-1940 Swedish bicycle plate, B-s 57147.
B-s was for the city of Borås.
БХ 4510 is Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1942-61. A better-quality photo than we have in RPW.
And notice the pre-WWII rear Luxembourg plate: It has LUX underneath, as it should!!
Alexander
Very nice set indeed… There is one for which the identification would be difficult, if the oval was not there!
The MC 1818 is an evidence of the – scarce – 1928-1950 Monaco series, has it staid a long time following the starting of the 1950 one?
Thierry
Yes Thierry isn’t great to see that rare Monegasque? So few pictures seem to have survived. I will try to obtain a year of photo from John P. I imagine it is 1940s.
Vic on Angela,s iPad in S.Africa, near Umtata.
The Monegasque photo is doubly interesting: If I’m not mistaken, “LDVG” to the left of MC-1818 is a Connecticut vanity plate, metal validation tab included.
You may need to download and enlarge the photo to see the vertically aligened letters “CONN”. This style was used from 1937 to 1947, and 4-letter personalized plates were allowed from 1945 [RPWO paragraph (y)]. So this plate must be from 1945-47.
Connecticut was the first U.S. state to introduce personalized plates (called “initials plates”), already in 1937. Only two or three letters were permitted at first.
I think we’ll be scrutinizing John Pemberton’s photographs for a long time. What a treasure trove!
Alexander
Eu.575
What interesting info you give us about Conn. 1945-7 Name plates! Who would have guessed any of that, Alex??
Isn’t it a surprise that so FEW pictures of MC plates have survived – after all, MC has always been the haunt of the rich and famous (like you and I) and accordingly, I would have thought that hundreds of photos of kings and stars on Rolls-Royce, Cadillacs, and Bugattis would have been taken by the international paparazzi, and often reproduced down the years…..
V Cape Town, Sunday
Victor Brumby at Knysna, Western Cape, RSA
VISIT the RPWO Blog at *https://blog.europlate.org.uk/*
First Finnish car is a Ford c 1939, second a Skoda Popular of similar or earlier vintage. Swedish cabrio in Oxford is an Adler built by Karmann. The Bucharest Car is a 1939 Packard – and top of the range at that – a Super Eight Convertible Sedan. Location Oxford, it seems.
Icelandic plate R56 is back in use, but currently on a Land Cruiser. http://ww2.us.is/node/928?vehinumber=R56
Also, Norwegian plate F647 is on a 1933 Ford Pickup since 2017.