Number plates: Original 80s spec?

I agree BenzBoy, the photo in the first post is very likely Charles Wright. Charles Wright font was introduced in the 1930s - and updated in 2001 to comply with the new regulations on registration plates.

The plate in the photo of the Ford Orion looks authentic to me. I would be happy with it.

As far as I am aware, there was no 'official' font prior to 2001 - any font could be used, provided it conformed to the regulations. This led to more flexibility in style and consequently, there was quite a bit of variation between cars. Some fonts were much more common on some marques than others, as a consequence of where their dealers bought the registration plates from and who manufactured them.

A few cars used the Serck font, but it was never particularly common, at least not up here (I imagine there could well be regional variations). I remember Serck 'plates being more common in the late 1970s and early 1980s - and had almost died out by the late 1980s. They were often pressed metal plates, rather than the reflective plastic type - though both were available, the pressed metal Serck plates were far more common than plastic Serck plates, which I remember as being fairly rare. Serck plates seemed to much more commonly fitted to Fords than anything else - though that may simply mean that a major Ford  fleet supplier fitted them in my region.

Austin Rover dealers often seemed to fit registration plates whose letters were more curved than Charles Wright - this is especially apparent on the font's numbers. I am not sure what this font is called, but I have seen it described as 'Bestplate' or 'Best Plate' on the internet. I have seen it written online that the font was especially popular on Jersey - which does chime with my own recollection.

Jaguars also regularly had this more curved font fitted. I guess this is not surprising, since Jaguar had only just emerged from the BL empire back then - and their dealers often also sold Austin Rovers, a hangover from the old BL days and Jaguar-Rover-Triumph. I believe the plates were made by Unipart.

My own car has these 'plates. The plates seen on my car below are the original dealer fitments, used by the dealer from the 1980s into the mid 1990s at least. The garage (Arthur Royle) had a very longstanding but now demolished Jaguar dealership in Prestbury, Cheshire which sold my car new - and also an Austin Rover dealership in Alderley Edge, Cheshire. Both used the same registration plates.

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Here is the same font used on another Jaguar which is on its original dealer plates - and sold in a different part of the country.