CAR INDEX-MARKS AND THEIR LOCALE

One sees every day on the streets and roads cars bearing numbers and letters quite unfamiliar. It is advantageous, in many ways, for the motoriste to be fairly well acquainted with some of the more important index-marks. One can easily remember in the United Kingdom that Ireland’s index-letters all contain the letter I and Scotland’s all the letter S (with two exceptions). England and Wales to date, with very few exceptions, use up the letters A, B, C, D, E and F. London has now four distinct index-marks and no doubt will add to them as the increase in cars may demand.

All motor-cars must have an index-mark and a registration number, excepting those owned personally by his Majesty the King.

White letters and figures on a black plate are for privately owned cars. Trade vehicles use coloured figures and letters, usually red on a white plate. Trade vehicles usually also have additional letters which are granted them as a trade-mark or for trade purposes. But the index-mark or letter of their locale must, in all instances, be placed first on the plate.

Registration need not be effected in the same district in which the car is owned, so that, with some trouble, an owner can have practically any letter she likes on her car.

The fee for registration, £1, need be paid only once on any one car, excepting on change of ownership, when a fee of 5s. is payable. But with this change of ownership the index-mark and registration number remain the same. If a new index-mark and registration number are wanted, the existing ones can be cancelled and the car re-registered, in any locality, on payment of the full fee.

The following are the index-marks in use in the United Kingdom:

ENGLAND AND WALES

ENGLAND AND WALES

Index- Mark. Locale.

ALondon (also LB, LC and LN)

AASouthampton County Council

ABWorcestershire

ACWarwickshire

ADGloucestershire

AEBristol

AFCornwall

AHNorfolk

AJYorkshire, N. Riding

AKBradford

ALNottinghamshire

AMWiltshire

ANWest Ham

AOCumberland

APSussex, East

ARHertfordshire

ATKingston-on-Hull

AUNottingham

AWShropshire

AXMonmouthshire

AYLeicestershire

BLancashire

BASalford

BBNewcastle-on-Tyne

BCLeicester

BDNorthamptonshire

BELindsey

BFDorsetshire (also FX)

BHBuckinghamshire

BJSuffolk, East

BKPortsmouth

BLBerkshire

BMBedfordshire

BNBolton

BOCardiff

BPSussex, West

BRSunderland

BTYorkshire, East Riding

BUOldham

BWOxfordshire

BXCarmarthenshire

BYCroydon

CYorkshire, West Riding

CADenbighshire

CBBlackburn

CCCarnarvonshire

CDBrighton

CECambridgeshire

CFSuffolk, West

CHDerby

CJHerefordshire

CKPreston

CLNorwich

CMBirkenhead

CNGateshead

COPlymouth

CPHalifax

CRSouthampton Borough

CTKesteven

CUSouth Shields

CWBurnley

CXHuddersfield

CYSwansea

DKent

DAWolverhampton

DBStockport

DCMiddlesbrough

DEPembrokeshire

DFNorthampton Borough (also NH)

DHWalsall

DJSt. Helens

DKRochdale

DLIsle of Wight

DMFlintshire

DNYork

DOHolland, Lincs.

DPReading

DRDevonport

DUCoventry

DWNewport, Mon.

DXIpswich

DYHastings

EStaffordshire

EAWest Bromwich

EBIsle of Ely

ECWestmorland

EDWarrington

EEGrimsby

EFWest Hartlepool

EHHanley

EJCardiganshire

EKWigan

ELBournemouth

EMBootle

ENBury

EOBarrow-in-Furness

EPMontgomeryshire

ETRotherham

EUBreckonshire

EWHuntingdonshire

EXGreat Yarmouth

EYAnglesey

FEssex

FABurton-on-Trent

FBBath

FCOxford

FDDudley

FELincoln

FFMerionethshire

FHGloucester

FJExeter

FKWorcester

FLPeterborough

FMChester

FNCanterbury

FORadnorshire

FPRutlandshire

FRBlackpool

FTTynemouth

FXDorsetshire (also BF)

FYSouthport

HMiddlesex

HASmethwick

JDurham, County

KLiverpool

LGlamorganshire

LBLondon (also A)

LC“

LN“

MCheshire

MNIsle of Man

NManchester

NHNorthampton (also DF)

OBirmingham

PSurrey

RDerbyshire

TDevonshire

ULeeds

WSheffield

XNorthumberland

YSomersetshire

SCOTLAND

All cars bearing on their index-marks the letter S can, at a glance, be put down as Scottish, for Scotland alone has a right to the use of this letter:

Index- Mark. Locale.

