65-plate Special: Why the new September numberplates are a dream for Wags

IF YOU’RE married to a footballer, the launch of the “65” registration plate on Tuesday could be more exciting than a new five-star spa in Alderley Edge.

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The numbers most resemble the letters G and S, which means that footballers’ wives and girlfriends, known as Wags, can identify themselves on the boot of their car, with combinations such as WA65 BMW (Wag’s BMW), which was still on sale last week for £999.

The more versatile WA65 SUV was also available for £399, and the rhyming WA65 JAG had not yet been snapped up for £999.

Car owners named Meg may also have been waiting for this moment. A female taxi driver could still snap up the plate ME65 CAB, costing £599. Those with a sporty convertible may prefer to pay £799 for ME65 TOY.

For most other personalised plate fans, the launch of the new registration is unlikely to provoke the same level of excitement; autumn 2015 is not regarded as a vintage year for clever and creative spelling combinations.

Dozens are banned, including the moderately rude (HU65 ASS), the downright offensive (FA65 GTT) and the utterly unprintable (**65 ***)

“The ‘65’ release doesn’t offer as many instantly obvious word and name combinations as, for example, the ‘11’ release, which really was outstanding,” says Rick Cadger from Regtransfers.co.uk, which sells personalised plates. “But even those that may initially seem less than spectacular turn out to have some hidden gems.

“The 6 works as a G, B, E or O, so you could have MA65 TRO (maestro) WE65 TER (Webster) or MU65 HOT (mugshot).

The first part of 2011 was a bumper year: the “11” plate allowed combinations such as BU11 DOG and — for bikers — FA11 OFF.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, which issues registration numbers, reserves numberplates for which it thinks it can charge a premium and sells them through its website and at auctions. Since 1989 it has raised £2bn for the Treasury this way.

Some plates are banned from ever appearing on cars. Those deemed too rude, insensitive or offensive are removed from the pool of potential registrations. The list of so-called suppressed plates is drawn up by the DVLA’s proprietary steering group, a team of 15 with the job of coming up with the most embarrassing combinations that they can think of.

Certain prefixes and suffixes are automatically banned — GOD and JEW, for example. Dozens of variations were added to the banned list before the 65 launch, including the moderately rude (HU65 ASS), the downright offensive (FA65 GTT) and the utterly unprintable (**65 ***).

Buyers of “65” plates may use them from Tuesday but only on new cars.

Search for your 65-plate personalised registration here: http://dvlaregistrations.direct.gov.uk/search/current-number-plates.html?numbers=65

65-plate Special contents

• Introduction
• Crossovers
• Electric and hybrid cars
• Family cars
• Sports cars and supercars
• City cars
• SUVs
• Executive and luxury cars
• WAG gags: the words made possible by the 65-plate

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