User blog comment:Fcisuperguy/Adding to the Sets article/@comment-3182821-20170524120120

I'd suggest you do a little bit of research into car numberplates - the designs are regional. The silver text on black, for example, was used in the UK before 1975 - https://insidedvla.blog.gov.uk/2015/11/17/whats-the-story-with-black-and-silver-number-plates/

For a set built in 1981, the black and silver colourway indicates that it is not a new vehicle, but the style was very familiar for the audience. As time passed, the black and silver became less common, and the yellow and black colourway is, intentionally for vehicles, far more prominent. As this plate is the set builder's signature, it makes sense they switched to the more prominent design, even if it does imply the car in question is more modern than would be appropriate in a junkyard. But then, a lot of the junk is anachronistic to any particular time period.

Look into German license plates in the 1980s for the relevance of the Hamburg set.

Also, I can guarantee there are no random numbers and letters anywhere on the license plates, you just don't know their significance!