USAutomotive were instrumental in the fight to allow American Cars to be able to display US-sized number plates with reduced size lettering, but do you know exactly what the regulations say?

All of the information can be found on the DVLA web site at the following URL:- http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/regmarks/reg_marks_current_requirements.htm#import, but in brief, the regulation refers to the:-

“ Display of Vehicle Registration Marks on Imported Vehicles (which have a restricted space for a standard sized number plate). Certain imported vehicles may be permitted to display number plates with smaller characters if: The vehicle does not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval AND The vehicle's construction/design cannot accommodate standard size number plates “

The specifications given for smaller sized plates refers to character (font) size only as follows:-

This is in fact identical to the sizes given for motorcycle number plates. It is interesting, however to see that no specification is given for the overall size of the plate, presumably the same size as the available aperture which usually means 6” X 12”.

But what does this mean in practice? If, for example you have a 95 Camaro with the factory bumper, you could legally display a 6” X 12” plate with motorcycle sized characters. However, a vehicle like a 98 Chrysler Voyager with a UK sized opening could not legally use them. So use the regulations to your advantage, providing it is legal to do so!