UK Single-Single Number Plate Registry
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1x1's At A Glance
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Up until two years ago I maintained there were 419 possible 1x1's. There are more.
160 of these were sold in DVLA auctions
So how many 1x1's were there? How is this determined?
A through to Y excluding I and Q is 23 letters, each forward plate having 1 through to 9, so 23 x 9 = 207
We have the same in reverse format, so another 207
Some forward letters also have 0, namely G, V and S, so another 3
Z was issued, but as far as I can ascertain only Z 1 and 1 Z survived, so another 2.
Or so I thought.........
You see Irish plates aren't transferrable (but they are) and for some foolish reason I never checked Z 2 through to Z 9, and the reverse. No, I don't know why either, but it was certainly an omission. So out of this comes two things, firstly an additional 8 plates forward, and 8 backwards. Secondly.... one of them is actually still on a vehicle! Details are below.
So 207 + 207 + 3 + 2 + 8 + 8 = 435 possible plates
As time has gone on more and more are spotted (when I started running the site in 2016 we had 232 spots), but the new spots are naturally becoming less frequent. I maintained a list of 41 plates that were either lost or on retention and a FOI request to DVLA asking what ones were on retention was refused (a copy of that letter is at the bottom of this page).
Thankfully one of my followers pointed me somewhere where I could do some research and my first port of call was the 41 plates that hadn't shown on the usual checks for years.
I then checked the 9 plates that hadn't shown for years but I knew they existed because they were sold at the DVLA auctions.... Or were they?.....
Please remember that checks are run on several sources of data, and one thing above all is that DVLA data isn't always accurate!
C 3: Unable to determine status C 4: Unable to determine status C 8: Most likely a lost plate E 5: Last registered to an Aston Martin V8 Volante, date unknown F 2: Most likely a lost plate F 4: Most likely a lost plate F 5: Last registered to a Nissan 350Z, date unknown F 6: Most likely a lost plate G 9: Unable to determine status H 7: Most likely a lost plate J 2: Last registered to a Lexus RX400H in September 2005 J 3: Last registered to a Vauxhall Nova 1.2 Flair in August 1991 J 4: Last registered to a Chrysler Jeep Grand Cherokee in January 1997 J 6: Last registered to a Suzuki Grand Vitara in May 2009 J 7: Most likely a lost plate J 8: Last registered to an Audi A3 in September 2009 K 3: Last registered to a Citroen AX Debut, date unknown K 7: Unable to determine K 9: Unable to determine L 8: Most likely a lost plate N 9: Unable to determine P 4: Last registered to a Mercedes Sprinter in August 2008 P 8: Most likely a lost plate P 9: Last registered to a Seat Ibiza, date unknown R 6: Last registered to a Volvo 340GL in October 2015 R 7: Unable to determine U 5: Last registered to a VW Polo in November 2006 3 U: Most likely a lost plate 4 U: Most likely a lost plate 5 U: Most likely a lost plate 6 U: Most likely a lost plate 7 U: Most likely a lost plate W 1: Last registered to a Toyota Landcruiser in October 2005 W 5: Most likely a lost plate W 7: Last registered to a Mercedes Sprinter in March 2000 W 8: Most likely a lost plate X 9: Most likely a lost plate Y 4: Last registered to a Seat Leon in May 2008 Y 7: Most likely a lost plate Z 2: Most likely a lost plate Z 3: Most likely a lost plate Z 4: Most likely a lost plate Z 6: Most likely a lost plate Z 7: Most likely a lost plate Z 8: Most likely a lost plate Z 9: Most likely a lost plate 2 Z: Most likely a lost plate 3 Z: Most likely a lost plate 4 Z: Most likely a lost plate 5 Z: Most likely a lost plate 6 Z: Most likely a lost plate 7 Z: Most likely a lost plate 8 Z: Most likely a lost plate 9 Z: Most likely a lost plate Unable to determine = 7. Using the data I had access to it wasn't possible to determine the status of the plate Most likely a lost plate = 32. Data was pointing towards a plate that no longer existed. Known to be previously registered to a vehicle = 17. They should be out there on retention certificate somewhere, however, prior to 2015 these certificates had to be renewed annually. It's possible they could have now been lost. How? An example is does your family know exactly what you have on retention and how to renew it? The below plates are known to exist as after all they were sold through the DVLA auctions..... Or where they? 6 C: Auctioned December 1993: Unable to determine, was it ever issued? 1 J: Auctioned January 1995: Last registered to a Rolls Royce Azure in November 1995 1 O: Auctioned January 2009: Unable to determine, was it ever issued? 5 O: Auctioned October 2009: Unable to determine, was it ever issued? 7 O: Auctioned June 2010: Unable to determine, was it ever issued? 8 O: Auctioned August 2010: Unable to determine, was it ever issued? 1 X: Auctioned March 1996: Looks to be a lost plate, was it ever issued? 6 C, 1 O, 5 O,7 O, 8 O and 1 X show no data and it appears they were never assigned at any point to a vehicle, however, they would be in the buyers name anyway as bought from auction. Perhaps the retention certificate expired? Or perhaps they were never actually "sold"....DVLA's response, and it isn't good news...