What does " D reg" mean here? A licence plate

[NewHopeR]

And what does "erm" mean?


Context:
Do you know the woman at the end of our road, right? <She> Takes me to -
school every day - She's got a D reg Sierra (co~v)
<I> Saw Susan and her boyfriend in Alder weeks ago. (co~v)
<I> Suppose I ought to tell you that shouldn't I? (co~v)
A: What did he say?
B: <He> Said he was ill he looked ill though. (co~v)
A: He5 a really sweet guy.
B: But erm
A: <He> Just thinks too much and smokes too much. (CONV)
Unstressed auxiliaries are also frequently left out, both in declarative and
interrogative sentences. Ellipsis is common with have got and had better
What <are> you going to do? <Are> You going to do her a postcard? (co~v)
You<'d> better get yourself a lawyer, man, a damned good one. (FICT)

from

 

[abaka]

D-reg. Every individual car manufactured has a unique manufacturer reg[istration] code. Beyond the parts of the code that identify the marque and model, there is a "generation" letter: A for the first series, B, C, D, and so on. D-reg means the fourth generation of the Sierra.

The "erm" is likely just a verbal pause, like "...er...", "....uh....", or "...hmmm...".

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't agree with abaka's explanation. I think it's referring to the British system of numberplates/registration plates. Each numberplate is individual and, until 2000, the British system used the letters of the alphabet to indicate the year the car was manufactured.

My parents' Mini had the registration number XCD 457K. It was a "K-reg Mini". The K at the end showed that it was manufactured between August 1971 and July 1972.

Once they had run through the whole alphabet with the relevant letter at the end of the numberplate (Y was the last, as they chose not to use Z), the started again at A but they put the letter at the beginning of the numberplate and changed the pattern. For example, the first car I owned had the registration number C320 RBD. The "C" at the beginning showed that it was manufactured/registered in 1986. Again, they continued through the alphabet until they reached the end and then came up with yet another system.

I think a D-reg Sierra would have been manufactured/registered in 1987. That fits with a time when Ford Sierras were very popular in the UK, especially with "boy racers".

This is a D-reg Sierra.

 

[BobK]

My first car was D-reg Traveller. (I'm quite surprised about the Sierra. My guess would be that the Sierra wasn't introduced until... hang on, I'm probably wrong...)

Anyway, all motor vehicles registered in that year would have a D suffix - nothing to do with generations of the model.

b

PS Aha. My havering about 'suffix' [you won't have known, but I seized up for a good few seconds back there!] My D-reg car was old when I bought it, in 1979. The K-reg Mini that Ems mentioned must have had a prefix (or vice versa. That was what they did after going through the alphabet once - changed the affix from suf- to pre-, or from pre- to suf-.

PS Ems already said that.