18 Personalised Car Vanity Plates in Hong Kong
Volume 1 - Hong Kong Culture 101
Me Jamie, English and 52 years living in Hong Kong and I know the know the place - I personally completed 2,324 Private Tours (6,000+ guests) from 2011 - 2020 and was considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.
A blog post with a difference - Please do visit Hong Kong in 2024 | Travel, Tourism, Tours, Tips, Daily Life and my personal thoughts on Hong Kong - Pearl of the Orient
Discover the Real Hong Kong with Jamie
18 Personalised Car Vanity Plates in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Culture 101
I am a leading expert in Hong Kong on the Car Vanity Plate Culture which garners worldwide attention particularly at Chinese New Year in Hong Kong.
I do not want to duplicate information listed in my extensive guide (see link above) however there are some things that you need to know. The Hong Kong Government being the Hong Kong Government does not call them vanity plates or licence plates for some odd reason.
There are 2 main categories
TVRM - Traditional Vehicle Registration Marks
PVRM - Pesonalised Vehicle Registration Marks
So here goes
Traditional marks are licence plates that are just numbers, letters with numbers (maximum 2 letters and 4 numbers) and just single letters these marks have been sold at Auction since 1973 - prior to that you were assigned the licence plate randomly by the Transport Department, AA + Numbers and XX + Numbers along with just Numbers came prior to 1973.
Personalised marks are licence plates that are NOT any of the above categories, it can be pretty much anything you want as long as it is no longer than 8 letters | numbers without spacing, so it can be all letters or all numbers or a mix - these marks have been sold at Auction since 2006 and have proven to be very popular, although you cannot use the letters i, o or q so it does lead to some bizarre combinations on plates
Certain registration marks are assigned for Government vehicles such as AM F LC and the mark ZG is assigned to Chinese Military Vehicles
Hong Kong is famous for car enthusiasts and social media sites have spawned a huge amount of people who take a couple of hundred images of car licence plates, post them and then just lose interest, there are very few people like myself who have a real passion for this interesting subject, it really is Hong Kong Culture 101.
Interestingly I find that the Foreign Press and the Local Press only seem to concentrate on the personalised plates that are funny and yet the real culture behind licence plates in Hong Kong is LUCKY Numbers and that has always been my primary interest. click on the 2 links above and learn more.
So the purpose of this blog post is to introduce you to the PVRM plates, this is Volume 1 and yes, some of them really do make you laugh.
The image is really a visual only thing unless I need to explain for context purposes.
You will notice that on a lot of the plates it states I instead of 1 - the letter i in capitals is illegal but it seems as if the Government is willing to turn a blind eye - you will note that the BADA BING plate just looks wrong using the 1 instead of i and there is no spacing between BADA and BING - again the Government should allow up to 10 letters | numbers instead of the current 8 with no spaces… just a personal opinion.
All of the pictures are my own, sadly a lot of collators of Hong Kong Licence Plates on Faceboox, X, Instagram are not fussy about photo quality, I am and very much so., blurry images taken with a smart phone make me break out in a cold sweat.
This is simply a hobby for me, I do NOT sell my images and all of my images can be FREELY downloaded from my image site in the original upload image size or 5 other sizes, please note that you DO NOT have to ask for permission to download and use any of my images! just go to my site menu link above and click on J3 Hong Kong Images, there are over 167,000 images.
HKG Car Licence Plate - 2ND GF | local humour, apparently having a wife and a girlfriend and | or 2 girlfriends is quite common and naturally each has their own car.
HKG Car Licence Plate - AMY | My great friend Amy would love to have this gorgeous Bentley and that plate
HKG Car Licence Plate - B1NGO 8 | I just love the colour of this awesome Lamborghini
HKG Car Licence Plate - BADAB1NG | and that is a rather exotic colour for a very expensive Aston Martin
HKG Car Licence Plate - BATMAN | One of my favourites, taken at Barker Road at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong
HKG Car Licence Plate - BENZ | Licence Plate sold for US$35,900 or HK$280,000
HKG Car Licence Plate - BIG BANG
HKG Car Licence Plate - BIMBO | One of my all time favourite licence plates
HKG Car Licence Plate - BOSS | Licence Plate sold for US$41,025 or HK$320,000
HKG Car Licence Plate - BURGERS
HKG Car Licence Plate - FRIES | out of sequence alphabetically but I could not resist BURGERS + FRIES !
HKG Car Licence Plate - CIA | I am pretty sure this car came from the US Consulate about a 45 second drive away, note the look I am getting, has to be a trained spook.
HKG Car Licence Plate - COOK | and that is one gorgeous Maybach and a V12 engine -awesome
HKG Car Licence Plate - DEBORAH | Quite possibly the most visible car in Hong Kong
HKG Car Licence Plate - DEBORAH | Yes, this is the elusive Deborah, she used to have a pink Ferrari!
HKG Car Licence Plate - DEL BOY | All Brits will know this reference!
HKG Car Licence Plate - FAT
HKG Car Licence Plate - FERRARI | Licence Plate sold for US$89,750 or HK$700,000
HKG Car Licence Plate - FIFA | Another very popular image
J3 Group Hong Kong
J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong
J3 Consultants Private Hong Kong Experience is tailored for individuals who prefer to explore Hong Kong independently, without joining any guided tours.
This unique experience offers an authentic insight into the real Hong Kong, providing a deeper understanding of the city's culture, history, and local way of life.
Led by Jamie, a dedicated Hong Kong specialist and resident for 52 years, the experience covers many aspects of Hong Kong's identity, spanning its time under both British and Chinese rule.
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Jamie, your friend in Hong Kong
52 years living in Hong Kong, our family arrived on January 2nd 1972
I have lived here for 25 years under British Rule, 27 years under Chinese Rule
I have 45 years of Business Consultancy experience in Hong Kong
My wife is a local & has lived her entire life in Hong Kong, her first language is Cantonese
We have 3 Adult sons all born and educated in Hong Kong, 2 still live in Hong Kong
I pioneered the Private Tour Industry in Hong Kong in 2010
2,324 completed award winning Private Tours of Hong Kong from 2011 - 2020
……and yes, I am a bit of an expert on the Hong Kong car culture!
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | | 2011 - 2024.
All rights reserved.
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