Number Plates - Silver on Black

[pcourtney]

I was about to put on the old silver lettering on black number plates, when I was told by my next door neighbour ( an ex copper ) that it was no longer allowed, really I said - "how comes you still so many of them on old cars then" - to which he shrugged his shoulders, so I googled and I am allowed, in fact any Jensen built before 1st Jan 1973 can

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From 1 January 2021, any vehicle built from 1 January 1980 onwards is not allowed to display white/silver-on-black
numberplates, ending a rolling 40-year allowance that was unintentionally introduced 2015.

Until 2015, only pre-1973 built vehicles were allowed to display the white/silver-on-black plates. Any built
from 1 Jan. 1973 onwards had to display current black-on-white front and black-on-yellow rear plates
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[VFK44]

Thanks Peter.
Few people know about the rolling 40 year exemption, which now covers all mass produced Jensens.
Even fewer, including me, knew this had been rescinded!

The cutoff for any black and white / black and silver plates is therefore any car built before 1st Jan 1980

[Richie]

I didn't know about it being rescinded! Every day is a school day.
Always looks wrong to me though - a '75 car for example being on silver and black. Equally a '65 car looks wrong on black and yellow.

[Chris_R]

Although not mandatory, the reflective plates were introduced in 1968 and most cars from then on would have had them fitted as dealers would have pushed the new "smart" style plates rather then the "old-fashioned" black non-reflective styles. At the time the plates would have mostly been with individual raised letters fixed to the plates.
From then on as well, one of the first things many used car dealers would do on a few year old second hand car would be to change the number plates to the new style to give the car an updated "smarter" appearance.
Many owners putting black and white plates on classic cars in the belief it is an original look are in many cases mistaken, the original plates would have been the reflective style.