Special High Value Personalised Number Plates

Another week, another special number plate series. This time it’s the G series, of which you have until September 29 to submit your bids for, with results set to be published on October 9.

The G 1 to G 9999 number plate series is one approved by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) for the Lee Chong Wei Foundation, set up by national badminton player Datuk Lee Chong Wei.

Funds raised from the sale of the plates will be for the benefit of “amongst others, sports associations and programmes which are designed to support potential and promising athletes in their endeavour to help Malaysia in its quest for the first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020,” according to Yakin Emas Sdn Bhd, the exclusive agent.

The vendor has set minimum bidding prices for various categories, depending on how “special” the number is. Minimum bids range from RM2,500 for regular numbers to RM250,000 for ‘G 2’ to ‘G 10’. The top ‘G 1’ plate will sell for a minimum of RM500,000 or whatever figure reached by a bidding war.

There has been a raft of fancy plate offerings lately. We’ve seen ‘A1M‘, ‘U’, ‘US’, ‘SMS‘, ‘RIMAU‘, ‘PERFECT’, ‘NAAM’, ‘VIP’, ‘GT’ and ‘PATRIOT’, on top of unique regular series plates such as ‘AKU‘ and ‘RR‘ and ‘DDD‘.

AB 1 Update

A CALL to examine the controversial sale of an historic number plate to a former West Mercia Police chief constable has been thrown out by county councillors.

Conservative county council chiefs rubbished the move by the Labour group for an examination into the sale of ‘AB1’ – the first vehicle registration number plate issued to the county in 1903.

Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion agreed to sell it to former West Mercia Police Chief Constable Paul West for £160,000 despite initially putting it for up auction.

And Labour leader Coun Peter McDonald said the sale had left ‘nasty question marks hanging over the Police and Crime Commissoner’s office.

“The public, I believe, see this as the selling off of the family jewels and gives off the perception of not being quite right,” he said.

“What cannot be disputed is this was public property therefore the person selling the goods should have ensured the best price was obtained and be seen to do so.

“There is no doubt public confidence in the Police and Crime Commissoner’s office has been damaged by this process.

“Who authorised it, why was it allowed, what other offers were received and what evidence exists to ensure the best price was achieved?

Coun McDonald called for Mr Campion to appear before the Police and Crime Commission Panel for the sale to be scrutinised.

However, Coun Marcus Hart, cabinet member for Education and Skills rubbished the claims and said the Conservative group disassociated itself from Coun McDonald’s views.

“It’s amazing to know how two letters and a number can generate such a debate,” he said.

“This is nothing more than a deliberate attempt by the Labour opposition to smear a former Conservative county councillor and current Conservative Police and Crime Commissoner.

“If Coun McDonald was serious about his concerns he would go through the proper channels and speak to the Police and Crime Commisioner himself. Something I know he hasn’t done because I spoke to the Commisioner himself to get the facts.

Coun Hart said Mr Campion confirmed the number plate had been put up for auction but when Mr West saw the item was on sale he made a direct offer to Mr Campion.

“I am no expert in numberplates but I am confident the Commissoner will be able to demonstrate title and best value for money,” he added.

Coun McDonald’s proposals were supported by the Labour group with the Conservatives and other parties either voting against or abstaining.

So what are the top selling number plates in the UK? The DVLA has been selling private plates to UK motorists since 1989. During this time, there have been a number of records set, but most of the top 10 have been bought in the past 15 years. Here’s what currently makes the list:

25 0 – A Ferrari dealer bought this for £518k in 2014. It is now on a £10 million Ferrari 250 SWB.
F 1 – A businessman, Afzal Khan, bought this for £440k in 2008 and put it on his McLaren-Mercedes SLR.
S 1 – This was bought in 2008 for £404k by an anonymous buyer.
1 D – Businessman Nabil Bishara bought this plate in 2009 (before One Direction was formed, so it is not a reference to the band) for £352k.
M 1 – Businessman Mike McCoomb bought this number plate in 2006 for £331k, apparently for his son, who was 10 at the time.
VIP 1 – Chelsea owner and businessman Roman Abramovich bought this plate for £285k in 2006.
51 NGH – This number plate, which looks like the surname Singh, was sold in 2006 for £254k.
1 RH – Businessman Robert Haverson bought this in 2006 for £247k.
K1 NGS – This reg plate, which looks like the word “kings”, was bought anonymously in 1993 for £231k.
1 0 – This very simple but striking number plate was bought anonymously in 2009 for £170k.

These are large amounts of money, but they are all small compared to the top-selling number plates found in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has the record for the most expensive number plate ever sold. That number plate was a simple “1”. It was bought in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for £7.25 million.

number plates