• Cars & Bikes

    Dutch License Plates

    Side code 1 Side code 1 consisted of two alphanumeric characters and two times two numeric characters, as shown in the picture of the ’65 Barracuda. You would expect that the alphanumeric characters were used in alphabetical order. But the RDW didn’t do it that way. They started with the combination ND-00-01. when the combinations starting with a Z were all used, they started with the letter A and so on until the letter M was reached. By then it was 1965 and it was time for side code 2. The combination AA was and still is reserved for the Royal Family. Side code 2 Side code 2 consisted of…

  • Cars & Bikes

    The “Original Dutch” car

    I refer to cars often as an original Dutch car or the opposite, a non-Dutch car. This has nothing to do with the place the car has been manufactured, but with the fact that the car in question has its first registration in the Netherlands. One of the benefits of this, is that you can check whether a car has been in an accident, the mileage is correct and more. But there is one more thing why there is a difference between an original Dutch car and an imported car: the registration number. The numbering scheme used in the Netherlands, bears no relation to the place of a vehicle’s registration…