The quirkiest personalised number plates in the Northern Territory
Some of the Territory’s quirkiest number plates have an even quirkier story behind the personalised lettering. Read some of the belters and vote for your favourite here.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
With its dry (and sometimes R-rated) sense of humour and laid back spirit, it’s no wonder the NT is home to some unique number plates.
Be it a message to other drivers, homage to quality cinema or even a quick pick-up line, there’s no shortage of registered entertainment on Territory roads.
A Department of Infrastructure, Planning, and Logistics spokesman said about 10 per cent of the NT’s registered vehicles had personalised number plates.
He said the quirky accessories were assessed by a Motor Vehicle Registry panel of three or more members to make sure the jokes didn’t offend the wider community.
“Twenty-three applications for personalised plate combinations have been rejected between 1 January 2023 and 31 May 2023,” he said.
Luckily for the Territory’s commuters, some creative thinking means the drive to work is never dull, with the chance for a belly-laugh cruising in the next lane, sitting at a red light or parked in all its glory.
Read how some of the belters came about and vote for your favourite.
OFF2PUB - Ian ‘Mudflap’ Boyd
Ian Boyd - who prefers to go by Mudflap - couldn’t believe his luck when he scored OFF2PUB for his personalised plates.
“I always loved hitting up the pubs - all the country pubs anyways, I’m always bouncing around between Coolalinga, Humpty Doo, Noonamah and all that - and I just thought I’ll see if it’s available,” he said.
“Fair enough, she popped up and I thought ‘Oh yeah, I’ll grab them’.”
Mudflap said a few people had asked “how the hell” he’d been the first to think of getting the plates but he put it down to the “luck of the draw”.
He said he moved to the Top End three years ago where “you’ve got to have a beer up here, all day every day”.
NO UNDZ – Torrent Hobbs
One man’s decision to ditch the knickers at age 13 meant jokes among family and friends were low-hanging fruit.
Torrent Hobbs’ ballsy grab at below-the-belt freedom is displayed proudly across his unique number plates – NO UNDZ.
“The Northern Territory clothing attire for me was short stubbies and Northern Territory football shorts, mainly Saint Marys,” he said.
“This led to numerous occasions where the ‘sausage and eggs’ would incidentally make an appearance and be viewed by others.”
IM2SEXY – Maria Pikos
After her first personalised number plate application was rejected, Maria Pikos opted for a message of self-love.
IM2SEXY is now plastered across the shiny yellow car to reminder herself to keep her chin up.
“It’s a reminder for yourself daily to think, ‘you are beautiful, you are worthy, you are sexy’,” Ms Pikos said.
“It’s all about confidence because my car’s pretty bright and it stands out – it’s a pretty confident car.”
Her first plan had been a Greek word meaning “I don’t care”.
But now, she gets plenty of comments and a few laughs when she drops the car off for a service.
DDYSMRF – Malcolm Whalan
Malcolm Whalan turns heads when he drives by in his blue Ram and the massive car’s comical number plate likely draws even more attention.
“Sitting down the pub with a few of my best mates talking about my car and we were coming up with a name for it,” Mr Whalan said.
“We bounced a few names around, American car and whatnot, thought maybe CTP USA – but I’m not American, only the car is.”
Mr Whalan said his friends decided the car was “blue like a smurf” but couldn’t call it Papa Smurf due to the lack of red paint and an existing PAPASMF plate.
“The next best thing was DDYSMRF,” he said.
“Only called it ‘daddy’ since it’s a big truck in my nieces’ and nephews’ eyes.”
JOG ON – Jolene Wagner
Jolene Wagner and her partner‘s Landcruiser has played a key role in their travels across Australia for the past four years.
Originally from Queensland, Ms Wagner said they had previously been “very limited” by what plates they could have and were “stumped” on how to give their car a Territory flair.
“We were looking and looking and then I said to my husband one day, ‘ I found it’,” she said.
“He’s like, ‘what is it?’ and I said JOG ON.”
Ms Wagner said the mantra was something she and her partner said often.
“If we don’t like somewhere or we’re not happy or we’ve managed caravan parks and people don’t gel, we just go, ‘jog on’,” she said.
“It was kind of how we perceived us.”
NOTALUX – Michael Duke
HiLuxes are a fairly common sight on NT roads but Michael Duke is making sure other utes get just as much love.
“I got the plates because I seen all of the custom HiLux plates,” he said.
“Driving a Nissan Navara, I thought it might be a funny addition not being a HiLux – hence NOTALUX.”
SCROLL TO SEE SOME OF THE TERRITORY’S BEST PERSONALISED PLATES
More Coverage
Join the conversation
Millions of dollars in back-pay owed to thousands of NT workers
An error in public holiday pay has forced the NT government to stump up almost $22m owed to public servants. Find out who is affected.
Read more
Why Darwin’s 13th rugby round will have extra meaning
It’s set to be a massive weekend of Top End rugby union with Darwin hosting its suicide awareness round and the 10th Slugger Cup. Read all about it here.
Read more