DY Numberplates

From Historical Hastings

Vehicle registration and the issue of numberplates commenced around 1905 and each issuing authority was given a two letter prefix to identify the vehicles registered in the district. This scheme permitted 9,999 vehicles to be registered in each borough. In 1937, this limit was reached and as a result, post-1937 vehicles would bear the letter prefix of 'ADY'. The first vehicle to be registered under the new prefix was a Vauxhall '25' saloon sold by Coombs Motors.[1]

Numbers of 'DY' prefixes

Year Total Number of registrations
1922 and earlier 2061
1 Apr 1929 5625
1 Jan 1930 6000
1 Jan 1931 6488
1 Jan 1932 6907
1 Jan 1933 7285
1 Jan 1934 7777
1 Jan 1935 8425
1 Jan 1936 9165
1 Jan 1937 9942
30 Jan 1937 9999

References & Notes