Boris Shuns Vehicle Congestion Charge Increase

London mayor Boris Johnson has stayed true to his pre-mayoral word by not increasing the London congestion charge for polluting large and 4x4 vehicles.

Previous mayor Ken Livingstone proposed the charge be raised from the acceptable figure of £8 for vehicles emitting more than 225g of carbon dioxide per kilometre, and for vehicles registered before March 2001 with engines larger than 3,000cc, to a mind-blowing £25, from October.

However Boris ditched the plans, saying: "I am delighted that we have been able to scrap the £25 charge, which would have hit families and small businesses hardest". He added: "I believe the proposal would actually have made congestion worse by allowing thousands of small cars in for free."

Boris was prompted to avoid the increase on the power of a legal challenge from car manufacturer Porsche, who sought a judicial review of the proposal after unearthing research from King's College in London.

The academic research proposed that the new charge could actually increase CO2 emissions because people would theoretically drive a greater distance to avoid the congestion charge zone.

Porsche Managing director Andy Goff said: "Porsche is proud to have played a decisive role in striking down such a blatantly political tax increase targeting motorists."

Number Plate Aficionados Prone to Road Rage

Research by social psychologist William Szlemko at Colorado University has proven that drivers who sport car accessories such as personalised number plates, furry dice, and bumper stickers are more likely to suffer symptoms of road rage.

Amusingly, the greater the number of "territorial markers" a driver possesses in connection with their vehicle, the more likely it is that they will respond in an inappropriate manner to others' on the road.

Szlemko says: "Just the presence of territory markers predicts the tendency to be an aggressive driver."

Szlemko's co-author, Paul Bell, agrees: "Territoriality is hard-wired into our ancestors from tens of thousands of years ago. Animals are territorial because it had survival value. If you could keep others away from your hunting groups, you had more game to spear ... it becomes part of the biology."

If you're a territorial kind of person, number plates are certainly one of the best ways to personalise your car. Road rage? Your choice!

The End of the Road for Big Cars?

You may have read or seen on the news recently the stories reporting the slump in sales of vehicles dubbed "Chelsea Tractors" - the 4x4 and sports type vehicles that usurp fuel during outings to the nearest retail park or supermarket.

Sales of the fuel-hungry guzzlers dropped 18 percent last month, according to the Financial Times, whilst sales of small economical cars have rocketed. Whether or not the shift is a temporary state remains to be seen.

The reasons for the demise of the big car may not be as selfless as first appears - most drivers' cite financial reasons over green concerns. With the ever-increasing hike in fuel prices, this comes as no surprise.

Perhaps Chelsea Tractor engines will be replaced by new, petrol-free alternatives such as the electric Range Rover engine being developed by newly-formed company, Liberty Electric Cars.

Clearly, sales of big cars are dwindling, but what will this downturn mean for sales of personalised registrations? Will National Numbers take fewer sales of BIG plates; see a drop in JAG and BMW registrations and an increase in Smart and Ford searches?

Smart experienced the highest percent increase in sales, which were up 147% - and for good reasons - made by Mercedes Benz and highly personalised, the car is one of the most economical on the market.

Small cars are fun, affordable, and great for showing off a fantastic new personalised registration. If you own a small car it's possible you might want to customise it with a new number plate.

You can search for anything that's important to you on National Numbers web site - try it with your name, initials, or pet.

We also keep a list of registrations for vehicle makes and models. And if you can't find what you want on the web site - give our friendly sales staff a call on 01642 363738 - we'd be really happy to help!

Free Gun with Every Car from US Dealership

A car dealership in the US is giving customers a free gun with every purchase of a new car - a move that has seen sales quadruple since the offer began. For those who have no need for firearms, a $250 petrol card alternative is offered alongside the gun – to date most customers have plumped for the latter.

Max Motors owner Mark Muller told the BBC "we're just damn glad to live in a free country where you can have a gun if you want to."

Amusingly – the logo of Max Motors, whose car dealership is in the US Midwest in Butler, Missouri – features an angry looking gun-toting cowboy. The outlet sells, amongst others, cars from Ford and Chrysler.

The offer is running until the end of the month - but highlights the requirement for an approved background check on gun ownership.

The dealership, whose slogan is God, Guns and Gas, say they are aware of the gasoline and crime problem in America, and want to be part of the solution and not the problem.

Whilst National Numbers can't offer something as exotic as a free gun with every number plate, we do guarantee to beat any other dealer's price on our range of millions of personalised registrations. Here's just a few to satisfy the inner cowboy/cowgirl inside.

