Yes that is interesting, 2001 is quite recent compared with the 70's and 80's
so perhaps someone somewhere has actually had an intelligent
thought about cars that have bonnets "our shape".

I hate to have to keep harping back to Jaguars, but I never ever saw an E Type that did not have a stick on plate on the nose.
I believe that a stick on one in your case would be acceptable to that "new" regulation WCA.

I might carry a printed copy of that section of the regulations and a letter from a friendly plod stating that in their opinion it is considered acceptable. Now do I risk sliver on black rear plates?

I think with an "R" reg you'd be pushing it a bit with an ars*hole plod.

I am thinking of sticking an NI plate - TNZ 2447 or something like that. Should look okay on a square plate at the rear.

The more I read about the stick on plates, the less legal it seems for anything recent. Basically the plates can only be sold as show plates and are therefore not road legal. They 'might' be legal on a car where they were fitted like that before 2001 but definitely not anything later.

Most plod don't bother if you are behaving yourself but it is £1,000 if they do get narky.

For the MOT it has to be white/yellow reflecteive correct spacing, font etc, show plates, are just that not for the road, most "plod" are too buisy to get narky with plates, or motorists but fixed penaltys at the road side are going out, replaced by a TOR, Traffic officers report, sent to a dept. who decide on the action, eg. Speed Awarness Course, or words of advice by post, the risk is when you buy use of a plate you agree to display it correctly or you could loose the use. DVLA rules but if it cost £20 (plus £80 transfer fee) is it worth it, due to my job for me no, but I leave it up to you to decide.

Yeah tonyt is spot on there.

A lot of people know that an NI plate is just that,
and has to be in the modern white / yellow colours.
You are allowed to make your car look "older" (not newer!!)
by fitting older plates, so your best bet is to go online on all the number
plate selling sites, and try to find an older plate at a reasonable price.

A 3 and a 3 would look good, but they command higher prices now.
I remember seanick said he got one for about £250, that may have been, but not now, if anyone has a 3 and 3 for £250 I'll buy it and treble my money!!

My budget doesn't allow for a proper vanity plate. Has anyone seen anything dateless for less than £500?

My car isn't a replica and I am not going to try and pass it off as old so I am not too worried if people recognise the NI plate. I would be equally happy if they correctly identified the donor*.

I guess my focus now will be on the best size and position for the plate given I can't use stickers.

*two guys were lurking by my car in the car park arguing about what if was. One guessed Z3 based on the wheels which are still BMW alloys

I've always said that the wheels make the car what it is!
Why can't you use stick ons?
Here is a pic of my earlier toy which had internet stick ons and it passed 5 Mot's while I owned it?
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...pseb38da5d.jpg[/IMG]

First long drive - Southampton to Stevenage commute

Started cold dark and early
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...119_064920.jpg

As it got lighter I stopped for a coffee in the services - apparently it is either a TVR or a Barchetta according to those in the know in the carpark
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U...119_071551.jpg

Traffic sucks what ever car you are in. At least people smiled and gave the thumbs up in this car
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z...119_073824.jpg

Arrive 2.5 hours later in sunshine and nothing has fallen off although I heard the numberplate brush a speed hump
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u...119_091348.jpg

Summary of Findings
1) It is very loud reversing up the drive when everyone else is asleep
2) Nectar cards work as well as credit cards for scraping ice
3) Keeping the BMW interior functionaliyt such as screen demist and heaters was a good idea
4) Heated seats and a very good idea
5) When redoing the interior I will need somewhere to balance my coffee
6) I need to refit the aeriel. Sheryl Crow greatest hits is okay but not for 2.5 hours
7) The pointless passenger side wing mirror makes lane changes on motorways more 'interesting'
8) The hinged number plate works for spped bumps
9) I need to stiffen the suspension and replace the rear shocks as the car wallows a bit
10) You cannot drive this car and be shy

Great to see the car on the road, looks great and really like the addition of the vents. Will certainly be a show stealer with the wheels fitted and final paint job. It just proves that with your enthusiasm and Tributes skill what can be achieved.
The first photo of the car in the dark this morning raises a concern for me. I think a black and white plate would not be a good idea for that sort of journey in fast traffic. An easy to change plate for dark and daylight use maybe food for thought.
Look forward to more updates as the car develops.
P.S. With regard to the neighbours, back the car in so you car start and go.

