They lost the Citroën 2CV and yellow headlights. Now the French are about to say adieu to another Gallic motoring institution in the name of EU rules: the number plates that show where they live.

From snobbish Parisians to proud provincials, drivers are upset that anonymous numbers will replace the traditional plates with the final two digits displaying their home département.

Since the early 1950s children have played “spot the département” on boring journeys, earning points for identifying the 95 regions that were mainly created and numbered by the revolutionary state in 1792.

More usefully the numbers alert drivers to friend or foe and prepare them for trouble. For northerners, a 13 (Marseilles-Bouches du Rhône) or a 06 (Nice-Côte d’Azur) spells Mediterranean road hog. For residents of rural France profonde, 75 says “arrogant Parisian”. Stones can be thrown at 75 cars, although plastic explosive is the preferred option in Corsica.

For Parisians 93 means a jalopy with an immigrant at the wheel. Le neuf-trois (93) is street slang for the Seine Saint-Denis, the inner northeastern suburb that was home to the 2005 ghetto riots. This is not to be confused with neuf-deux (92), the ritzy Hauts de Seine, the western Paris département whose boss was Nicolas Sarkozy until his job moved him to the 75 in May.

Police were able to find the stolen scooter of the President’s son earlier this year because, registered with 92, it stuck out on the rundown 93 housing estate where thieves have taken it.

“I have always been proud to be a 69,” a woman from Lyons told a radio news programme. “When I see a 01, I give it a lot of space. I don’t know why, but people from l’Ain are terrible drivers.”

A poll for Sud-Ouest newspaper found that 70 per cent of country dwellers oppose the loss of the numbers that give them a sense of belonging to their region. Sixty-one per cent of people nationally oppose the measure, which will simplify the bureaucracy of ownership.

From January 2009 a new number will be assigned to vehicles for their lives. At present les plaques d’immatriculation are issued by the département, requiring vehicles to be replated if they are moved elsewhere.

For some the change is a blessing. “I am neuf-trois at the moment and I’m often stigmatised,” said Elodie Ternaux, 35, a designer. “The change will be a good way of getting rid of labels.” One internet commentator said: “This will stop idiots damaging vehicles because they come from some region or saying ‘of course they drive like that, look where they come from’.”

Resistance, however, is growing.

The Essonne council, on the western outskirts of Paris, voted a motion requiring the départementnumber (91) be displayed by residents with the new plates. “These number plates are part of our identity. Part of our national heritage is disappearing,” said François Durovray, the councillor behind the motion.

Driving by numbers

75 Arrogant Parisian
13 Mediterranean roadhog (Marseilles-Bouches du Rhône)
01 Terrible drivers (L’Ain)

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