What's your favourite personalised plate?

This morning as I was heading to work along Bryanston Drive, I spotted a black Merc coupe with the numberplate FINALLY. I wondered what this could possibly mean. Was this car a reward for years of hard work? A moan about the waiting list for Merc coupes? It was the automotive equivalent of Vaguebooking. The Audi A3 with I DID IT probably falls into the same category.

Personalised numberplates have been available in South Africa for nearly a decade. Over the years, they’ve given vehicle owners the opportunity to express themselves in all sorts of ways, some crass, some obvious, some laugh-out-loud witty.

At one time, I confess, I too had a personalised plate, MARMITE GP. Given that I drove a black Fiat Stilo at the time, fellow motorists assumed it was a reference to the colour of the car. Actually, it was the name I used in an online forum and, after my boss at the time told me I came across as too boring despite my quirky personality, I decided to overcompensate.

It’s not easy to come up with a good one. If you think Twitter is a challenge with its 140 character limit, try making a statement in just 7.

Personalised plates can be a challenge to other motorists: 4NIC8U2 on an SUV driven by a woman — I recall Chris Roper writing about that one. The Audi TT bearing the legend BI BI COP left little doubt as to the driver’s intentions. I8AGTI GP on a Golf TDI is an act of provocation for some.

Numberplates can be a sharp comment on the perceptions of others, like the STOLEN GP 5 series BMW seen around Joburg. (Someone has also seen NICK 1, but I don’t think that was the message the driver had in mind.) A few weeks ago Sipho Hlongwane spotted an E-Class Merc driven by a mama of impressive dimensions, with the numberplate 2HOT4U. The man driving the M3 with 4U2 NV is probably a wanker, as is the lawyer in the sports car with LITIG8R GP.

Others are references to the benefactor behind the vehicle: THNXDAD on a Mini Cooper in a university parking lot. Or the luxury car driven by a very expensively coiffed woman, bearing the legend LOBOLA GP. One of my friends claims to have seen MA SE SEUN but since that exceeds the character limit, I don’t know.

Then there are the references to other brands: I LUV MY GP on a Jeep Cherokee, or I MISS MY GP on a Land Rover.

Some are obscure, like BOLLOX on a blue Rover (is he referring to the dog’s bollocks, or just offering a comment on the world in general?) Some are unimaginative, just the name of the driver.

I know that this is but a fraction of what’s out there. All too often I see a brilliantly witty plate and resolve to write it down when I next have the opportunity, but I never remember. What’s the best personalised plate you’ve seen? I’d love to add to the list.