I am really struggling with the number plates. Black and silver or Legal? Current plate, NI Plate, proper dateless plate? Stickers on the front, below the grill, in the grill?

Getting some show plates is an option but I don't really do shows, I use the cars as one of my daily drivers.

Normally the car will be at the top of the drive but I was fixing the grill in last night and needed the lights from the garage.

I rolled the wire wheels alongside the car and it was amazing how it changed the look. Foirgot to take a picture though. Hope to get them fitted for real att the weekend.

Looking forward to seeing it on the wires - those Beemer alloys don't do it justice. I can see what the crowd meant about the TVR/Fiat Barchetta thing, it has overtones of both in the shape. Oh, and my vote for the sills would be to go body coloured. :)

Barchetta's are all left hookers though so it can't be one of them.
For plates I tried fixing my plate where yours is after seeing a modern Masarati in London but it was just too low so I had to use the stick on option, (£5 on ebay and it passed its MOT). If I was in your position I would go for a cheap NI plate with a letter I as the third letter (eg. TUI) same as a number 1 then mis space it to give you two letters and four numbers , go for black and silver "show plates" and claim ignorance if stopped, be nice and appologetic hope whoever stops you likes cars and get a VDRS or words of advice, keep a set of correctly spaced yellow and white plates for the MOT fixing the front with double sided tape but do not remove the backing this would cover the show plate for the test. (could even carry them in the boot for a road side fix).

TonyT - number plate is to low. Hinge solves the problem as it swings rather than scrapes. Like the double sided tape idea but might use Velcro as it is more repeatable.

MrTowed - black is better than silver but I think I agree about body coloured.

It hinges but it will still scrape the plate after time, just noticed you may have the same problem as me come MOT time, needs side repeaters on the wings! LED's would do but I used one off a scrap Jag as they seem to look ok as they have chrome surrounds.

Forgot about the site repeaters. They were ordered and sent to Chris. I will have to get him to post them back to me.

Unless it's the one for sale here -

http://uk-barchetta-owners-club.org.uk/marketplace/

A hundred or so got converted I believe.

Anyway, not going to join the debate about using 'show' plates on the road, it breaks the law and that's not allowed. Don't expect acting innocent/ignorant to stop a young traffic cop from hitting you with a £100 fine at the roadside either. Yes, a lot of Officers are car nuts (me included), but many are not. DVLA will also withdraw a private plate if you get caught moving the characters about twice.

As for changing the V5 to read something other than BMW Z3, I don't think you'd be breaking any laws by not changing the V5 as you haven't changed the type of vehicle (ultimately yours is a BMW with a posh body kit fitted, but don't quote me on that), but you're likely to get stopped an awful lot if you don't change it to something appropriate, BMW Z400 Special, for example.

The reg not appearing to match the vehicle that comes back on a PNC check is a guaranteed stop from every copper in the country. Once stopped you can expect lots of nose poking into all the details, so you'd better be watertight as far as the law is concerned. If there's one thing all coppers share it's the nosey gene...

Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

Interesting, I stand corrected on LHD Barchettas, also well said about the plates and V5 I am obviously tempted to mis space my TUI reg, but as we share the same occupation I can't, as for V5, Mazda MX 250c "special" would be a good option, as I want to keep things as honest as possible.

+1 on body colour...will visually lower the car

Thanks mr towed on the v5 issue. I will now get mine re-registered. The joke is I can reregister it with what ever name I like (within copyright laws). How much hassle do you think I will get if I register it as a "f@ck youj d!ck head" .

Sorry, just the anarchist in me coming out. I hate stupid rules that are their only so stupid people can enforce them. Many of my friends I the police service agree I private.