Which Argentine series is it?

September 27, 2012

Seen in Buenos Aires in 1989, I never did find out what category of plate this was.     Any ideas?

Thanks to Bernt – see Comment below.

Unknown RA m/c

This Argentine Dealer plate was an oddity – and what a great thing to see!   (see Comment)

Argentine Dealer plate on locally-built Fiat

Because Argentina made its plates so well in years gone by, many survive in excellent condition, as has this San Vicente enamel example from 1929.   I found it  in a massive old milk factory in which a man named Nestor Corsi made new Ford Model T’s out of original parts which he gathered in from farms all round Uruguay and Argentina.    He manufactured anything he couldn’t find, including any style and colour of body, and sold them all to collectors abroad, mostly in USA and Switzerland, he told me.

1929 enamel plate from Argentina (VB collection)

It used to be at least twice a year we would see Argentine cars in London, during the 1960s.    Here is a Beetle near Putney, as always in  those times, carrying an international oval!

Cordoba-registered VW in London in 1968.

And a big American car of the period, from province of Buenos Aires, rather than from the city area.   It displays the usual very large RA oval which owners obtained from the Automobile Club of Argentina, as witness their shield.  Seen in Kensington, 1960s.

The oddest Argentine sighting for me was a 1920’s car bumbling along the road from Kuching to Lundu in Sarawak, in January 2011!     It belongs to a family which is circumnavigating the world.    Their movements are documented in several sites, one of which is:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365406/Are-nearly–Couple-Herman-Candelaria-Zapp-travel-world-11-years-having-children-way–theyre-going.html

4 Comments | Argentina, Dealer, Historic | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

Is there a new Italian type?

September 27, 2012

Victor Brumby in Italy in September 2012.

I followed a tractor and trailer in the countryside at dusk near Orvieto last week, which had both tractor and trailer plates in medium BLUE on yellow, not black on yellow as usual.     The trailer carried the same registration as the tractor (which I seem to have lost!), but had the red ‘R’   for Remorque (trailer).  These were both pressed plates, not painted.      It was too dark to take a photo, and indeed, my Italian would have been inadequate to explain to the rustic worthy who piloted the machine, the bizarre concept of xenoautonumerology – and his part in extending the boundaries of the science.    In other words, I couldn’t stop him, explain and photograph.    BUT – I DID follow him for about 6 kilometres before giving up.

Days later, I saw another blue on yellow tractor plate, that time without my camera (I am too old to use a smart-phone with built-in film unit) and the system was identical.     However, most of the many other ag. tractors and trailers I saw were as we usually expect, viz: black on yellow.

I await a response from out Italian pals, who may know of this type.

March 2014……Well –  no-one else  has reported this blue/yellow ag. plate AND I have been back to Umbria to search for it, during 2013 – so I must explain my faulty experience by reference to one or more of the Italian beers which I enjoy before I go spotting in the Republic!      

Moroni, Moretti and Magneto Marelli can all share the blame!!

BC 418T – Normal agricultural tractor series since 1999. No regional identifier.

Rimorchio Agricola (Trailer Agricultural). Current series since 1999.

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The paper temporary plates are still sometimes to be seen – see 27140 P 5.    The first I photographed was in 1965,  51962 C 1, so that type has been running for a long time!

P5 is the regional code for Viterbo interim plates, used on this Fiat awaiting technical approval.

Circa 1965, this new Fiat 850 carried temporary plates while it awaited inspection and allocation of its permanent plates.      Code C1 is for Bolzano region.                                             Brumby archive

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RPWO mentions that personalised Dealer plates are permitted, which explains this oddity, seen at the customs yard at the Adriatic port of  Ancona.     Perhaps this dealer trades in importing and exporting vehicles?

2012 personalised Italian Dealer plate.   Brumby

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In Trento, just before commencing the Brenner Pass into Austria, I paused for lunch (at an excellent Japanese restaurant – unusual for Italy!)  and found this this specially-plated Civil Defence 4wd with the TN code for Trento.

Trento is one of the three areas issuing these official Civil Defence PC plates, with Bolzano and Aosta.

