back to article Iranian pimp plates arse up Afghan car sales

An Iranian pimp dubbed "39" has been fingered as the possible cause of a dramatic slump in car sales in the Afghan capital Kabul, Reuters reports. The Iranian in question apparently had a "flashy" motor whose number plate contained the number 39. This became his nickname and subsequently a signifier for "pimp". The term …

COMMENTS

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  1. Neal 5

    corrupt police??????

    surely this is some joke, the Merkunt trained pig in Afghanistan could not possibly be anything other than 100% straight could it.?

  2. Lamont Cranston
    Joke

    Send over Westwood and Xzibit,

    to educate the Afghans on the true meaning of pimp.

    Or maybe just Anthonio Fargas, and some large hats.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      They would..

      Tie them to a stake and murder them... repeatedly...

      Yeah, good point, lets Send over Westwood and Xzibit.....

  3. Lionel Baden

    This made my day

    Awesome story :D

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    Yeah, whatever

    True pimp:

    Custom BMW M5 Coupe in Fluorescent Yellow.

    Number plate: HUI 5000

    This one used to be a regular visitor at the local independent BMW fixers (down the street from me). It was probably a bit too regular for the owner's liking - I recently saw it with a normal number plate driven by someone else.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Eh?

    If you need proof that humans are thick as pigs shite, here you go!

    All this because of the number 39??

    Wow, stupidity reigns!

    1. Code Monkey

      Stupidity reigns

      So you'd be fine with a number plate that says "P4EDO" or something would you?

      1. Lamont Cranston

        That's a non-standard numberplate,

        and looks very much like an abbreviation of "paedophile". 39, on the other hand, is a two digit number, quite likely to occur on a number plate, and rather innocuous unless you insist on ascribing some undesirable meaning to it.

      2. My Alter Ego
        FAIL

        Well done

        Well done for comparing the obvious abbreviation of a word to a two digit number that is loosely associated with the word pimp. You have successfully proved that stupidity does indeed reign.

    2. Naughtyhorse

      reigne everywhere

      in the uk cars with 13 or especially 666 on the plate are hard to sell.

      particularly weird given that 666 is a mistranslation of what god _actually_ wrote in the bumper book of bosh!

      the world is full of credulous fools

      go figure

      the real mistery is why im not runninng the show yet :D

      1. Graham Marsden
        Facepalm

        @reigne everywhere

        Back in about 1986 Shell did a "puff-piece" advert featuring their "Shell Grip" road surface which featured a car driving along a dark and rainy road whilst a Black Knight figure looms out of the murk and bats fly around then the car brakes to avoid a lorry that had the registration number STY 666X.

        Subsequently the ad was re-edited so the numberplate wasn't visible!

      2. Michael Dunn
        Coat

        Also

        Difficult to sell cars with 4 in the number, especially if repeated, to Chinese. (The sound of the word for "4" is similar to the sound of the word for "death."

        Chinese lexicon in the pocket.

      3. Michael Dunn

        the world is full of credulous fools

        Yeah, even the Daily Fail prints a horoscope!

  6. b0llchit Silver badge
    Coat

    Billable in digits

    Well, I'm surprised that the cost involved for changing the plates is not 39.39 (in whatever currency you now want).

    I guess that shopping now also shuns all mention of "that'll be thirtynine-somethings". Can't be a pimp-shopper now, can we?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Jokes are funnier when clever

      39 is only associated with pimpin' style when it's on a license plate.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Toyota Corolla

    I know why he can't sell it, or his family refuses to ride in it...It's a Corolla FFS.

    I believe that forcing people to drive Corolla's is now considered a war crime in some countries. Probably.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Quite common out there ...

      I was out there a few months ago, and Corollas are by far the most common car. I had one years ago, and quite liked it. It didn't let me down ...

  8. Shonko Kid
    Devil

    Can I exploit this...

    And socially engineer a situation where Lamborghini sales drop, and I can pick one up cheap?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Congratulations

    You have actually managed to make a completely incomprehensible yet entirely accurate headline into a work of art.

  10. Nigel 9
    Pirate

    They think THAT plate change cost is expensive?

    Still not as expensive as the stunning rip-off merchants of the automotive world.....

