Its weird though as ive seen one around by me thats got one on the front thats really small,around 200/40mm and has done for over 2 years with no problems,must just be lucky,mind you im running a square plate over on the o/s/f on my 96 prodrive.

 

I had standard size plate but letters were 10mm smaller in height and i got pulled and given £30 fine.

 

It must be able to be read by the automatic number plate recognition system

 

Today, October 2010, it is a £60 fine, plus you have to send photos of your new, legal number plates, on the car, to the dvla. If you have a private plate, as in my case, they also threaten you with withdrawal of the plate if you don't reply within 28 days.

Greg

 

if u get caught twice then dvla can withdraw the registration for the car so i was told by trafffic cops but not sure if its true though??

i got £60 fine in feb with a small plate that just fitted the front recess perfectly,even though i had the original in the boot,

 

I think you will find that some cars can have small plates.

My car has a small plate on the front and it has nothing to do with looks.

My car has an oil cooler in front of the front radiator, if I had a full size UK number plate then the oil cooler would not get enough air flow to it.

If I used a square number plate then the oil cooler and radiator would not get enough air to them.

As far as I am aware, if you can prove that the car requires a smaller number plate because of reasons stated above then there is not a lot the law can do about it.

Also, my car being a JDM Spec C is only part type approved, so again, the rules for this particular car are not set in stone.

If you are stopped and give the old bill hassle then they are likely to caused you hassle.

But if you explain that the plate is small like that for a valid reason then they will leave you alone, its not as if you will have a stupid font or coloured letters. If its legible then that should be fine.

 

Regardless of that being true or not, it still leaves you open to being pulled by the law to explain yourself. A hassle i personally could do without.

 

I'd rather be hassled by the old bill than have an engine failure!

 

I think it all depends on the copper and the mood he is in plus how you react. I was warned at a traffic census point but not fined. If he is in a booking mood, then discussions about the finer points of oil coolers and FMICs will likely lead to the question of declarations to the insurance company - which might not be a conversation you want to have. Coppers in the mood for a ticket will likely not be well disposed to a chat about performance modified cars on public roads :-)

 

Re imports, i've been here before.

“Size and spacing of characters: special cases
14A.—(1) This regulation applies in relation to any vehicle imported into the United
Kingdom which—
(a) does not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval; and
(b) is so constructed that the area available for the fixing of the registration plate
precludes the display on the plate of a registration mark in conformity with the
requirements of regulation 14.
(2) In relation to a vehicle to which this regulation applies—
(a) each character in the registration mark must be 64 millimetres high;
(b) the width of each character of the mark, other than the letter “I” and the figure “1”,
must be 44 millimetres;
(c) the width of every part of the stroke forming a character in a mark must be 10
millimetres;
(d) the spacing between any two characters within a group must be 10 millimetres;
(e) the vertical spacing between groups of characters must be 5 millimetres;
(f) the width of a margin between the mark and the top and lateral sides of the
registration plate must be not less than 5 millimetres;
(g) the space between the bottom of the mark and the bottom of the registration plate
must be not less than 13 millimetres; but, within that space, the space between the
bottom of the mark and the top of the name and postcode of the person by whom the
plate was supplied must be not less than 5 millimetres.”

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport.

As you can see, for imports, it is soley down to font size and spacing. The digits in your reg No. denote the smallest size plate you can legally have. ie A1 AAA as opposed to being B888 BBB.

 

fancyplates.com

never had any issues and have been pulled over a few times

 

this was the plate i got done with,fits the number plate recess perfectly.it was 2 bike coppers and passed me in town and even heard the copper say"hes no getting away with that", scum ba5tard5

 

Being RNPS I'm a little clued up on this:

Drivers caught putting illegal number plates will now face on-the-spot fines of £60, up from the current £30.

The increase in fixed penalty also covers illegal number plates. This includes failure to conform with rules on font, size and colour of number plates. The use of illegal number plates can have a significant impact on criminal investigations and crime detection..... blah blah blah......

I have been known to make the occasional show plate in the past ;-)

 

bet all them pimp mobiles with BI6 JAT or BIG 8OSS dont get any hassle lol

 

I got away by acting like a numpty in front off of the police after i got pulled for the motorbike plate i had. It was on the car for 2 years, apart from that i had no problems but ye it was a risk i took.