A GAME OF NUMBERS
TODAY, ‘PERSONALISED’ number plates are usually little more than vulgar adornments, tacky automotive bling that requires a cryptic crossword brain to decipher into anything meaningful. But in the heady post-war British motor trade boom they were a bold statement and sometimes a vital advertising hoarding. Manufacturers, racing equipes and dealers (many companies were all three back then) embraced them as a cheap way of adding class and memorability to translate into sales.
They were so prevalent that well-known cars, especially the burgeoning road-registered sports racers, often became identified by their number plates. Sometimes multiple cars achieved fame with the same number, these hand-me-down halo registrations transferred to the next bit of prime stock when the one that previously wore them was sold. Tony Crook at Bristol had 100 MPH, then there were Dick Protheroe’s CUT 7s and
