As long as I can remember I have been fascinated by vehicle registration plates. Don't ask me why... So I take great pleasure equipping my with model cars with precise miniature-size license plates. Here is a short history of Dutch license plates, illustrated by my model cars.
Sidecode 1 Phase 1 (1951-1959): ND-00-01 to ZX-99-99
This illustrated history starts in 1951, when a new national system of license plates replaced the previous provincial system. The format, which has come to be known as sidecode 1, consisted of three pairs of letters-numbers-numbers respectively, separated by hyphens. License plates were dark blue with white lettering.
Plates were issued in alphanumerical order. For unknown reasons, the system started with first letter N. Perhaps for "the Netherlands"? Second letters, D, G, K, P, T and X were reserved for passenger vehicle; first letters, A, F, J, N, S and V for light commercial vehicles; B for heavy commerical vehicles, and E, H, L, R, U and Z for motorcycles. First passenger vehicle license plate was ND-00-01, fitted to a Ford Taunus 10M. The letters, C, I, O, M, Q, W and Y were not used as second letters.
In 1953, all passenger vehicle combinations starting with N had been exhausted (NX-99-99) and the system continued with first letters P (May 1953), R (June 1954), S, (April 1955), T (October 1955), U (May 1956), V (October 1965), X (May 1957) and Z (March 1958). Combinations SD and SS were skipped due to their associations to the Second World War. Any pre-1951 cars with provincial license plates were re-registered on national plates in the period 1951-1956.
Passenger vehicles reached plate ZX-99-99 in March 1959, with an MG A licensed ZX-98-89 the last in the series still registered as of today (2021). So how would the system continue?
Note: other series were much slower: in March 1959, light commercial vehicles had reached SF, heavy commercial vehicles TB and motorcycles TR.
Sidecode 1 Phase 2 (1959-1963): AD-00-01 to MX-99-99
As it turned out, after having used up all combinations up to ZX-99-99, the system reverted to the beginning of the alphabet, restarting with AD-00-01 in March 1959. Second letters for passenger vehicles remained D, G, K, P, T and X. Aside from the usual C and I, first letters K and L were skipped (used for military vehicles) but the M - not used as a second letter - was reintroduced. In March 1963, passenger vehicles reached MX-99-99, effectively using up all combinations reserved for passenger vehicles. The registration MX-99-89 still is active today (Austin Healey Sprite).
Sidecode 1 Phase 3 (1963-1965): MZ-99-99 to EA-62-52
When passenger vehicles series reached MX-99-99 in March 1963, other series were lagging much behind: for light commercial vehicles TV was being issued, for heavy commercial vehicles UB, and for motorcycles UU. So, as these other series had not yet restarted with A, many non-passenger vehicle combinations were still unused. Instead of restarting a new sidecode, i.e., a new sequence of letters and numbers, it was decided to allocate unused motorcycle and light commercial vehicle combinations, as well as combinations with second letter M which had never been used, to passenger vehicles.
To make matters more confusing still, combinations were issued in reverse order, starting from MZ-00-01. First letters used were subsequently M, J, H, G, F and E. Second letters used included, in sequential order, Z, V, U, S, R, N, M, L, J, H, F, E and A. The unusual order in which sidecode-1 plates were released makes it not very intuitive - to say the least - to date registrations. For example, the registration of the Saab 92 above (EG-72-32) is five years older (1960) than that of the Renault 16 (EM-36-35; 1965) below.
The last sidecode-1 license plates were in the series EA in 1965. EA-62-52 is the last known registration still surviving today (VW Buggy). It is not clear why one didn't continue with first letters D, B and A. Unused combinations starting were issued from 1978 onwards for imported classical vehicles built before 1973 (e.g. DE, DH, DL, DM, DR, AE, AH, AL, AM, AR, DZ, and PM for passenger cars, BE for commercial vehicles, and ZF and ZM for motorcycles).
Sidecode 2 (1965-1973): 00-01-AD to approx. 24-99-ZR
Having effectively used up most sidecode-1 registrations in October 1965, the format switched to numbers-numbers-letters, known as sidecode 2. After the chaos of sidecode 1, the second sidecode was issued in a more logic order, starting from 00-01-AD. The same letters were used as in sidecode 1 (all except C, I, O, Q, W and Y) and again first letters K and L were reserved for military vehicles.
