A 1962-1963
B 1963-1964
C 1964-1965
D 1965-1966
E 1966-1967
F 1967-1968
G 1968-1969
H 1969-1970
J 1970-1971
K 1971-1972
L 1972-1973
M 1973-1974
N 1974-1975
P 1975-1976
R 1976-1977
S 1977-1978
T 1978-1979
V 1979-1980
W 1980-1981
X 1981-1982
Y 1982-1983
Then they started again, putting the letter at the beginning of the number plate
A 1983-1984
B 1984-1985
C 1985-1986
and so on
But as we got nearer to the year 2000, they got impatient - they wanted to start a brand new system for 2000, and so resorted to to a new letter every six months.
Then it more complicated, somehow the third and fourth numbers revealed the year.
DISCLAIMER. Please feel free to point out all the errors, this is from memory only.