English Sports Car: C2.COM

We've receieved a number of email inquiries from England like this one posted November, 2000.

I passed a green soft top sports car today in Worthing, England that had the registration number c2.com, so I thought I would check it out! Seems it may not be connected to you, or is it?

Worthing is on the south coast of England and no where near oregon, so it is a mystery!

Nice to talk
regards
RH

It's not our car. Of course we too would like to know what is up. Why would anyone choose those particular letters for a vehicle license plate? If you're the owner, or know the owner, or just have any more insight into the coincidence please let us know.

PL has been kind enough to offer this explaination.

UK number plates are allocated with the first letter representing the year (C was around 1984 ish), then they begin with the the last three latters being AAA, and issue numbers 1-999. Then they go to AAB, and so on. Oddly, the new letter is issued in August. I have no idea why.

You can buy particular plates, but this is only done by rich or pretentious people (that 'or' is inclusive). And they to to for things like their name, or something rude. So C 2 COM would just be coincidence.

Recently, the rule changed, and now there are two letters issued each year, in March and September (2000 saw W and X).

'0' (letter oh) is not issued as a year discriminator, and neither are 'I' or 'U', though these are used in the three letter portion.

Prior to this, the whole thing was reversed, but the same rules applied, so a typical plate would be SDT 789 X.

Next year we run out of year letters again, and I don't think a decision has yet been made about what to do.

But what about the dot asks TP who is familiar with the car.

I've seen this car often in my home town and I just had to try entering the name! It's usually parked in Park Lane, Southwick, Sussex. I guess the owner chose the registration, as the car is definately newer than a 'C' reg. on our British system. There is definately a dot as in C2.Com. This is what makes it stand out!

TP offered to leave a note on the car. It worked. This is what we have discovered.

We've been introduced by TP, a hand written note was tucked under the wipers on the car. thank you TP.

Sorry if I'm causing chaos, I like the car registration no. C2.COM.

I imported the Mazda MX5/ EUNOS sports car (in British Racing Green of course) and had to buy a number plate. I chose C because my christian name is Cliff and chose C2 because C1 wasn't available. ".COM" is certainly to advertise that that's the business I'm in. Also in the UK the middle letter of the 'COM' part used to signify where the car was registered. 'O' is for Birmingham the city I originally came from.

The Number C2.COM certainly causes a lot of interest, with people stopping me for a chat, and shouted comments from other drivers when we are in a traffic jam. AND I'm quite certain that the local police know the number... so I have to be a paragon of virtue.

Immediately I had purchased the no. I checked to see whether the domain name was available and regrettably you had already purchased it.

I like your idea of number plate collecting. I will arrange a photograph of C2.COM for you. By the way the'.' is only the head of a screw, pretending to hold the number plate in place!!

Best wishes, have a good new year.

The dot coms boom and bust but the green mazda continues to attract attention six years later.

Ok, so it's years later than everyone else, but I have been driven (pardon the pun) barmy wondering what the plate could signify. Finally I have had to follow the route that led me here, and gratefully I find that the vey thoughtful owner has given me and my pals in the Southwick area an answer at last.

Next time I see the car parked, I must also leave a note for Cliff to thank him for putting me out of my misery. He must also be a bit of a local celebrity by now!

Here are plates we've seen in our own travels.

Address questions or comments to ward@c2.com.