The following gives an indication of when plates were issued: first letter A (1965), B (1965-66), D (1966-67), E (1967-68), F (1968), G (1968), H (1968/69), J (1969), M (1969/70), N (1970), P (1970), R (1970/71), S (1971/72), T (1972), U (1972), V (1972/73), X (1973) and Z (1973). The series stopped around plate 24-99-ZR. Subsequent plates up to 99-99-ZX were issued later as replacement registrations for cars with lost documents or second-hand imports.
Sidecode 3 (1973-1978): 00-AD-01 to approx. 14-XV-89
In September 1973 it was time for sidecode number 3, format numbers-letters-numbers, starting from 00-AD-01. Letters used and not used were identical to those in sidecode 2.
More notable changes occurred in the design of the license plates. A reflective yellow plate with black lettering - deemed to be superior in terms of legibility in te dark - was introduced in October 1975 (when plates with first letter H were issued). The first car fitted with yellow license plates, which were also slightly larger in size, was a 1974 Mercedes-Benz registered 00-BV-01. Initially, the yellow plates were only optional and uptake was slow. In 1976 and 1977 also a lighter-blue larger-size license plate was used (see the Mercedes-Benz S-class 71-SK-04 below).
Most cars with first letters up to R or S would have had the original dark blue license plates. Yellow license plates were mandated from 1978 onwards; as a result sidecode-3 plates with first letters U, V, and X are yellow by default. Many older cars, such as the Audi 80 registered 92-EK-08 (see below) had their original blue license plates exchanged for yellow ones to make the car look newer.
The last plate issued was approximately 14-XV-89 in October 1978. Subsequent plates up to 99-ZX-99 were issued up until 1982 as replacement plates. The following gives an indication of when plates were issued: the first new letter combination in 1974 was AS, in 1975 EJ, in 1976 HP, in 1977 NX, and in 1978 TM.
Sidecode 4 (1978-1991): DB-01-BB to ZX-62-LK
As all formats with two letters and four numbers had been used, sidecode 4 switched to four letters and two numbers. To avoid the unintended formation of words, vowels were taken out altogether. As before, C, M, Q and W were not used, but the Y was used for the first time. K and L were reintroduced as first letters. The first plate in October 1978 was DB-01-BB and the last one in September 1991 was ZX-62-LK. Letter combinations KL, SS, and SD were skipped, and ZP was omitted but only for the first letter block. First new combinations for each year are: DL (1979), FS (1980), GR (1981), HL (1982), JK (1983), KR (1984), LT (1985), PB (1986), RL (1987), SY (1988), TY (1989), XZ (1990) and ZD (1991).
Sidecode 5 (1991-1999): DB-BB-01 to ZN-NX-31
Sidecode 5 followed with letters-letters numbers. As before in sidecode 1, all vowels and C, M, Q and W were not used, but the K and Y were now also skipped. The first plate DB-BB-01 was issued in September 1991 and the last one ZN-NX-31 in June 1999. First letter combinations for the start of each year are: DP (1992), GB (1993), HJ (1994), JZ (1995), NL (1996), RB (1997), ST (1998) and XP (1999).
Sidecode 6 (1999-2008): 01-DB-BB to 76-ZS-KB
The final sidecode with three pairs of letters and numbers was sidecode 6, used from June 1999 onwards: numbers-letters-letters. The same letters were used as in sidecode 6, except that the K was reintroduced, albeit not as first letter and not as first combination DK.
A more notable change occurred less than a year later. On the 1st of February 2000 the design of the license plates changed; so-called GAIK-plates were introduced to make plates better protected from forgery. These plates have an blue band on the left with European flag and the letters NL on the left, a black border, and a smaller, revised font. The last plates issued in the non-GAIK plate style had first letters FB. So the Volvo C70 below would have been one of the later cars to have been originally delivered with non-GAIK yellow plates.
All cars, built in 1978 or later, were mandated to have their plates exchanged for new ones. This typically happened at change of ownership or at the annual inspection for cars three years old or older. By 1st of February 2004 all non-GAIK yellow plates had been replaced. My first car with GAIK plates was the Lancia Lybra, 29-FF-GB, seen below.
In my collection, I have always given my model cars the approximate latest registration of the day of purchase, as long as the car represented was available new at the time. All model cars I bought when the model was new, such as those shown below, subsequently got the new GAIK-plates. Cars I added later to my collection, such as those above, got non-GAIK plates.
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