Any rhyme or reason for those digits on your doors–or, maybe, fenders or end plates? Superstition? Remembering an icon? Just luck of the draw?
Let’s hear it.
Like what you're reading? We rely on your financial support. For as little as $3, you can support Grassroots Motorsports by becoming a Patron today.
I've often requested the number 73. It was the number on my high school football jersey once I had been on the team long enough to get a permanent number and not whatever they handed out before game day.
Also, it's a prime number.
I autocrossed, then road raced with #27. I grew up in Quebec and it was the number Gilles Villeneuve used. I'm 68 years old now, and there's a picture of the man hanging in my den to this day. Even older guys have their heroes.
For rallycross, my Jeep has always carried #59. For the simple and slightly lame reason of it being a Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited.
404 power not found.
19, it was my baseball, football and lacrosse number in college.
14 - A J Foyt
I run the number 9 because it was the first number assigned to me. Now it's requested.
Playing basketball in high school I wore #25, in adult leagues I've been reassigned #5 "because I'm a 1/5 the player I used to be."
#27 because I'm Mr Oversteer.
88 because I like the symmetry of double numbers, and because it's the year I graduated from high school.
usually 619, because I sign up too late to get a decent 2 digit number, and its my birthday. I learned recently that it is also the number Stirling Moss ran on the Jag C-type with disk brakes that almost won the mille miglia, and now I'll probably ask for it more often.
When I first raced bikes I was given #1, a number I think they kept open for newbies. So when I joined the professional race organization the next season I requested #1. They gave me 406 and it stuck. That was 1976.
When I built my first race car in 96 I used the same colour, number (90) and design as my Dad’s first race car, a 47 Ford B mod. It was supposed to be a surprise and I could tell he was, and he was pretty happy about it
101. It was easy to make with tape when I started AX. It also lets me move the ones around to make 10, 110, 11, 1, or I can add any other single digit in there to make a mess of combinations. I've carried it over to my motorcycles for that racing. My daughter thought I had it on there becasue LOL.
11, it's really easy to make with tape.
Trying to save money, I made my own magnetic numbers when I started autocross, and I wanted to use the easiest digit to make myself, which is a 1.
Thus, for most events, I'm number 11.
I like the look of a black number on a white meatball. I bought a sheet of white vinyl magnetic panel, used a pot lid for a template, and cut out perfect circles.
After making the circles, I realized that because I was using circles I would not be able to get the numbers perfectly aligned, so I had the local sign shop apply the vinyl.
One club I raced with quite a bit had someone that already used the number 11, so I made some squares for number 41.
This time, I did it all myself. I made templates from the original numbers, and changed the first number to a four in order to continue using straight lines. I painted the vinyl with some of the spray paint for plastic. It's held up very well.
To keep from losing the numbers, I have glued small disc shaped rare earth magnets to everything. Sometimes people ask me if they are rivets.
#4 because it was easy to make with painters tape and 1 and 7 were already taken.
256, because it's a nice round number.
(Yes, I'm a nerd)
I started autocrossing and wound up assigned #4 as that was my standing in the overall points. When I started road racing #4 was taken as well as 14,24 34, 41,44 and I wound up with #49 for years. Then I registered late one year and someone else took 49 so I wound up with # 47 and have kept it since. It was also the # used by a former National Champion who also raced a Turner, so I felt I was carrying on a tradition.
523 or 23. Recurring numbers in my life. At one point in college a buddy and I lived at 523 Butler st and both drove Honda accords that had tags ending in 523. The cars were tagged in our Home Counties on opposite ends of the state. He moved there with his car, I bought mine while living there.
13. Its my favorite number. And Friday the thirteen is the only day I play the lottery.
#46
Because Valentino Rossi
When I started, I picked 93 because that's the number my dad used on his F-Production Spitfire he raced when I was a kid. First year I went to Solo Nationals, someone got 93 STS before me. The next year I was there on the day registration opened and snagged 93. At Nationals, my next door neighbor (94/194) was Dave Montgomery and TomO's CRX and they had designs on winning, while Kate and I had designs on not being DFL (neither achived our goals). When the CRX came in from a run, the Wood Brothers descended on the car, jacking it up, pulling tires and putting them in tubs filled with water, while other tires came out of those tubs and went on the car (ah the magic 195 Toyo days). There were people, jacks, impact guns, umbrellas, etc etc all over the place. When Kate and I came back from a run, one of us would change the number and check the tire pressures, then just sit back and watch at the activity next door. At that point we decided we didn't want to play in the super-serious 90+ section of the grid, and the next year I switched to 39/139 and never looked back. And, it turns out, when my dad started racing even before I was born, he started with 39 himself.
Now the car I'm co-driving in STR this year is back in the super-serious numbers, 97/197. The owner wanted those numbers because the car is one of the sequentially-numbered 30AE MX-5s, and the car's build number is #0197/3000.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:256, because it's a nice round number.
(Yes, I'm a nerd)
My wife's birthday is 10/24. So easy to remember.
As for mine - it's a rally car with Martini livery. 037 is the only possible number. And thanks to my painting skills, I don't think I could take it off if I wanted to :)
48
I was 48 when I got back into serious racing. Plus Dan Gurney ran 48 many times. and...
When you are a novice many times you can't keep your number at an event... with tape you can change 48 into: 18, 43, 13, 4, 8, 46, 16.... 
#53, because Herbie. (My car was a Golf GTi, but still a VW)
Scott
You'll need to log in to post.
