Finding my old car, 3 digit combination

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Jon
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I am trying to track car down my old car, purely for personal reasons. I don't really want to get into the debate of people jumping in with, "why would you want to" "why do you need to "forget it and move on". I will blame it on HubNut, a classic car enthusiast who tracked down his old car, and bought it back.

I only remember the first three letters, as it was a pretty unique prefix, and I remember it was a T reg. I just for the life of me, can't remember the numbers. I did try a few random numbers, and I got a few cars pop up, and one car same brand and colour, but different model. I suppose it is just a case of typing in all the three digit different combinations.

Onto the question, how many different combination does three numbers give? I know it is a simple job of multiplication, but multiply by what? I have looked online, and I get plenty of strange answers, I trust I will a better response here.

PS

Firstly, I would just like to check, and see if it is still running.
 
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If three zeros are permitted there are up to 1000 combinations possible: 000 to 999. If blanks are allowed but no zeros it comes out more or less the same.

I think :naughty:
 
If three zeros are permitted there are up to 1000 combinations possible: 000 to 999. If blanks are allowed but no zeros it comes out more or less the same.

I think :naughty:

I thought something like 1 to zero is ten digits, multiply that by a thousand or something. :thinking:
 
You are overthinking this, the numbers can be from 1 to 999, if you know that there were 3 numbers then the range is from 100 to 999, if you discount the ones that you know it was not i.e. 100, 222 345 etc it will reduce the search.
If you want to multiply it is 10 for the 1st, 10 for the 2nd and 10 for the 3rd, so 10*10*10 = 1000
 
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OK, all I need to work out now. If it is 999 possibilities. Say I check 20 a day, the maximum time will take me, is. About 50 days. :oops: :$
 
1000 but what car was it?

OK, I will give that much information away. It was only a Renault 18TS, but I had it well kitted out. It was probably one of the best on the road, way back in the 80s.
 
Would it be possible to check by County it was initially registered in??
 
If you remembered the three numbers, but not the order, it would be six combinations. If you don't, 999 as already stated by many people, though if you're sure it was a three digit number that reduces to 899 as they didn't use leading zeros.

I'm going to guess that on a 42 year old car, if you can find the full registration number, you'll probably find it was last taxed in the 1990s and is probably "permanently scrapped."
 
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If you remembered the three numbers, but not the order, it would be six combinations. If you don't, 999 as already stated by many people, though if you're sure it was a three digit number that reduces to 899 as they didn't use leading zeros.

I'm going to guess that on a 42 year old car, if you can find the full registration number, you'll probably find it was last taxed in the 1990s and is probably "permanently scrapped."

Yes, quite possibly. However it was well waxed and very well looked after. When I had it, it was in pristine condition. Maybe the new owner/owners, did not continue to look after it.
 
I am annoyed...

I really do wish I had of taken some photos of the car. I do remember we did have cameras in the house, I just assumed everything would always remain the same. I never realised memories would fade, and I would years later have an urge/yearn to experience those thoughts and or feelings again. I do recall driving my old car outside our old family house, it was thick snow and the car was sliding in the snow. I had my girlfriend in the passenger seat laughing, and my brother came out of the house, and took a photo of the scene. I would love to see that photo now. I don't think I ever did see that photo..

Anyway, please feel free to ignore my silly sentimental emotions. :)
 
I understand your sentiment about such matters :)

Though, for the cars I personally owned I remember the number plates.......................it is the one(s) that were my dad's cars (there were not many ~ perhaps 3?) I struggle to recall the exact reg numbers.

In regard to my old plates, it has been a while since I checked the 'is it taxed' website and I might just do that now that you have made me think about it :LOL:
 
I understand your sentiment about such matters :)

Though, for the cars I personally owned I remember the number plates.......................it is the one(s) that were my dad's cars (there were not many ~ perhaps 3?) I struggle to recall the exact reg numbers.

In regard to my old plates, it has been a while since I checked the 'is it taxed' website and I might just do that now that you have made me think about it :LOL:

I seem to remember things, just I am falling asleep or actually asleep. I can still recall the number plate on my brother's C REG 1965 Hillman Imp, I can close my eyes and still see it as clear as a photograph. I just can't seem to do it with my own bloomin Renault. All I can see is my stunning ex girlfriend. (just incase the missus reads this) my ex was a long long time ago, and my missus is number 1 now. :angelic:
 
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I just looked them up

My 1966 D plated MG Midget does not show up.......I wonder if that had been scrapped?

The 1958 MG Magnette ZB varitone shows up as Tax ran out in Jan 2018 and no MoT status...... so sounds like that one is still about. If so, I am pleased because MG only ever made 36000 off the Magnette of the ZA and ZB types and only a small proportion of the ZB were varitones. In the heyday of banger racing oh so many went to scrap via that route :(
 
I just looked them up

My 1966 D plated MG Midget does not show up.......I wonder if that had been scrapped?

