OV9

Are they striving to identify floor dents >3.001mm in depth on the underside of your neighbour's EV?

Spotted on my run up the hill this morning, I think this looks like tremendous fun.

What Car tested an Esarco ATV in the 80s - just a single page of text with a black and white photo or two, IIRC - and it made me want one very much. https://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/wp-conte ... y.jpg.webp

Mundane spot, MGZR. Not the modern Chinese suv, but the rover 25 in fancy dress clothing. Looked a very tidy example, can’t remember the last time I saw one

A Ferrari 296 GTS the other day in a very lovely deep red metallic.

But what really caught my eye was the reg - XX24 SJM. The "XX" just seemed cringingly naff on a £250k+ car. They clearly made a conscious choice buying that. Almost any other random two letter combo and it would look like it was simply whatever DVLA assigned and this post would be "I saw a lovely red 296", rather than "I saw a 296 with a shit reg on it".

I'm sure they care

There are lots and lots of supercars with really cringy, badly spaced £250 registrations. I always assume the owner is an absolute bellend.

But they’re driving a fancy modern supercar and I’m not. Ho hum

Jobbo wrote: Thu Jun 19, 2025 4:40 pm What Car tested an Esarco ATV in the 80s - just a single page of text with a black and white photo or two, IIRC - and it made me want one very much. https://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/wp-conte ... y.jpg.webp

My lotto win garage would contain an Alvis Stalwart

integrale_evo wrote: Thu Jun 19, 2025 7:31 pm There are lots and lots of supercars with really cringy, badly spaced £250 registrations.

I just had a quick look at DVLA, it's a £599 plate. Which then made me think - the cheapest plates from DLVA have been £250 for like... ever ? Compared to when they started doing that, £250 is eff-all now.

integrale_evo wrote: Thu Jun 19, 2025 7:31 pm But they’re driving a fancy modern supercar and I’m not. Ho hum

I would not be surprised if the plate is financed just like the car is

And just to be a bit of an arse about it - I know it's all fancy and has an electric motor and 800hp, but the engine is a 3.0 V6. My Discovery is a 3.0 V6. I would want something a bit more special from a special car.

Sundayjumper wrote: Thu Jun 19, 2025 7:17 pm A Ferrari 296 GTS the other day in a very lovely deep red metallic.

But what really caught my eye was the reg - XX24 SJM. The "XX" just seemed cringingly naff on a £250k+ car. They clearly made a conscious choice buying that. Almost any other random two letter combo and it would look like it was simply whatever DVLA assigned and this post would be "I saw a lovely red 296", rather than "I saw a 296 with a shit reg on it".

I'm sure they care

I know Rich will take the piss out of me but I entirely agree on the plates. I’ve never liked the 2001-on style anyway which is why I bought my first (prefix-style) from the DVLA for £250 in 2001.

Yip, I seem to remember they've always been £250.

I got my plate for free as a promotion BMW were doing when I bought my 2.8l Z3 back in 1998 or so. I prefer the shorter style so have just stuck with it.

Wonderful numberplate, who doesn’t like a bit of Greek history.



Quite a group of cars with Czech numberplates about.



Plus this gorgeous Maserati, so nice to see it in an interesting colour. They are all staying at the same hotel as me but am guessing they will be off somewhere else today.



Dave!

MC20 looks fab in yellow

Wandered to the shops yesterday morning and stumbled across a Jaguar Owners Club meetup happening on the cathedral green.




I was also suprised to find a pair of XKR-S cars right next to each other which came as a bit of a suprise as I think there are only quite a small number (200?) in the UK.



And finally I was reminded of just how right they got the arse of the F-type coupe.

Explosive Newt wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 11:59 am I was also suprised to find a pair of XKR-S cars right next to each other which came as a bit of a suprise as I think there are only quite a small number (200?) in the UK.

Weird that the bonnet vents differ.

mik wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 12:30 pm

Explosive Newt wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 11:59 am I was also suprised to find a pair of XKR-S cars right next to each other which came as a bit of a suprise as I think there are only quite a small number (200?) in the UK.

Weird that the bonnet vents differ.

Different eras I think. 2007 on the left vs 2014 on the right.

Listening to the latest Evo podcast where they talk about the genesis of the F-Type, I was struck by the reference to the front end being straight from that gen XK. I always thought it looked a bit tall of bonnet and very long-nosed when it was almost bobtailed. The XK is a much nicer looking car to me than the F-Type.

Explosive Newt wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 12:37 pm

mik wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 12:30 pm

Explosive Newt wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 11:59 am I was also suprised to find a pair of XKR-S cars right next to each other which came as a bit of a suprise as I think there are only quite a small number (200?) in the UK.

Weird that the bonnet vents differ.

Different eras I think. 2007 on the left vs 2014 on the right.

And that confused me, so I just went to check. The XKR-S wasn't released until 2012, so looks like the black car is modificated.

So we can go back to not being surprised at seeing just 1 XKR-S on its own.

mik wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 12:51 pm

Explosive Newt wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 12:37 pm

mik wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 12:30 pm

Weird that the bonnet vents differ.

Different eras I think. 2007 on the left vs 2014 on the right.

And that confused me, so I just went to check. The XKR-S wasn't released until 2012, so looks like the black car is modificated.

No, there were two generations of XKR-S. 4.2L (which, further reading tells me was SVO built and capped to 200 units) and the 5.0L which came around in 2011/12 (uncapped production).

So we can be a bit surprised but not so suprised.

Explosive Newt wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 2:33 pm
No, there were two generations. 4.2L (which, further reading tells me was capped to 200 units) and the 5.0L which came around in 2011/12 (uncapped production).

So we can be a bit surprised but not so suprised.

Good grief.