The change to the August registration in 1967 was due to trade pressure - people tended to buy a new car at the height of summer, and more cars were sold at that time. Having a 'new' registration on your new car in August showed everyone you really had a brand new car, not one six months old...so dealers sold even more cars in August from then on.

I think that you will find that Prefix A came out in August 1963. I had a Riley Elf 184GWC registered in 1963. Great information. Martin (Thailand)

Interesting.

Nice one! I knew about the old suffix plates denoting the year but not the others. You've provided a lot of good info for choosing the right vehicles for a layout in one video. Cheers.

Something you haven't mentioned is the switch to reflective (white front, yellow rear) plates from the earlier black and silver type. Reflectives first became available as an option from 1967 with the E suffix. They became compulsory on new cars from 1975 with the P suffix. If you look at contemporary TV and film though you'll find that reflective plates were pretty much the norm on new cars by the early 1970s. The government has muddied the waters a bit recently by making black and silver plates legal on classic cars in line with the 40 year rule for free road tax. I've noticed this leading to one or two errors in period dramas where cars are wearing black and silver plates that wouldn't have been legal at the time.

Go Whippet , were based just outside Cambridge . The bus is an ex London Metropolitan.

Hi just watched your road veichle video were did you get your BR fork lift from would like to get some of those for my layout. Regards Ron @Willenhall Parkway.