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An unusual DAF 33 belt-drive car from the 1960s was awaiting photography in Orvieto, bearing the old black series plates.       In amazing condition, and clearly the owners’ pride and joy.

Dutch-built ‘Daffodil’ model 33 car from the 1960s, still working in Italy 2012.

DAF 33 rear plate from TR – Terni.      VWB

2 Comments | Dealer, Historic | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

Qatar – Camels to Maclarens

July 6, 2012

Ivan (Nip) Thornley on RPW Patrol – year 51 of service to the hobby.    Still he rejects the computer, and so what may be the biggest collection of  paper photos in the Club, cannot be easily sent round to members, except by hard copy in the post!   The writer is slowly scanning his archive, but it is a lifetime’s project!          Brumby archive

Whilst spotting in London on Saturday 30th.,  June, 2012, June being the premier month for visits by citizens of the Gulf countries who are not scrapping among themselves, VB noted this eminent autonumerologist at work with his trusty (film) camera, capturing an Illinois 2012  Harley-Davidson, seemingly abandoned.                 Gathering this worthy gent up into my car, N 692 LUF, I was guided by that ace-spotter, Nip,  to one of the Gulf-patronised hotels in the area, where two Arabian families were displaying their little treasures in the most prominent parking spots of the hotel forecourt.

The Qatari Maclaren plate 177  below carries the serrated red edge of the royal household members.   Tom Redington adds some amazing detail about this car in his response below!

QATAR 177 – The F1 Maclaren centre-steer road racer.   Brumby archive

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Parked in front of the Maclaren are two identical Saudi Maybachs which  are registered 111 and 999, and probably bring the total value of the cars this group bring on holiday with them in their private 747s, to about  US$1.5million.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such wealthy visitors as these, incidentally, do not carry conventional motor insurance, by special agreement with the appropriate government legal departments.     If they damage a local vehicle, they either hand out cash for repairs or replacement on the spot, or send someone round to pay up the next day, according to reports in the national papers.

London Transport, with their thousands of buses,  has the same facility, depositing a bank bond to cover any charges which might arise from a successful claim against them.    Presumably, so have the military fleets of some countries……..

I calculate that one could comfortably accommodate six wives in each Maybach, a situation with which I have considerable sympathy for the much-wed Muslim.

Perhaps the benefit could be that he can have no need to buy a dashboard sat-nav, as such prolific advice would be forthcoming in abundance from behind – if my experience is anything to go by.

3 Comments | Qatar, Royal House, Saudi Arabia, vanity/special issue | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

Canada – odd pre-war Quebec bus plate

July 6, 2012

            … The now-defunct but much-respected old vehicle journal in England, Old Motor, depicted this shot of an AEC bus in Québec in 1933, and it shows an X prefix, which is not noted elsewhere.     Could ‘X’ have been a code for service/city buses?  (now see John weeks’ reply.)

Until the 1970s, British vehicles were very popular in Canada, even though US factories had plants there, building several brands of tough US models.    A visit by the writer in the 1970s reminds of some common British makes in service then – an Austin 1300 (named Austin America for export to North America) and the bigger Austin 1800 (dubbed The Land-Crab) with a Vauxhall Vict0r, consecutively registered in Ottawa, Ontario.

This Austin America carried a ‘Q’ international oval, to display the owner’s pride in his province and perhaps his wish to secede from Greater Canada, the better to develop the bizarre patois of the ancient French language, which the Québecois have made their own..

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British Commer lorries were represented in Canada, as this 1954 photo shows of a Government vehicle in Ontario – where the small ‘C’ stood for Cargo (or Carrier (or Commercial) vehicle).    Several interpretations worldwide of the letter!   .

2 Comments | America-North, Canada, Dealer, Historic | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

G di F trailer

April 19, 2012

Driving to Milan/Trezzo and back for the 2012 Europlate Meeting, a few odd sightings made me reach for my camera:   Here is the first Italian Taxation Police trailer I’ve ever seen, taken as a moving target on the autostrada, whilst driving at 85kph.     Still, it came out all right….

G di F trailer

Presumably for collecting the bigger taxation amounts?

