Tribute To Noel Woodall

It is always sad when someone passes away, but if they managed to lead a good and productive life and left a mark, then the news isn’t all bad.

One man who made a business out of registration marks was Noel Woodall. He was 82 years old and is credited with inventing the personalised number-plate business.

I love the fact that he coined the term ‘autonumerology’ and published his first book ‘Celebrities’ in 1962. He certainly knew the way the world was going and the book is packed with anecdotes about Arthur Askey (AA10), Norman Wisdom (NW4) and George Formby (GF1 and GF2). Incidentally, younger readers, these were the film stars, stand-ups and acclaimed banjolele players of their day.

He formed the Personalised Number Dealers Association and although I never met him I did interview several members of the Cherished Numbers Dealers Association as it became known, for a feature in the late ‘80s. That was more interesting than it actually sounds.

Thank you Noel and Lewis for changing the way our automotive universe operates. I hope you agree that their efforts made a difference to our lives and possibly number plates.

Article by James Ruppert – Autocar.co.uk