Personalised Number Plate Information

NUMBER PLATES:

The Licensing Agency, Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is all set to offer 250 licensing plates comprising 3, 4 and 5 digits in its forthcoming 51st online auction. Plates on offer bear the Codes (H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, and T). Registration of bidders starts on Sunday 21st January. The bidding will start at 08:00 am on 28th Jan 2018 and continue for five days.

"The wide participation of the public in online or open auctions and the positive competition to grab such numbers underscore the importance of holding these auctions in bringing happiness & satisfaction to number plate enthusiasts," Sultan Al Marzouqi, Director of Vehicles licensing, RTA Licensing Agency.

Al Marzouqi highlighted the importance of online auctions to a large segment of community members who prefer such particular auctions as they find the liberty of selecting their fancied numbers in a hassle-free environment. "These auctions also contribute to enhancing the online services of the RTA under its annual plan aimed at improving the quality and standard of processing public transactions," he commented.

"Participation in the auction requires the client to have an account opened through RTA's website (www.rta.ae) or use the 'New User' link to obtain a Username and Password. For a new registration, the user is required to have either a vehicle registered in Dubai or a driver license issued from Dubai. For participating in the auction, the bidder is required to issue a security cheque to the order of the RTA amounting to AED5,000 and deposit it to one of RTA's Customers Happiness Centers at Umm Al Ramool, Bur Dubai, Deira or Al Tawar Municipal Centre. In the case of payment by a credit card, the client must also deposit five thousand dirhams as security. Clients have also to pay 120 dirhams as participation fees through the website (www.rta.ae)" explained Al Marzouqi.

"The successful bidder has to clear the due amount within ten working days from the Auction Closing Date by cash or credit card through centres of service providers or RTA's Customer Happiness Centers. Cash payments are acceptable up to AED 50,000. For higher amounts, customers can make payment by a certified check or credit card, or pay online using a credit card too. Failure to clear due payments will result in entering the bidder in the list of defaulters," he added.

"A dedicated team at RTA's Call Center has been furnished with all information related to the auction, and stands ready to respond to any public inquiries relating to procedures of participation or payment through the toll-free number 8009090," concluded Al Marzouqi.

---

Number Plate Suppliers, do they have to be registered?

The short answer to the question is YES.

If you are buying a cherished plate through a registered (MIRAD) dealer who is also a registered number plate supplier (RNPS) with the DVLA then they can supply the plates for you.

Sales manager at Image Registrations Bruno Morris said if we are supplying the cherished number to the client and transferring it onto the vehicle for them then we already have established proof of ownership and identity during the transfer procedure. It saves the customer a lot of hassle by enabling us to supply the registration plates with the completed paperwork"."

---

A Kiwi with an obsession for the Devil's number is selling his satanic number plate. The price? $66,666 obviously.

But it doesn't stop there.

Wellington's David Blackmore has been amassing things sporting the numbers "666" for 30 years, is now selling the whole collection.

A phone number, website name and a PO Box number, all featuring the number of the beast, are also up for grabs.

The satanic number plate is sure to raise eyebrows

"I've even looked under the cupboard the stairs, he wasn't under there either," Blackmore quipped.

The multimillionaire property developer is leaving New Zealand for good, in favour of Australia's sunny Gold Coast.

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life sitting back and enjoying it rather than participating in the rat-race any longer – I'll leave that to the rats."

Blackmore says number plates are a waste of space if they don't mean something to someone.

"Numbers are just numbers, in China, triple six is actually a very lucky number, second only to 888 of course."

He said it all started when he couldn't get his favourite race number in a car race he was entering.

"Believe it or not, my favourite number is 13. I was borne on the 13th, and turned 13 years old on Friday the 13th."

"They said 13 was taken 'but that's an unlucky number, the next unlucky number we have is 666', so I took it – and that's how Team Satan racing came to be."

And from there, collecting assets bearing the satanic brand became something of a sport.

666 COLLECTION

He got the number plate 66666 in 1988, when personalised plates first came out, and is now asking $66,000 for it.

That year he brought 1000 personalised number plates for under $300 each – and has been selling them off ever since.

The highest price fetched for a plate was $75,000 for "WW".

He got the phone number 021 666 666 about 20 years ago, off a woman who wanted $10,000 for it: "So naturally I paid $6666for it."

He got the website domain name 666.co.nz about 10 years ago, for less than $100 per year for the registration.

A friend gave him the 666 Auckland postal box address, to complement his collection, about 10 years ago.

"I've also got the original New Zealand number plate 666, from back when number plates were just numerals, this was before the time when number plates had letters on them."

"You can't use it – it's just a bit of tin now, but I'll never part with that. I paid him $666 for it."

And to complete the collection, his email is 6@66.co.nz.

Blackmore hopes to get $66,666 for the combo but is open to selling them separately.

The self-professed collector of weird and wonderful things first started in number plates, then moved on to antiques, boats and even taxidermy.

