Emirates Number Plate Sells For 10 Million

An Emirati businessman, Ahmed Al Marzuoqi, 23; has won the bid to own the exclusive Abu Dhabi number 2 plate for a whopping Dh10 million.

"I am very excited and proud to get number 2," he told reporters after the auction of distinguished number plates on Saturday evening at Emirates Palace.

He said he bought the number plate because of it's significance to the nation.

"Number 2 is a historical and very important number. It's the number that signifies the UAE union which is on December 2," said Al Marzuoqi.

"I'm proud of my country and I want that money to go to charity. This is a year of giving and the Police will use the money from the sale of number plates to support the poor and needy people."

The Emirati beat several bidders for the coveted plate after starting at Dh5 million.

The auction was held by the Abu Dhabi Police and Emirates Auction.

Sixty new distinguished vehicle number plates (Category 1), were up for grabs on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Abu Dhabi Police.

The bidding started with number plate 1957, a significant number and the year in which Abu Dhabi Police was established and was grabbed at Dh53,000.

"This is a sweet number, many people like it," said the auctioneer during the bid.

The number (2) was among the most distinguished numbers in this auction as the only one-digit license plate in the auction alongside being the first-ever one-digit Category 1 number plate sold in a public auction.

Another exclusive number plate sold during the auction was number 11, which was sold for Dh6.4 million.

12-year-old Khalifa Mohammed Al Mazroui, a Grade 5 student at Zayed Academy was the youngest person to own a special number plate at the event.

His father, Mohammed Al Mazroui who fancies special number plates bought him the 1111 number plate.

"I am so happy to own a number plate. I asked my father to buy for me this number plate when we reached this place," said Khalifa.

He said he will put the number plate on his Mercedes car which his father bought him. The family driver is driving the car to take him to school.

"I love special things and fancy number plates and that's why I have bought this special number plate," an Emirati man who bought the number 60 for Dh3 million told Khaleej Times.

"There are so many reasons why number plates are important to us. One reason is they are the number plates from the UAE's Capital. This is the 60th anniversary of the Abu Dhabi Police. We are proud of our force and it's also one of the reasons I have bought this number plate so I can support the police."

The auction also included five double-digit plates, 15 three-digit plates, 19 four-digit and 17 five-digit plates.

The most prominent numbers in the auction were 10 that was sold at Dh5.4 million, 22 sold at Dh4 million, 17 at Dh3.3 million, 60 at Dh3 million, 200 at Dh1.2 million, 333 at Dh1.6 million, 220 at Dh760,000, 161 at Dh900,000, 999, 1000 at Dh360,000 and 1111 at sold at Dh1.5 million.

And 999 was sold at Dh1.4 million, 9999 was given out at Dh750,000, 5050 at Dh300,000, 2233 at 180,000, 166 at Dh690,000, 660 at Dh670,000, 9090 at Dh200,000, 55555 at Dh850,000, 66666 at Dh700,000 among other distinctive numbers that attracted collectors of unique number plates.

More than Dh55 million was collected from the auctioning of the special number plates.

The auction was organized on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Abu Dhabi Police, in order to celebrate its journey of developmental achievements and its excellence in security performance and police work in accordance with the highest modern standards, which reflects the vision of the wise leadership and demonstrates the diligence of Abu Dhabi Police in ensuring the satisfaction for enthusiasts of distinctive number plates. This comes within the framework of the strategic partnership between the two sides and in accordance with the highest standards in the organization of public auctions worldwide.

Last year, the exclusive number 1 vanity number plate was taken for a whopping Dh31 million.

A twelve-year-old student has bought a car number plate for the equivalent of £300,000 ($400,000) in an auction held by Abu Dhabi police.

The boy paid 1.5m dirhams for the plate - numbered 1111 - in the auction of special registration plates intended to raise money for local police, The National newspaper reports.

According to the paper, Khalifa Al Mazrouei raised 500,000 dirhams of his own money which he won in a Quran recital competition, with the rest coming from his father.

The plate is likely to be mounted on the Mercedes car in which he rides to school, The National said. Unfortunately, he won't be able to drive the car legally for some years because the driving age remains at 18 years on Emirati roads.

Missing out on 1111 was Wadha Al Qaydi, one of the few women at the sale who saw the bidding sail past her not-immodest limit. In the end, she settled for 5550 for her red Rolls-Royce, at a comparatively budget price of 180,000 dirhams ($49,000, £37,000).

Whatever your opinion on personalised number plates, it’s big business not just for purveyors of registration numbers, but for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) too.
Each year the DVLA holds sales to flog number plates no longer, or never in, circulation to raise a few bob, with prices ranging from a few hundred pounds to over £500k for ’25 O’.

So with the latest number plate sale due to run from 22-24 November, DVLA are promoting it with what they think is the perfect plate for a Doctor Who fan – or Whovian – with the sale of ‘WHO 63’.

It might not quite be the ‘WHO 1’ famed for being on John Pertwee’s Doctor Who car, but it does denote the year Doctor Who first aired (1963) and will go under the hammer almost exactly 54 years to the day Doctor Who first aired at 5.15pm on 23 November 1963.

But it’s not just Doctor Who fans being enticed to buy a new number plate, with Manchester football fans wooed with ‘M17 CTY’ and MA17 ‘UTD’, and potential buyers who are desperate to tell the world their name (or an approximation) with ‘DOU 9G’ and PA11 DDY’, amongst others.