Y88 HAA "Yeehaa!"
MY51 GUN "My Gun"
R16 NCH "Ranch"
RAN 50N "Ranson"
HH07 RSE "Horse"

Evans Pays £5 Million for Ferrari Spyder

A £5 million Ferrari, once owned by Hollywood actor James Coburn, has been bought by BBC DJ Chris Evans. The 250 GT SWB California Spyder was bought at auction by Evans, who paid twice the estimated price for the sleek Ferrari at RM Auctions' Ferrari Leggenda e Passione event.

Auctions are often a great place to pick up rare buys you'd never find elsewhere. RM Auctions' founder Rob Myers told the BBC News web site that the fact the Ferrari was owned by Coburn was a factor in the higher-than-expected winning bid for the car, along with plenty of interest from other bidders, as well as Evans.

According to the Ultimate Car Pages web site, the California Spyder was a production car - however no two vehicles were the same, because they were finished to meet customers' demands.

So it looks like Evans really has bought a piece of history for his £5 million!

Looking for a good investment that will stand the test of time? How about a personalised dateless registration from National Numbers. We can't promise a piece of Hollywood history, but for personalisation and value for money, there's no better statement!

Nissan Skyline GT-R Hailed Car of the Century

The soon to be launched revamped Nissan Skyline GT-R has been dubbed "the most eagerly awaited supercar launch of the century" by webmag readers in the US.

You'd expect other top marques, such as the Ferrari Testarossa, and Porsche 911 to be favoured above the Japanese sports coupe.

But, the supercar costs far less than other cars in the same class. And, these aren't your average drivers. In fact, most of the drivers have only experienced the car through the virtual reality worlds created in computer games like Zero 4 Champ R and Gran Turismo, and the odd appearance in movies, anime, and manga. Add to that the popularity the car has garnered thanks to illegal street races in Japan and its speed of 0-60 mph in less than four seconds, it is no wonder there's excitement.

And who can blame folks for getting sped up over the vehicle? The supercar features "integration with the driver" resulting in new components, and a "human-machine interface". It certainly sounds impressive, and just the kind of feature to appeal to a gamer - the personalisation of the driving experience clearly seduces buyers of the Skyline GT-R - of whom sixty percent are under 50 years old.

Just ask anyone who has screeched around a Gran Turismo track in a virtual Skyline and they'll testify - it's a lot of fun! And who wouldn't want that on their drive?

Turbo-charge your next supercar with a racy personalised number plate from National Numbers:

Nissan Number Plates
Nissan Skyline Number Plates
Nissan GTR Number Plates

UK Roads Driving You Potty? That'll be the Jeep, the Chevrolet, and the Daewoo

Shockingly, UK drivers are paying more than 2.8 billion pounds a year on mechanical car repairs, thanks to the shoddy condition of UK roads, recent news from independent insurer Warranty Direct has revealed.

The research, conducted on nearly 500,000 vehicles – pinpoints decaying British roads as a major cause of up to a third of all mechanical break-downs.

Duncan McClure Fisher of Warranty Direct says: "continuous driving over cracked or uneven road surfaces, or one sudden jolt from a pothole, can cause substantial damage to shock absorbers, springs, upper and lower arms and stabiliser bars".

Not good news, especially when you consider that the UK road tax payer, despite loosely paying twice as much tax as folks in the USA, is still twice as likely to suffer damage to his or her car as a result of bad British roads.

Some cars are affected more than others. Top of the hit list are Jeep, Chevrolet, Daewoo, Jaguar, Kia, Subaru, Volvo, Suzuki, Chrysler, Honda and Nissan.

Still, despite suffering busted shock absorbers, springs, arms and stabiliser bars, you can rest assured a securely-fixed personalised number plate from National Numbers won't fall victim to potholes, and will look the business too. Number plates for all car makes and models are included in our easy-to-use number plate search. Give it a go!

Aston Martin Dominates Top Ten Dream Cars

The polls are in, and visitors to the DVLA's registrations web site have voted top British marque Aston Martin's beautiful cars as their favourites in an online poll designed to discover the nation's top ten dream cars.

The poll, which shows that the famous British car manufacturer is still very much a name synonymous with quality, is a classic example of the good old British patriotic spirit rising to the fore.