He also has green a purple Lamborghini with the number plate JOKER and the Rolls-Royce had the number plate BROKE on it.

BAD LUCK?

Blackmore admits the inauspicious number did bring him bad luck once, when the Bentley turbo he was racing in the late 90s crashed – causing more than $40,000 damage.

"But it was all about having a bit of fun, were weren't trying to win," he said.

"We were the forerunners of drifting in New Zealand.

"Our objective was to go around as many corners as possible, sideways and in a cloud of smoke."

Needless to say, Blackmore hasn't raced the Bentley since.

WHAT'S BEHIND THE NUMBER?

666 has become one of the most widely recognised symbols for the Devil in modern popular culture.

It is called the "number of the beast" in the Bible's New Testament, Book of Revelation.

Some people take the Satanic associations of 666 so seriously that they actively avoid things related to 666. This is known as hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

Aside from religious meanings, the number is also interesting mathematically.

666 is the sum of squares of the first seven prime numbers.

It's also the sum of the first 36 numbers, i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666.

And therefore it is the sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel – 0 through 36.

---

The first series of number plates were issued in 1903 and ran until 1932, using the series A 1 to YY 9999. The letter or pair of letters indicated the local authority in whose area the vehicle was registered, for example A - London, B - Lancashire, C - West Riding of Yorkshire. In England and Wales the letter codes were initially allocated in order of population size (by the 1901 census) whilst Scotland and Ireland had their own sequences incorporating the letters S" and "I" respectively, which were allocated alphabetically: IA = Antrim, IB = Armagh, etc. When a licensing authority reached 9999, it was allocated another two letter mark, but there was no pattern to these subsequent allocations as they were allocated on a first come first served basis. There are three interesting anomalies where a zero has been issued - The Lord Provost of Edinburgh has S 0 and his Glasgow counterpart has G 0 while the official car of the Lord Provost of Aberdeen has RG 0. In addition the Lord Mayor

---

T’S happened again – and set a record: Someone paid $745,000 for the numerical NSW plate ‘29’, eclipsing the previous auction record of $689,000 paid for NSW ‘2’ back in 2003.

It also set an Australian auction record for a double-digit number plate, topping the $530,000 paid for the Victorian plate ‘21’ at Shannons Melbourne Winter Auction last July.

Other strong number plate sales were $82,000 paid for NSW ‘9191’ and $35,000 for NSW ‘85758’, taking total sales on the night for the six heritage plates on offer to $956,000.

Classic motorcycles were also hot property, topped by $37,000 paid for an ‘as new’ 1975 Norton Commando Mk3 850cc with just 29km delivery on its odometer, and a 1950s Austin J40 pedal car sold for $9300.

Other impressive results from the auction included a restored 1964 Porsche 356C Coupe which went for $137,000, a restored 1949 48-215 ‘FX’ Holden which commanded $46,000, a 1962 MGA 1600 sports car fetched $52,000 and a stately and exceptionally low mileage Mercedes-Benz 300B ‘Adenauer’ limousine first owned by the Victa lawnmower family sold for $50,000.

As well, a superbly-restored 1970 Ford XY Falcon GT sedan sold for $180,000.

Other News:

A shortage of vehicle number plates has hit the Kenyan market, causing a backlog in the clearance of cars at Mombasa port.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) attributed the shortage that started two weeks ago to increased registration of cars that has outpaced supply of number plates.

“Demand is far much higher than supply. There are just too many vehicles being imported into the country, especially second-hand cars,” NTSA director of registration and licensing.

She added that the supply issue will ease after Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, where the number plates are manually made, increases supply.
The law mandates the prisons department to make the plates.

Official data shows that Kenyans bought 15,858 used vehicles in the first quarter of the year, compared to 14,346 units in a similar period of last year, representing a 10.5 per cent growth.

It is mandatory for imported second hand vehicles to be fitted with number plates before leaving the port.

The country imports about 6,000 second hand cars monthly, according to dealers.
Dealers said that the shortage had hit them hard as they were forced to incur storage charges at the port amid cash flow hiccups due to delays as some had taken loans.

“We are incurring heavy storage charges as the cars are detained at the port despite having paid duty and customs clearance cash in advance,” said Charles Munyori, the secretary-general of Kenya Auto Bazaar Association, a lobby for second hand car dealers.

The storage charges are based on the volume of vehicles and the number of days they take at the Mombasa port or at container freight stations.

Industry insiders, however, said the number plate problem normally occurs every time a new registration number comes up as importers delay registration to take advantage of the newest numbers.

---

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. Towards the mid-1990s there was some discussion about introducing a unified scheme for Europe, which would also incorporate the country code of origin of the vehicle, but after much debate such a scheme was not adopted due to lack of countries willing to participate. The changes in 1983 also brought the letter Q into use - although on a very small and limited scale. It was used on vehicles of indeterminate age, such as those assembled from kits, substantial rebuilds, or imported vehicles where the documentation is insufficient to determine the age. There was a marked increase in the use of Q registrations

---