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Stopping above Nice on the toll-booth rest area, was 116189 RS, my first of the 2002-onwards Tunisian Foreigner series – Régime Suspensif – ‘given to foreign workers who pay taxes monthly’.   (Don’t we all?)

Tunisian Foreigner series

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Dropping our Editor Paul at the Milan airport on Easter Monday, the less-common Italian Consular Corps plate was seen parked on a Kia 4wd:

Italian Consular Corps for South Korea (GM), at Malpensa airport, Milan, April 2012.

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The Mercedes Benz Museum at Stuttgart was an impressive visit, though few plates were of interest.

They have made a good facsimile of the Vatican plate borne by the first Popemobile which Benz supplied in the 1980s.

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Though the Swiss don’t have vanity plates as such, it seems that one can obtain an interesting out-of-sequence tag:

NW = Nidwalden

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In Calais I was surprised to find that the local fast-food joint was delivering their delicacies on Luxembourg-registered mopeds!

Long-distance Pizza?

3 Comments | Consular, Temporary Importation, Uncategorized, vanity/special issue | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

Trezzo Specials

April 10, 2012

Among the amazing plates displayed at Trezzo, near Milan, this weekend (Easter 2012) were these, shown for the benefit of those who could not attend – but who have access to the Europlate Blog!

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Albania was occupied by Italy during WW2 (1939-43), and dedicated Italian plates were issued to the few vehicles in circulation there.    Probably they had no plates before – or they were made up of goatskin, which hardly lasted the year between those annual emission tests ……

Italy issued some great extra-territorial plates whenever it erected its flag in some fortunate corner of the world.   Rhodes, Cattaro and Eritrea are examples.

Here, from Trezzo, is a plate from the Eritrean Liberation Front fleet of semi-military vehicles, all now abandoned in the shifting sands, but awaiting your visit with a screwdriver.     (Take some bail money with you in case the plan goes wrong.    And some long books.    It may take some time to organise your evacuation – you will certainly miss the 2014 Convention!)

The ELF operated between the 1960s and 1990s, so this plate may be of that period.

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Interesting that opponents to the ‘government’ were able to obtain official-style plates.   We know that neighbouring Somalia has long abandoned plating their militia Toyota pickups.

This ‘font’ is characteristic of Ethiopia, which supports the ELF, so probably these plates came by way of aid to their administrative HQ at Tent 14, Dune 32,883, Boiling Desert.    A great place to fight over.

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CITES

After WW2, several international missions operated in Italy, to assist in the post-war recovery and their personnel were issued a fancy orange plate marked with the initials ‘CITES’, which Roberto Solbiati has kindly decoded for us as:

CIRCOLAZIONE TEMPORANEA in ITALIA di ENTI STRANIERI .

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To make an acronym that they could read, they put ITALIA before TEMPORANEA.
So the sequence of words is :
C – Circolazione – (Circulation (licence))
I – (in ) Italia
T – Temporanea – (temporary, for duration of posting)
E – (di) Enti – (entity, organisation, mission)
S – Stranieri – (strangers, foreigners)

(Temporary Licence for Foreign Organisations in Italy.)

Shortly after WW2, a new symbol was embossed on the (rear only) Italian plates, depicting three swords on a shield; this was the symbol of the National Disabled Veterans’ Association.      This CITES plate shows this emblem well.

The SITES series ran from 1947 to 1952, we understand.

The SITES plates ran alongside the ‘EE‘ plates issued to foreigners who purchased Italian cars there, to export to their home countries. (EE=Escursionisti Esteri=Foreign excursionist/visitor)

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I will add more pictures of the  other Trezzo plates which made me gasp, in a later Blog.

Leave a Comment » | Albania, Eritrea, Historic, Italy, SITES | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

1965 Chad Citroen 2cv

March 23, 2012

Ted van Rijn lived in Tchad overseeing the design and build of a new Heineken plant at Moundou in 1965.

There he ran this Citroen 2cv, 0390 A 07 – the 390 th. registration in the province 07 – Eastern Louoma.      There were no roads and the Citroen was the ideal vehicle for the terrain.    Chad had been independent from France since 1960, when it had formed part of French Equatorial Africa.    As usual in French Africa, numberplates were made up with stencils and white or silver paint, often in this characteristic font.

