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1961 Škoda Octavia [Typ 702] 
Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin: 
— Made for: 
![1961 Škoda Octavia [Typ 702]](i001660091.jpg)
![[*]](/res/star.png){kind=small}
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Comments about this vehicle| Author | Message |
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◊ 2022-06-04 17:16 |
128 NMU |
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◊ 2022-06-06 13:56 |
... = Middlesex, Dec 61 to April 63 "allocated in blocks". |
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◊ 2022-06-06 14:21 |
If I have interpreted Mr. Newall’s writings correctly there seem to be two types of “allocated in blocks”. One is the allocation of blocks of numbers by the authorities to the local councils, and therefore seems to be of little interest to us, and the other is the allocation of blocks of numbers by the councils to the various classes of vehicle like “Private Car” “Heavy Motor Car” and “Agricultural Vehicle”. I don’t really see any relevance in the allocations done by either system, as far as we are concerned, since each vehicle has, or should have, a unique identifier on its registration plates. |
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◊ 2022-06-06 15:12 |
My understanding of “allocated in blocks” is something deeper than either of those definitions. Glass's lists 1950s plate series - particularly London and Home Counties either with or without the comment, which trickles over into some early 60s series, but I've never seen it referenced for suffix plates. By 1960s, I get the impression its significance was diluted, but in 50s - particularly when new car/vehicle ownership was centrally controlled and allocated in various ways, it meant allocations to public sector fleets (official cars, government depts, local authorities etc) and public bodies (GPO, BBC, nationalised organisations, utilities etc); London taxis also seem to get it. Later in 50s it may have been applied to authorised large private sector fleets as well eg rental/hire firms, retail chains, manufacturing industry, maybe car firms/distributors or whatever. I'm not sure what we can derive from the info, but to take this Skoda as an example, it was registered by an organisation, not a private buyer; as Skoda UK HQ was apparently London EC1, it's not one of their fleet. The other impression I've accumulated is that if you have a normal plate series running for a reasonable period (eg a year or two, maybe spanning year ends) you can assume a steady issue rate and estimate when during the date range a given number (eg 1, 500 or 999) might have happened. However many AIB series seem to have issued most of their numbers fairly early in the date range, after which stragglers emerge slowly (like a comet with a long tail??). Evidence for this only sporadic - either rare moments when a plate check works, or in some cases when a car feature can be visibly dated. So I don't know its full significance, but Glass's obviously took it seriously and I think applied it systematically in their listings rather than casually dropping it in when they felt like it - there is a pattern to where/when it occurs, with very few unexpected anomalies. Which raises another possible question - what happened in similar circs for fleet allocations elsewhere in UK and why are there no comparable mentions for the north or midlands, Scotland, Wales or NI?? |
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◊ 2022-06-06 15:42 |
Newall Page 6. (When the original 1903 single index codes from A to FP started to be used up.) Para 4 halfway in - “from now on “blocks” of letters were reserved for the largest councils, and, in two other cases these took into account the “phonetic” element, e.g. MX for Middlesex KT for Kent. Where this was not possible, (e.g. Birmingham, Surrey because the Bs and Ss were not available) the “blocks” followed on the appropriate single letter, viz : O, OA : P, PA etc. I know that you do not generally use Newall, but a read of pp 6 - 11 might raise some queries. There also seems to be the fact? that the Govt did not release complete three letter series (Axx1 to Xxx999) at one strike, but appeared to release blocks within such a series, thereby introducing a different kind of block. The whole thing seems to show what happens when, unfettered, the Civil Service is allowed to control something. -- Last edit: 2022-06-06 15:48:15 |
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