British Columbia Manufacturer License Plates

A Manufacturer's licence may be issued to a manufacturer of vehicles who does not sell the vehicles at retail. The distinctive Manufacturer's number plate allows for the highway operation of vehicles for the purpose of a road test or for delivery to a purchaser.

An example of a company that would employ these plates in B.C. would be the old Western Star Truck Company in Kelowna, but with that plant's recent demise it is likely these plates will become increasingly rare. The first known plates in this series are from 1968, they appear with the word Manufacturer stamped across the bottom, and the letters "B" and "C" vertically stacked along the left side of the plate. Since 1985, these plates have been issued in the familiar Flag Graphic style, with Manufacturer screened across the top, an "MA" prefix in the AA-0000 style, and annual decal validation

1968 - 1978

1969

1971

Issuing Statistics

1968:	unknown
1969:	501 to 700
1970:	501 to 600
1971:	501 to 600
1972:	501 to 600
1973:	501 to 575
1974:	701 to 775
1975:	1 to 125
1976:	126 to 250
1977:	unknown
1978:	unknown

1972

1973

1974

1979 - 1986

Issuing Statistics

1979:

unknown

1986 - present

Issuing Statistics

1985:

MA-0000 to MA-0299

As with other early Astrogrpahic plates from the mid-1980s, particularly the Logging Truck base, it is possible to see where some Manufacturer plates were originally created as Trailer Floater plates but were subsequently re-labeled.

The rarity of the Manufactured plate can be seen in these two photos, taken almost 10 years apart. In the photo at right is a 3-wheeled electric "microcar" made by Electra Meccanica Vehicles Corp. of Vancouver in 2017 and displaying the same Manufacturer plate No. MA-0508 as the Porsche at left with a 2008 registration decal. We are not sure what the lineage of this plate and if it is the same person/corporate entity that has owned it this whole time. Regardless, not a common plate ...

Sources

Revised Statutes of British Columbia (1996) Motor Vehicle Act

ALPCA Archives

Dan Howlett, "Decoding British Columbia License Plates", http://www.kasumirecords.com/bcplates/index.htm (October 28, 2001).