Runaround SU 5 has been places!
BEFORE the First World War, it had pride of place on a rather splendid Type 78 Peugeot.
Today, after more than a century – and at least 20 cars – the distinctive registration plate SU 5 sits on a rather more modern-looking Vauxhall.
Throughout all that time, it has remained in the hands of one family.
The rare plate was first attached to the Peugeot bought by Ernest Grant of Forfar, Angus, in 1906.
A car bearing the plate took part in the Perth Races, and the number was attached to a Wolseley around 1930 and a Talbot Sunbeam in 1937.
Now Christopher Grant, Ernest’s grandson, has the plate fixed to his Vauxhall Omega estate.
Mr Grant said: ‘I think it’s been on at least 20 cars in the last 110 years.
‘There’s a huge sentimental attachment in the family to this number plate. I shall drive with it until I pass it on to one of my descendants. We’re not sure who that might be yet, but hopefully it won’t be too soon.
‘We’ve had offers in the past – some as much as £25,000 – but it’s a sentimental thing for us, as my grandfather used that plate before the first war.
‘When he passed away in 1956, it passed to my aunt and she passed it to me in 2000. I’ve had it ever since.’
According to a registration website, the plate is today worth £29,975.
Matthew Grant, Christopher’s son, said: ‘I know the car went round Scotland a lot; there are photos of it on the Kylesku ferry, north of Ullapool.’
The plate was first registered to a member of the family in 1906, two years after the Motor Car Act 1903.
No test was required to drive early cars and sitting a test was voluntary until 1935.