Tangiers Free Zone | Europlate blog

Faked vehicle registration

May 11, 2014

PLATEPETER writes from Austria:

I found this car last week and could recherche (I found) that an Austrian citizen used this Austrian unregistered car for the last five years with this historical British import-plate. He parked and drove in Vienna without a driving licence and also had some troubles with police in respect of alcohol, but the discrepancy of the faked British registration never came to light… QK is a circa 1964 issue!

In 1964, when QK was a current issue, this Mercedes was bought in England for subsequent export, and so was issued with a 'Q' plate for it's temporary stay in UK.

In 1964, when QK was a current issue, this new Mercedes was purchased in England for subsequent export, and so was issued with a ‘Q’ plate for it’s temporary stay in UK.

The ‘Q’ series had a long history in Britain, starting in 1921. Another use for them was to temporarily register a visiting car from a country which did not subscribe to the international conventions. Thus they were unable to circulate using their foreign registration plates. This vehicle entered GB for a rally in 1932, and the Automobile Association issued it this QE 475 tag for the duration. The AA and the RAC were authorised to allocate these plates on behalf of the State, to facilitate motor tourism, as all the complex services were offered by those two venerable Clubs.

The international settlement of Tangiers, the enclave in (former) Spanish Morocco, was among the territories which required local plates in many of the countries they might visit. Here is a Standard 14(?) just pre- or post-war, using QC 8825 for a visit to Britain in about 1948. Pemberton archive

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The Scottish RAC also had a batch of 'Q' plates to hand to visiting motorists, many of whom were US servicemen, at Scottish bases. QS 2801 is seen here on vacation in Paris, during the 1950s, the 'S' showing its Scottish RAC provenance.

The Scottish RAC also had a batch of ‘Q’ plates to hand for visiting motorists, many of whom were US servicemen, at Scottish bases. QS 2801 is (just) seen here on vacation in Paris, during the 1950s, the ‘S’ showing its Scottish RAC provenance. (anon)

9 Comments | Austria, Britain, Tangiers Free Zone, Temporary Importation | Permalink
Posted by platepeter

Maroc-Tangiers MT international zone

January 12, 2013

Another notable photo-capture of member EU83 is of the short-lived issue to the international settlement of TANGIERS, an enclave in Morocco, facing Gibraltar across the Straits. The plates followed the British style of the times (and might have been made across in Gibraltar, half-an-hour away on the ferry.)

T-4145 is seen here in 1940s London.

(From 1661-4, TANGIERS was a possession of the British Crown.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangier

Daimler(?) T-4145 from Tangiers, in Oxford durin 1947.

Standard 14 or Daimler(?) T-4145 from Tangiers, in Oxford during 1947. Also bearing a British Foreign-Visitor’s registration, QC 8825.

An example of a territory which was not party to the treaties permitting free circulation of foreign vehicles, was the TANGIERS international enclave, and to visit Britain after the WW2, this owner was given QC (foreign visitor to Britain) plates to permit his entry. Q-C was allocated to, and handed out by, the the Royal Automobile Association (RAC), as were Q-D and Q-H. The RAC and AA auto clubs assisted travellers with the considerable documentation required for international travel in those times – Motor Insurance, Carnets (partly to prevent the sale of cars in foreign countries), supply of International Ovals (seldom available in the originating countries) and so on.

BELOW

T 50 & T 11259. Evidence of diplomatic activity in TANGIERS is given by these pictures below, 11259, circa 1953.

The system existed until 1956, when the TANGIERS internationally-administered zone was re-incorporated into the Kingdom of Morocco. You have to be fairly elderly, by now, to have seen one of these in circulation!

Most interesting explanatory notes are given below, by Thierry Baudoin, who studies the Conventions regulating international vehicle movement. (See Comments).