2 Comments | Africa, Historic, Tchad | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

Whose Vietnam photo?

March 17, 2012

Who took this shot in the 1960s?   It’s a 1960s-70s white on green Viet Nam foreigner plate, exceedingly rare to sight in Europe.     No claimant as at Dec 4 2013!

The anonymous picture (with the bumper attached) came to the Blog via Jim Gordon in West Oz, but Jim says it was not he who took it…….

Taken by an anonymous cameraman, seemingly in London during the 1960s, we believe. On a Hillman Husky.

This anonymous shot shows the Hillman Husky bearing a home-made VN oval on the bumper. The bumper was missing on the later shot, by Vic Brumby in Notting Hill Gate a little later, below.

 

The owner told Vic Brumby, when questioned, that he was an  ‘educational missionary’  and that his next posting was to Tchad.   He gave me a picture of his car in his pre-Viet Nam posting – BK = Medan,  Sumatra.      This was a well-travelled Hillman!

A well-travelled Hillman Husky in Medan, Sumatra (BK) before re-registering NTB 3621 in Viet Nam, then Tchad.

2 Comments | Historic, Uncategorized, Viet Nam | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

Unknown plate in Sabah

March 17, 2012

Anyone suggest the meaning of this plate FD 01 2195?     Two or three seen in Sabah on lorries, during 2010.

A Malaysian conundrum.

FD 01 2195 unidentified in Sabah 2010

3 Comments | Borneo, Malaysia, Sabah, Uncategorized, vanity/special issue | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

Antigua & Barbuda

March 17, 2012

A day visit by cruise ship to Antigua (St. Johns) on Feb. 3, 2012, rendered some new items of interest.

First, the original  Dealer (Motor Trader) plates had been changed a few years back, from red on white with Dealer initials and a low number (usually painted).                    ASM 3 is a 1981 example:

These changed to US-dimensioned,  pressed plates, thought to be in annually-varying colours, which showed the abbreviation  DL, followed by the initials of the Dealership (LR for Land Rover),  and then a serial number.

Antigua Dealer during the 2000s - Land Rover agency

2012 sees another Trade Plate change, with a complex all-silk-screened design, printed black, green and green on a white backgrounded US-size plate as shown below.   This dealer, Premier Motors,  has plates 1, 2 and 3 for their use.     This plate is un-drilled, as it is displayed loose from inside the vehicle, through the front or rear window.

Antigua/Barbuda Dealer 2012 (annually issued)

In 2007, Antigua hosted a round of the World Cup Cricket series, and the authorities issued a batch of commemorative plates for the most important participants/ distinguished visitors.

I don’t think they remain valid for Antiguans to use, but this plate survived for the pleasure of  Europlate members!   (Update) CWC 028 was among those to pass through the Europlate Easter auction at Trezzo and is now in the hands of a keen collector.

Cricket World Cup Commemorative 2007.

Current government plates for senior people are in a very pleasing colour combination of green on dusky yellow.   Ministers have yet another series, without any legends, in yellow on royal blue, MP and a low serial.

Antigua Government personnel from 2000, pictured 2012.

Antigua Member of Parliament

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None of the old AG prefix plates remain, though I did see one of each ‘P’ and ‘PA’ , which were subsequent issue, on scrapped cars.

Until 2000, when the new, US-style series began, Antigua often used a characteristic letter style, which helped to separate them from the identical  ‘P’  registrations issued by neighbouring islands in the West Indies and elsewhere.    They made up the digits with straight lines replacing the curves of numbers and letters.

Antigua Government vehicle, pre-2000, with stylised digits.

The smart annual tax disc for the country, below:

Antigua tax disc 2012

An excellent visit, where we found the Antiguans to be most hospitable and cheerful – and no grim looks when they see us photographing licence plates!     Members may know that we risk being arrested in many places these days, as we go for that  special shot!

Leave a Comment » | Dealer, Historic, vanity/special issue, Windward Is. | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby

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