    The DVLA.... :(

    £250 for a basic custom plate

    £A LOT BLOODY MORE If they think its remotely like any word / name etc

    £80 PER YEAR if you already own a plate, but its not currently on a car.

    I tried to pre-reg BA57 ARD but they wouldnt let me :(

    1. defiler
      Unhappy

      Also refused the plate of my choice

      I reckoned P155 OFF would be nice for ducking through traffic on my bike. DVLA said no.

      And I think you meant "£250 for a bad Scrabble hand."

    2. Is it me?

      You missed ...

      The £80 to move it to your new car.

      1. Mister_C

        And don't forget

        If you forget to pay the annual charge for a retained plate (and they don't send reminders) you can loose the plate.

        1. vic 4
          Joke

          @Mister_C Reminders

          It's a good job, they'd have to charge more to license the patent to send email reminders

        2. Naughtyhorse

          amazing

          all that money for wanker plates

          dont these types realise that _everyone_ who sees them always, immediatley, thinks 'wanker'

          bacon sandwich dropped!

    3. Lamont Cranston
      Trollface

      £250 seems like a fair price,

      if you really must badge yourself as a self absorbed muppet.

  11. muttley
    Childcatcher

    PEN15 ftw

    Now THAT's a pimp plate.

    As previously owned by Steve "motogp" Parrish a while back.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Obligatory "pimp my ride" joke

    That is all.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    How much to get 69?

    oh, and a license plate

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Joke

      time...

      Have patience. In 2019, all new cars will come with 69.

  14. Old Handle
    Joke

    Jeez, no wonder California is broke.

    They only charge $19 for a new plate and $49 for a custom one.

  15. Alan Ferris
    Coat

    666 !

    What abou 668 then? I mean, who would want to live next door to 666?

  16. Andy Berner

    apparently "your mom" jokes are not so funny in Afghanistan...

    Saw this first in the Wall Street Journal... their story closed with the amusing anecdote:

    "But the origins of the number don't matter much to drivers like Ghafar, who has to deal with daily ridicule that has cost him at least one friendship.

    "A classmate of mine was always joking with me and saying I was a pimp," said Ghafar, who rebuffed repeated requests to have his photograph taken with his troublesome license pate. "I said, 'If I'm a pimp then bring your sister and mother around.' We're not friends anymore.""

  17. Eddy Ito

    How sad is that?

    They missed a much more appropriate number by 30. Oh yeah, no wise arse, I don't mean 9.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Almost pure profit

    Regular plates cost next to nothing, even to replace them.

    Custom plates can cost thousands (here).

    Thanks custom plate buyers, thanks for paying more tax.

  19. Michael Dunn

    Eh?

    Oh, no! "having a hard time of it."

  20. Bert 1
    Headmaster

    @Lamont Cranston - RE: That's a non-standard numberplate

    No it's not (in the UK anyway).

    1. Lamont Cranston
      Pint

      Doubtless I'll be told off for quoting Wikipedia but:

      "By 1982, the year suffixes had reached Y and so from 1983 onwards the sequence was reversed again, so that the year letter — starting again at "A" — preceded the numbers then the letters of the registration. The available range was then A21 AAA to Y999 YYY, the numbers 1–20 being held back for the government's proposed, and later implemented, DVLA select registration sales scheme."

      http://bit.ly/hyDPUw

      I would argue that being part of the "DVLA select registration sales scheme" qualifies as a non-standard numberplate. Point taken, though, as the P4EDO plate may not be quite as unlikely as I assumed (I'll bet it's either unsold or withdrawn, though!).

  21. Damien Thorn
    Paris Hilton

    DVLA plate unavailable

    The Uk is on 11 plates, CA11 GRL is unavailable. (maybe they should import 39 cars from iran, seems they will get a good bargain, and there left hand drive which makes felatio easier kerb side roflmao.)

    1. Bumpy Cat
      Coat

      I know I shouldn't ...

      But, how does left hand drive make kerb-side fellatio easier? You mean the giver has to kneel on the kerb? Isn't that a bit unkind? Isn't right hand drive better, since the giver can get in the car easily from the kerb *and* be more comfortable?

      Of all the things to be thinking about on a Tuesday morning ...

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