Registering a Rolls-Royce – in Africa

Sir,

I venture to send you the enclosed rear-end view of my 1933 20-25 h.p. (chassis GLZ 37) Rolls-Royce with Barker limousine body, with “matching” number plate! In this country, the Province of domicile is indicated by the first letter – i.e. C for Cape, N for Natal, T for Transvaal and for Orange Free State. The earliest cars to come to the country were probably landed at Cape Town, and CA has been the Cape Town registration ever since. CB is Port Elizabeth, CC Kimberley, and so on. Inland centres have not followed this pattern, and Johannesburg for example, uses the prefix TJ.

The authorities allowed themselves a little humour when the oil from coal project was established in a little town called Sasolburg in the Orange Free State, by allocating to it the prefix OIL.

I brought my car to this country in 1965, and ran it as ALB 913 until the English licence expired. Then followed a few months of “wooing” the authorities until they finally consented to give me the appropriate CA 20 25. It may interest you to know that the annual licence fee for the car is £12, but in six years’ time, when she has turned forty, no further licence fee will be payable. As far as I know, this concession is only applicable in the Cape Province.

Care Province. P. A. Smith.