What year is a 51 plate?

The window

On the plate it sits in the middle: two letters, then 51, then three more letters — AB51 CDE. The first two letters are the DVLA area code, which says where the mark was issued. The last three are random and carry nothing at all.

Why 51 and not the year itself

A September identifier is the year plus 50, so 51 is the September 2001 issue — which is why it runs past the new year and ends at the end of February 2002. The full chart has every identifier in the scheme, along with the prefix and suffix styles that came before 2001.

51 plates on the record

An age identifier is enough to search on its own — it pins two characters of the mark, the same as typing ??51???. Every vehicle below comes from the DVSA MOT record, with its make, model, colour, fuel and latest MOT status.

• Every 51 plate on the record
• Black cars on a 51 plate
• Fords on a 51 plate
• The same half-year typed as a pattern

The breakdown under any of those groups the result by marque, paint or area — so which colours sold that half-year, and which marques, is a click rather than a separate search.

Common questions

What year is a 51 plate?

A 51 plate was issued between 1 September 2001 and the end of February 2002. Identifiers change twice a year, so a 51 plate names that six-month window rather than a whole year.

When did the 51 plate come out?

The 51 plate came out on 1 September 2001. UK identifiers change on 1 March and 1 September each year, and this one was issued to new vehicles until the end of February 2002. The 02 plate followed it.

Can you get a 51 plate now?

New vehicles were given the 51 identifier only while it was being issued, between 1 September 2001 and the end of February 2002. You can still buy a 51 plate on a used vehicle, and a private mark can be transferred at any time — but a mark cannot be made newer than the vehicle wearing it.

What is a 51 number plate?

It is an ordinary current-style UK registration whose two middle digits are 51 — two letters, two digits, three letters, as in AB51 CDE. The first two letters are the DVLA area code and the 51 is the age identifier; the last three letters carry nothing.

How old is a 51 plate car?

It was first registered between 1 September 2001 and the end of February 2002, so count from there. The plate dates the registration rather than the build, and a car built shortly before a changeover is normally sold on the newer identifier.

Either side of it

• What year is a 02 plate? — the half-year after
• Every identifier, with the months it covers
• What the first two letters mean