No I do not quite agree with you there John. ... Without good reason, I think it is just Crass Vanity, humankind at its worst so to speak.
I don't really disagree with that - but, more pragmatically, 'human nature' being what it is, the inescapable reality is that very many people (probably 'most people', to some extent) DO practice 'vanity' in all sorts of ways - one only has to look at the obscene amounts spent on 'cosmetics', 'beauty treatments' and expensive jewellery etc., or in the name of 'fashion' to see that ... and, as I've said, I'm not convinced that I would not become 'one of them' if I had unlimited amounts of money to spend!
On top of that people stating "Ohh it spells my name" often it does not do that or anywhere near that.
That's a different matter, where we have more agreement. Other than using a zero to represent an "O" or a number "1" to represent a letter "I", I think it gets pretty silly when people use numbers to 'sort-of (but not very well)' represent letters of the alphabet. I am "JohnW" (actually "JohnRW") - so, if I were stinking rich, I might consider (if they were available) tings like "JW 1", "JRW 1", "John 1" etc. etc., but not anything more 'contrived that used numbers in the place of letters.
Anyway, I think your topic was asking for help when comming up against officialdom and deciding the best route to be legal and correct with your car reg and , not unusually, you have come up against daft rules/laws . Not a surprise really I am afraid that it can be so. The Unthinking lurk in all places
Indeed. As I've tried to explain, it doesn't really matter to me personally - if the rules/laws are as daft as I gave suggested they may be, I'd be happy to proceed just on the basis of common sense (and do any subsequent arguing 'in court', should silliness require that!).
However, more generally, I don't think it's unreasonable to discuss a situation which might mean that rules/laws are such that countless people could be 'on the wrong side of the law'without realising it, is it?
More practically, if the system is exactly as described by DVLA, then is seems possible that, throughout a period of a number of weeks following a request to remove a private plate, the police's ANPR cameras/system would flag the vehicle as untaxed (and possibly also without MOT and/or insurance), or even as bearing a 'non-existent' number plate - which, at the least, could result in 'hassle'
Kind Regards, John