The 1958 MG Magnette ZB varitone shows up as Tax ran out in Jan 2018 and no MoT status...... so sounds like that one is still about. If so, I am pleased because MG only ever made 36000 off the Magnette of the ZA and ZB types and only a small proportion of the ZB were varitones. In the heyday of banger racing oh so many went to scrap via that route :(

I wonder if it is just when they get scrapped, they no longer show up? I suppose all car detail will always remain on a database, just no longer showing to the public.
 
If three zeros are permitted there are up to 1000 combinations possible: 000 to 999. If blanks are allowed but no zeros it comes out more or less the same.

I think :naughty:

This is true IF it was a 3 digit number but since there are single digit and double digit variants as well, there are a few more possibilities - 1-9 and 01-99 Not sure if 0, 00 and 000 are issued due to their similarity to O, OO and OOO.
 
Very tedious job, only checked about fifteen or so. Trouble is, making a note of what I have already tried. o_O
 
Duh... I have just remembered who I bought the car from, I still see that person occasionally. I will have to ask if they can recall the reg.
 
This is true IF it was a 3 digit number but since there are single digit and double digit variants as well, there are a few more possibilities - 1-9 and 01-99 Not sure if 0, 00 and 000 are issued due to their similarity to O, OO and OOO.

No - because 1 is actually 001 but no leading zeroes are permitted.

ABC 001 A and the like are not issued.

Count from 1 to 999 - there are 999 possibilities, whether you count as 1,2,3... Or 001,002,003,...

Other than one or two oddities - G0 being one, used by the Lord Mayor of Glasgow or something - but those were exceptional and all from pre-1963 (in fact all predate there being 3 letters in the reg number, which may have been before the war)
 
No - because 1 is actually 001 but no leading zeroes are permitted.

ABC 001 A and the like are not issued.

Count from 1 to 999 - there are 999 possibilities, whether you count as 1,2,3... Or 001,002,003,...

Other than one or two oddities - G0 being one, used by the Lord Mayor of Glasgow or something - but those were exceptional and all from pre-1963 (in fact all predate there being 3 letters in the reg number, which may have been before the war)

Its agreed then, I have a thousand combinations to work my way through.
 
Just wondering also, how I will work out which one mine is. Lets just say red for example, if I manage to get a hit for three red Renaults, I wonder how I will know which one was my old car? Unless it will throw up other stuff, such as mileage and MOT remarks etc. Oh well, will just have to wait and see.
 
Is there an owners club for the car? They might have a list of all those currently still running.

Have you got any old things for the car like MOT certs, old tax discs or insurance docs anywhere? Any friends or relatives that might have photos of it if you didn't take any?

I love HubNut! Watch his channel all the time.
 
I did try a few random numbers, and I got a few cars pop up, and one car same brand and colour, but different model.


Not surprising that similar cars turn up with similar numbers - dealerships get issued with blocks of registrations so there's a good chance that ABC111D, ABC112D etc. will be the same marque.
 
Not surprising that similar cars turn up with similar numbers - dealerships get issued with blocks of registrations so there's a good chance that ABC111D, ABC112D etc. will be the same marque.
And depending on the popularity of the colour at the time......close numbers could be the same colour :banghead:
 
Not surprising that similar cars turn up with similar numbers - dealerships get issued with blocks of registrations so there's a good chance that ABC111D, ABC112D etc. will be the same marque.

Had a couple of matches, but can't see anything further. Specific model not showing, it did earlier on. Maybe because I am doing too many search requests. Maybe a security thing kicks in, if you keep typing in random car numbers.
 
I will spend a little more time on searching, then probably call it a day. I will assume it lives on, possibly in someone's kitchen as a fridge or washing machine.
 
The search is over...

My old car that I was trying to look up, is no longer on the road. It was involved in a high impact collision, and was written off.

Thanks guys for your help and input.
 
The search is over...

My old car that I was trying to look up, is no longer on the road. It was involved in a high impact collision, and was written off.

Thanks guys for your help and input.

Is that from, as you mentioned, some feedback of the guy you bought it off?
 
Is there an owners club for the car? They might have a list of all those currently still running.

Have you got any old things for the car like MOT certs, old tax discs or insurance docs anywhere? Any friends or relatives that might have photos of it if you didn't take any?

I love HubNut! Watch his channel all the time.


Sorry missed your post. Me and the missus love HubNut. The only car show the missus will watch.
 
Is that from, as you mentioned, some feedback of the guy you bought it off?

I followed up the trail were it went and who had it after me, did not last long after me. The person who had it, crashed it at high speed.
 
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