Number Plates - The Case of the Reg Plate Detective

THE CASE OF THE REG PLATE DETECTIVE

It was a dark and stormy night. Rain lashed against the grimy window of the Roadster! office. Outside in the street, a neon sign blinked a pool of bright green light through the window blind.

I was struggling to peel back the hood on the real mystery hittin’ the mean streets.

There was somethin' funny about license plates, but I couldn’t figure what it was…

I held my head in my hands when in she walked. A dame with a glint in her eye and brains under her hat. I could tell right away that this dame had a hunch, and hunches are what put guys away.

“Now listen here Sammy. Forget the cryptic puzzles in the daily rag. That jumble of letters and numbers plastered on the front of every four-wheeled chariot? It ain’t just for show. It's a secret language, see?”

Intrigued, I leaned forward, the screech of my chair the only sound besides the relentless drumming of rain. "A secret language, huh?"

"It’s a code, Sammy" she explained, taking her notebook out of her trenchcoat "somethin' only the wise guys would know."

My heart skipped a beat. This dame might be onto something. Back in the day, the cops relied on snitches and lucky breaks. But this… this was different.

This was a whole new racket, a secret code hidden in plain sight…

A language written in car registrations?

“Now this ain't just child's play, Sammy. This kinda knowledge puts you one step ahead of the fuzz”.

A smirk played on my lips. Maybe this city wasn't so rotten after all? Maybe this was the break I’d been waitin’ for?. Maybe there was a chance to crack this case?

“Sure, the squares might call them "number plates," but us savvy sorts know they're like an identity card, a whisper of where the machine came from and a dead giveaway of its age”.

I leant back in my chair. It sounded like a system so slick that even a wide-eyed kid on the sidewalk could decipher it and become a top-notch snitch.

“Now hold on a minute Sammy, it ain’t that simple. Things get a lot more interesting after the year 2001. That’s when they brought in a new code.

The first two letters? A secret handshake telling you where the car is from – a cryptic clue to where it was first put on the road! 

Then there's the next two digits, the real meat of the puzzle. These two little numbers change every six months, like a speakeasy switching passwords. 

Here's the trick, see: between March and August, the numbers match the year. So, a car with "01" on its plate was fresh off the lot in 2001, that's a sure bet. 

But come September, things get tricky. They add a cool "50" to the mix, so a car with "51" could be either a late bloomer from 2001 or an early bird from 2002”. 

I scratched my head. This was somethin’ new to think about. 

“Finally, there's the last three letters, Sammy. These jokers are random, but they gotta follow a few rules. There’s no stinkin' "I"s or "Q"s here,                  

“and you forget about any three-letter rude words that might get you in trouble with the cops - they ain’t allowed”.

This dame was incredible. She’d given me everything I needed to solve the case. She turned and walked towards the door.

“One more thing, Sammy. Spot a car with the same first few letters and similar last three as another? Chances are, they rolled off the same showroom floor the same day… practically twins separated at birth!”

With that, she was out of the door and onto her next case. She’d given me the clues to start reading these registrations like a five-dollar novel. Every car on the street was now a clue in a detective story waiting to be solved.

Now get out there, and crack the code!

CASE NOTES:

Vehicle registration numbers are a way of identifying vehicles.

All motor vehicles using public roads have to display number plates by law.

Since September 2001, Great Britain has used a specific sequence of letters and numbers which give clues about whereabouts in the country that the car comes from and the year it was made.

First Letter	Region	Postal Area	Registration Identifier
A	Anglia	Peterborough Norwich Ipswich	AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AJ AK AL AM AN AO AP AR AS AT AU AV AW AX AY
B	Birmingham	Birmingham	BA through to BY
C	Cymru (Wales)	Cardiff Swansea Bangor	CA CB CC CD CE CF CG CH CJ CK CL CM CN CO CP CR CS CT CU CV CW CX CY
D	Deeside to Shrewsbury	Chester Shrewsbury	DA DB DC DD DE DF DG DH DJ DK DL DM DN DO DP DR DS DT DU DV DW DX DY
E	Essex	Chelmsford	EA – EY
F	Forest & Fens	Nottingham Lincoln	FA FB FC FD FE FF FG FH FJ FK FL FM FN FP FR FS FT FV FW FX FY
G	Garden of England	Maidstone Brighton	GA GB GC GD GE GF GG GH GJ GK GL GM GN GO GP GR GS GT GU GV GW GX GY
H	Hampshire & Dorset	Bournemouth Portsmouth	HA HB HC HD HE HF HG HH HJ HK HL HM HN HO HP HR HS HT HU HV HW HX HY (HW is used exclusively for the Isle of Wight)
K		Borehamwood Northampton	KA KB KC KD KE KF KG KH KJ KK KL KM KN KO KP KR KS KT KU KV KW KX KY
L	London	Wimbledon Borehamwood Sidcup	LA LB LC LD LE LF LG LH LJ LK LL LM LN LO LP LR LS LT LU LV LW LX LY
M	Manchester & Merseyside	Manchester	MA – MY (MN + MAN Reserved for the Isle of Man)
N	North	Newcastle Stockton	NA NB NC ND NE NG NH NJ NK NL NM NN NO NP NR NS NT NU NV NW NX NY
O	Oxford	Oxford	OA – OY
P	Preston	Preston Carlisle	PA PB PC PD PE PF PG PH PJ PK PL PM PN PO PP PR PS PT PU PV PW PX PY
R		Reading Theale	RA – RY
S	Scotland	Glasgow Edinburgh Dundee Aberdeen Inverness	SA SB SC SD SE SF SG SH SJ SK SL SM SN SO SP SR SS ST SU SV SW SX SY
V	Severn Valley	Worcester	VA – VY
W	West of England	Exeter Truro Bristol	WA WB WC WD WE WF WG WH WJ WK WL WM WN WO WP WR WS WT WU WV WW WX WY