Import Number Plates

Is it any wonder the police don’t know what vehicles can and cannot have smaller plates when this is so vague.  What constitutes a functional reason?  Obviously if you have no area to fix a plate on the front that’s a pretty good reason, but what about obstruction of the air intake grill? Or a modded car with a front mounted intercooler which you have added to the vehicle but was not standard on it at point of origin? 


Sadly we can’t stop you being unfairly pulled but we can advise you on the best way to get the smallest legal plate which will come with the BSAU145d in the bottom righthand corner.  Surely this should be enough to stop any roadside tussels with the boys in blue? 


DVLA do not specify the size of plate your vehicle must display but do specify the font you must use, the height of this font, minimum margin size, gap between lines (if a two line plate) etc.  If you qualify as an Imported vehicle and can satisfy the above criteria then you can legally display a plate with bike size font (64mm) rather than the standard UK car size font (79mm).  DVLA do not specify the gap between two-line registrations nor the minimum margin for imports.  Although here at Craigsplates we usually have approximately 10mm from registration to plate edge or your plate would look a little bit silly! 


Rear plates on Import Cars tend to always be ‘square’ shaped.  USA import plates are 12” x 6”, 99% of the time and these plates can be one line registrations if you have a short registration number but are normally split over two lines.  Badges fit easily on this shape plate and run from top to bottom.  But a 6” high plate doesn’t leave much room for borders so we always tend to print them closer to the edge than our preferred 10mm.  Please note if you have a plate frame which obscures part of the plate you are best to send the frame into us, or a template of your frame as there is a huge possibility that your registration will be cut off top and bottom!!  There is nothing worse than seeing a beautiful Chevrolet, complete with an expensive metal frame driving around with the registration cut off at the top and bottom - guys it looks poor!!

In a few months time we actually hope to be able to make traditional USA metal plates so watch this space!! 


Japanese import rears are in the main 13” wide but the height varies – 6”, 6½“ (just added to our import selection!), 6¾“, 7” and 8”.  You can choose whatever height you like based on what will look best on your vehicle depending on whether you have a plate mount that your plate has to fit into or have a body kit that reduces plate space! 


Front plates are the ones though that seem to be causing all the trouble.This is a standard UK car size front number plate….it is MASSIVE.  How on earth can you fit that on your fibre-glass nose cone?  OK it won’t hang down like a square but it looks ridiculous!!  Sadly looks do not count as a good enough reason to use an import size plate, you have to have a valid functional reason for displaying a smaller size plate too.  

A lot of you guys opt for a 12” x 3” plate as it is small and will fit but it's non-compliant as you just cannot get your registration on it at road legal import height, thus you run the risk of getting pulled by the police, a £30 fine and failing your MOT. 

Others opt for the standard UK car size plate but as a self-adhesive one to stick directly onto the bonnet/paintwork etc but did you know this type of plate is non-compliant too no matter how it is made (even road legal UK height font of 79mm).  DVLA banned them all!!  We’ve written this page because we want to inform import owners that there is another choice.  If you have a good functional reason to display a smaller plate and do not want a square plate on the front making your car look like a snowplough and your engine overheating because it restricts air flow why not purchase a road legal oblong that is sized according to your registration.  We highly recommend you go down the road legal route and provide your documents etc so you get the BS number in the bottom right of your plate!   

Choosing the right size plate can be a bit confusing as it depends on how many characters you have in your registration and if you have any 1’s (they need less width than any other character).  So below is a rough guideline to help you choose plate size – all these sizes assume plain legal font is being printed onto the plate in a road legal format (with central space) and is the minimum size required.

No badges or 1's in the registration:

7 character registration = 380mm
6 character registration = 330mm
5 character registration = 280mm 

The minimum height you should have for these plates is 85mm, some customers prefer 90mm.  Sadly it’s not possible for us to keep all combinations on the shelf so check out our plate sizes page for the range we currently stock.  If you do not see the plate size you want, we would have to have it specially cut for you that’s all – just give Karen a call on 08707 667 657 to discuss if it falls within the standard import size for the number characters we will not charge you our cut fee.  If the plate size is unique I'm afraid we will have to charge you this fee as we will only be ordering one plate (which incurs a premium from our acrylic suppliers), rather than a bulk purchase...sorry!!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR IMPORT PLATE