Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Black/silver number plates

Am I right in my conclusion that I can fit the old style black and silver pressed metal plates to my 1974 4/4. I believe that there was a cutoff of January 1973 unless the vehicle is registered as a historic vehicle and attracts no road tax whereupon the cutoff date moves to January 1978. I think that the old style plates suit the Morgan better than the modern reflective ones.

As an aside has anyone noticed that the old style registrations do not get registered by supermarket car park cameras. At least my 1968 MGB doesn't in my local Sainsburys!

It's certainly my understanding that black/silver plates are legal if your car is registered as historic ..... took the time to check it out on the official website a while ago .... my '75 will certainly be coming out with old style plates when it's finished. I agree they look much better on a Morgan

K

I believe the black/silver number plate cut off extension for registered historic vehicles is fixed at January 1979 or earlier, so not to be confused with the rolling 40 year tax and MOT exemption.

This gets discussed from time to time and there are two views.

Non reflective plates may look better but at the rear, with tiny lights, you need to be visible. We followed a dark coloured Mog on the M42 in the dark and pouring rain and it was lost in the traffic. He didn't have a reflective plate.

A good point DW...
Just wondering if a reflective silver on black would be effective.
I have reflective silver panels on a Hi Viz jacket and they stand out wonderfully.

You need DVLA document INF104

That is correct, although the DVLA doesn't publicize the fact too much (presumably as it doesn't really make much sense!). There is a DVLA blog post here: Inside DVLA blog that details the link between black/silver plates and the 40 year rolling "hstoric" class. The post gives the cutoff date as 1 Jan 1975 because the blog itself was written in 2015. Unfortunately a number of other sites have taken the post literally and repeated that date as being fixed, which it isn't.

There is previous TM thread here Silver/black plates cause confusion!

One option to overcome the reduced reflective visibility could be to carry a rear that is the modern reflective type. It can be fitted quickly over a retro style plate with clips/cable ties. The added safety is something to be thought about if you are out in poor visibility.

Thanks TBM, you found the document while I was typing my reply. The bit that causes confusion is the wording "From April 2020 vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1980 are also able to display traditional ‘black and white’ number plates." People tend to take the date in the document as absolute, whereas INF104 is updated annually to reflect the 40-year exemption. As mentioned in the other thread, the rolling date for black/white number plates was apparently not intended but for some reason persists.

I have a grey 4/4, I love the colour but its not the most visible of colours. I am however a fair weather Morgan driver and its very unlikely that I would be driving in conditions of poor visibility or even at night.

If I did, the first thing id do is to upgrade the rear lights and numberplate bulbs with LED bulbs. I've already upgraded the sidelights and headlights. Admittedly reflective numberplates are usefull if parked up at the side of the road at night without lights but I wont be doing that either!