Cool plates.....

As a number plate fan & owner of what I think are some pretty nice vehicle registration plates, I saw two plates this week that made me smile and think how good they were - 81 RDY was seen on a VW Touareg in central London & WE57 HAM was on a Bentley GTC on the M3 heading northbound.

The BBC have just reported on the plate F1 which has been sold at auction for Essex County Council who had it since its first issue. It was apparently sold for a total of £440,625 to car designer Afzal Khan from Bradford, he runs the Project Khan business that does bespoke Range Rovers etc. The previous UK record for the most expensive plate was M1 which went for £331,000 in 2006 to a Cheshire businessman who bought it for his sons 6th birthday!?

The article gives some examples of who & how much has been spent on some amazing combinations such as the plate COM 1C which is owned by Jimmy Tarbuck (don't know why?), K1 NGS for which the Sultan of Brunei reportedly paid £231,000. In April 2006 a Sikh businessman paid £254,000 for the number plate 51 NGH.

All of the UK records pale into nothing when you consider that £3.5 million was paid last year at auction by Talal Ali Mohammad Khouri for single digit 5 plate in the UAE state of Abu Dhabi. This however might be trumped later in the year when the single digit 1 comes up for sale in Abu Dhabi.

UPDATE : Edited to appease local resident and ex-college class member. Respect? Remember the word "Germanic" Mr B? It's term I used at Cricklade one day in lecture with Mr Lees, you seemed to take the piss at my then superior wine knowledge. You have earn respect, if you start with a deficit, you have a longer journey...

UPDATE 28/06/08: MDB 64 is still for sale Mr B! NewReg want £8k for it.