Vehicle Registration Plates of Romania - Historical License Plates - The 1966 License Plates

The 1966 License Plates

In 1966 the whole system was changed. The new plates were initially issued in the format aa-BB-ccccc:

• The numbers in front (aa) were arranged as follows:
  • 1 to 19 - automobiles, since 1990 all private vehicles, regardless of type
  • 20 - reserved for automobiles, but never used
  • 21 to 30 - freight transport vehicles, including lorry tractor units; also buses, if modified for freight transport
  • 31 to 40 - buses, coaches and utility vehicles
  • 41 to 45 - road tractors
  • 46 to 50 - motorcycles.
• The letters (BB) denoted the cities until 1968, and after that counties (judeţe). Following the 1968 reorganisation of Romania's counties, new codes were introduced. These represented generally the same counties as the ones used today (see the county codes). However, between 1966 and 1968, some old codes were used. Thus, a registration plate for Ploiesti would be 1-PL-1234, which would have changed after 1968 to 1-PH-1234 (for Prahova, the country in which Ploiesti is situated). Many codes, however, did not need to change: Bucharest (B), Cluj (Cj) and Sibiu (Sb), for example, remained the same.
• The numbers after the county abbreviation (ccccc) were in groups of either three, four or five digits, and were issued in ascending order, starting from 101. The old plates were declared invalid. 101 as the first number may have come from the Soviet-style "first number" 01-01.
• Numbers with 5 digits after the county code were issued only in Bucharest. It started with 1-B-10000 to 1-B-99999, then 2-B-10000 to 59999, until the change of the system. 9-B-10000 to 9-B-39999 were issued, between the early 1980s and 1992, for Ilfov (or the Ilfov Agricultural Sector). Up until the 1980s Ilfov plates were registered IF, an abbreviation which would return in 2005.

An interesting development was the connection between the license plate and the social status of the car owner. For example, the "important" cars (i.e. those belonging to the nomenklatura) generally used 1, then the county, then three digits. Nicolae Ceauşescu's ARO sported the "1-B-111" license plate. By the mid-1970s, any plate with three digits was considered important (regardless of the number at the front), and although older cars had been initially issued with three-digit combinations, many owners were "asked" by the authorities to change their numbers. In an age where most people had the same car - the Dacia - such distinguishing features were considered important. By the 1980s, in Bucharest 1-B with 3 or 4 digits and 2-B and 3-B with three digits were also considered important numbers. Furthermore, the legend that the three-digit formula, where the middle number was the sum of the other two numbers, signified real importance sprang up. Thus, many senior Communist leaders had numbers such as 1-B-363, while the Neamţ County party secretary had 1-NT-165 on his black Volga.

Foreign citizens and organizations were issued plates with 12-B (later 12-xx on other counties). 14-B was used for rental cars, but since 1990 some official cars had such number plates too.

There were also some stylistic variations. Numbers on a yellow (rather than white) background were state property, but since all trucks, buses and other heavy vehicles were state property, those with yellow background plates belonged to ministries or other special state organizations. Numbers with white letters on a black background were issued to vehicles of the foreign organizations in Romania, but also to vehicles belonging to religious organizations.

Temporary plates had the county code and then a number beginning with 0; test drive plates had a number beginning with 0 and then the county.

In 1978 the manufacture of plates was standardized and they were all made on a pressed steel rectangle; previously plates had been plastic, cast iron, enamel, porcelain or even plaster. In 1984, after 19-B-9999 had been reached, it was decided to begin the series 1-B with five digits. In 1983, after a brief reorganization of the counties, IF (Ilfov County) was dropped, CL (Călăraşi County) and GR (Giurgiu County) were introduced, and the Bucharest Agricultural Sector (Sectorul Agricol Ilfov) issued plates beginning with 9-B and followed by five digits. The fonts used on the number plates changed slightly in 1988.

The system was finally changed in 1992, when new reflective plates were introduced, with the numbering system still in use today. One reason was to please the European authorities and to make Romanian cars safer when being driven abroad; another was allegedly to hide the identities of previous Communist leaders, whose importance was visible on their bumpers. Indeed, in the weeks after the Romanian Revolution, many changed their license plates to Army plates to avoid trouble. Nevertheless, they remained valid until late 2000, and for many years 1-B-101 and 1-B-106 were seen being driven around Bucharest on cars owned by tennis player Ilie Năstase.

In the mid 1990s, urban myths circulated that the new "powerful" license plates began with B 06. However, this was quickly superseded by the rumour that they contained a W in the three-letter sequence. Although this is not strictly incorrect - many, such as the cars used by Traian Băsescu and Prince Charles, do - certainly not all such numbers are of any significance.