ASNairnshire

BSOrkney

DSPeeblesshire

ESPerthshire

GGlasgow

HSRenfrewshire

JSRoss and Cromarty

KSRoxburghshire

LSSelkirkshire

MSStirlingshire

NSSutherlandshire

OSWigtownshire

PSShetland

RSAberdeen City

SEdinburgh

SAAberdeen County

SBArgyllshire

SDAyrshire

SEBanffshire

SHBerwickshire

SJButeshire

SKCaithness-shire

SLClackmannanshire

SMDumfriesshire

SNDumbartonshire

SOElginshire

SPFifeshire

SRForfarshire

SSHaddingtonshire

STInverness-shire

SUKincardineshire

SVKinross-shire

SWKircudbrightshire

SXLinlithgowshire

SYMidlothian

TSDundee

USGovan

VLanarkshire

VSGreenock

WSLeith

XSPaisley

YSPartick

IRELAND

The inclusion of the letter I on a car’s index-mark stamps that car at once as Irish, for the use of this letter is confined to Ireland:

Index- Mark. Locale.

AICo. Meath

BICo. Monaghan

CIQueen’s County

DICo. Roscommon

EICo. Sligo

FITipperary, North

HITipperary, South

IACo. Antrim

IBCo. Armagh

ICCo. Carlow

IDCo. Cavan

IECo. Clare

IFCo. Cork

IHCo. Donegal

IJCo. Down

IKCo. Dublin

ILCo. Fermanagh

IMCo. Galway

INCo. Kerry

IOCo. Kildare

IPCo. Kilkenny

IRKing’s County

ITCo. Leitrim

IUCo. Limerick

IWCo. Londonderry

IXCo. Longford

IYCo. Louth

IZCo. Mayo

JICo. Tyrone

KICo. Waterford

LICo. West Meath

MICo. Wexford

NICo. Wicklow

OIBelfast

PICork

RIDublin

TILimerick

UILondonderry

WIWaterford

FRANCE

In France the index-numbers are divided among sixteen sections, including Algeria, which are called Arrondissements minéralogiques. Some of these sections contain as many as eight departments or counties. The majority have single letters. Paris has five sets of single letters. It is necessary for a motoriste from the United Kingdom, when taking her car into France, to affix a French index-mark above her British one. This mark and number will be given her at the point of debarkation on registering the car and on passing a pleasant and easy little examination in the art of driving. This test consists in driving round a square or up and down the street for about a quarter or half a mile, turning a few corners en route. The French index-marks are as follows:

Index- Mark. Locale.

AAlais (Gard, Hérault, Lozère, Ardèche)

A-LAlgérie

BBordeaux (Départements du sud de la Garonne, Charente-Inférieure, Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne)

CChâlon-sur-Saône (Côte-d’Or, Jura, Ain, Doubs, Yonne, Saône-et-Loire)

DDouai (Nord, Aisne)

EParis (also G, I, U and X)

FClermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Cantal, Allier, Nièvre)

GParis (also E, I, U and X)

HChambéry (Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Isère, Drôme, Basses-Alpes)

IParis (also E, G, U and X)

LLe Mans (Sarthe, Départements de la Bretagne, Mayenne)

M-VMarseille (Départements de la Côte, Corse)

N-ONancy (Départements de l’Est, including the Aube)

P-KPoitiers (Départements du sud de la Loire, including the Loiret)

SSt.-Etienne (Rhône, Loire)

TToulouse (Languedoc, including Tarn and Lot)

UParis (also E, G and I)

XParis

Y—Rouen (Seine-et-Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Eure, Eure-et-Loire, Seine-Inférieure, Orne, Calvados, Manche)

or

X

GERMANY

The motoriste from the United Kingdom can take her car into Germany and drive it there without having to put on a new number. Germany willingly accepts the British index-mark already on the car. Index-marks in Germany are allotted in twenty-six different sections, one of which, Prussia, is sub-divided into twelve provinces and the city of Berlin. In nearly all the distinct kingdoms and duchies an attempt has been made to utilise the initial letter of that section, thereby making recognition of the locale of the car quicker.

In Prussia the mark is the number I in a Roman figure followed by letters of the alphabet. In many other provinces numbers in Roman figures are also used, the figure in most instances being followed by a letter of the alphabet.

The following are the German police index-marks for cars (Kraftfahrzeuge):

Index- Mark. Locale.

Prussia

I ABerlin

I CEast Prussia

I DWest Prussia

I EBrandenburg

I HPomerania

I JPosen

I KSilesia

I MSaxony

I PSchleswig-Holstein

I SHanover

I THesse-Nassau

I XWestphalia

I ZRhine Province

Figures—Bavaria

II and

letters

A, B,

C and

so on

Figure—Saxony (Kingdom)

only, I

II, III,

IV

and V

Figures—Würtemburg

III and

letters

A, B,

C and

so on

Figure—Baden

IV and

letters

Figure—Hesse

V and

letters

M IMecklenburg-Schwerin

SSaxony (Grand Duchy)

M IIMecklenburg-Strelitz

OOldenburg

BBrunswick

SMSaxe-Meiningen

SASaxe-Altenburg

KGSaxe-Coburg-Gotha

AAnhalt

SRSchwarzburg-Rudolstadt

SSSchwarzburg-Sondershausen

WWaldeck

RAReuss (old line)

RJReuss (young line)

SLSchaumburg-Lippe

LLippe

HLLübeck

HBBremen

HHHamburg

Figure—Alsace-Lorraine (Elsass-Lothringen)

VI

and

letter

A, B

and so

on