The Aston Martin appears in three places in the list of most desirables. At the top spot is the uncompromising Aston Martin DB9, a car that Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson dubbed "motoring perfection" - and I don't think that James Bond would dare to disagree! Aston Martin's previous flagship vehicle, the Vanquish, comes in at number three, and the hand-built Vantage at a modest number five.

Also featuring amongst the favourites are Italian beauties such as the Ferrari Enzo and Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.

The ubiquitous Porsche Carrera GT also pushes its sleek nose in at number 8.

If you're looking for a dream number plate for your dream car, I think National Numbers Car Number Plates search is the most comprehensive you'll find on the Internet.

There are thousands of quality number plates, all conveniently categorised: from Aston Martin to Yugo - you'll find number plates for the most popular makes and models listed all starting from as little as £49 and delivered to your door. Give it a try!

The Great Divide – Petrolhead vs. Eco-Warrior

What ever happened to the petrolheads who vamped up their cars for the purposes of being cool, living fast, and making a statement with (sometimes excessive) personalisation?

Youngsters passed their tests only to dash off down to the mod shop to kit up with the latest accessories for their beloved Ford Capri, Sierra Cosworth, or Golf GTI.

Whether it was something racy like a bonnet scoop or splitters, or something fluffy like – um – furry dice, virtually no youngster’s car was left bare of the latest auto styling. Times were free for petrolheads to indulge. And injudicious use of the accelerator was all part of the fun.

Not so nowadays. Today, government advisors tell us we need lessons in "eco-driving", in what seems like a covert attempt to curb our speed on the premise "the way you drive can be as important as what you drive, and how much you drive it". Less speed = less pollution.

There are a lot of us who would welcome eco-driving lessons. Being as green as possible is the new way to "keep up with the Joneses" – a cult of twenty-first century eco-yuppies battling to be the crowned the king and queen of green. And what better way to justify the sin of driving than being in receipt of a piece of paper branded "Green Driver"?

It would seem us drivers are being forced into two different camps, and are becoming more limited at every turn.

In order to determine whether driving faster really does create "significantly more" emissions, the BBC set a test. The results might see petrolheads crying into their Recaro seats: astonishingly, a third more carbon dioxide was created at a speed of 80mph than it was at 70mph!

Quite a figure. So it seems like the Eco-Warriors win this one. Still, there are more ways to make a statement than driving too fast. Your own private number plate would be a cheaper alternative: both for the environment and for your pocket.

Our Cheap Number Plates start at just £115 and we’re members of all the official bodies you’d expect of a number plate dealer over 25 years in the industry.

Private reg for Petrolheads
Speed Number Plates

Private reg for Eco-Warriors
Eco Number Plates

Is Your Driving Fuelled By Booze?

I hope not! But a few years down the line, it could be. Researchers at the University of Abertay, Dundee, are studying new ways to make biofuel (a renewable plant source of fuel) using the by-products of fermentation from the brewing and distilling industries.

The point of the research is to see if converting used grain from whiskey and beer into bioethanol – an ecologically sound alternative – is a viable fuel solution for cars.

If proved right and implemented, the fuel could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% over conventional petrol.

The research concludes in a year, so it will be interesting to see if the new biofuel promises to show up at our petrol stations some time soon.

I just hope the smell from the boozy fuel doesn’t raise suspicion from our sensitive-nosed traffic police. Can you imagine getting stopped and asked, "Have you been drinking Sir"?

"No, but the car has!"

National Numbers has a massive stock of registration numbers: about 8 million plates. Booze Hound or Eco Warrior; we’re sure to have a private plate to suit you. Try our Clever Search for great suggestions: you can enter anything you like!

Dodgy garage? My 4rs3!

Liverpudlian comic actor Ricky Tomlinson has recently started his own car garage with long-time mechanic chum Harry Walsh.

Ricky is best known for his role as dosser Dad Jim Royle in the BBC kitchen sink comedy The Royle Family.

The garage, however, has considerably higher standards; being a member of the Good Garage Scheme, which aims to improve standards and ensure consumers get a fair deal.

Quoting a news story from the Auto Express web site, Tomlinson said: "We believe it’s really important to raise the reputation of garages like ours, and show that we adhere to strict customer service guidelines".

And despite his character being dubbed "Sultan of Sloth", we're sure the banjo playing scouser will make a great success of his new venture.

But I do wonder if any of these number plates would be enough to move him off that armchair?

Ricky number plates:
RR51 CKY
R22 KKY
Arse number plates:
A110 RSE
L8 RSE
Liver number plates:
1 VER
R11 VER
Royle number plates:
J20 YLE
ROY 55L