Surname Too Offensive For Reg Plate

Reg Plates Article

Surname Too Offensive For Reg Plate

A man who used his surname on his license plate for over 25 years is furious after authorities cancelled it a single complaint said it was ‘a socially unacceptable slogan’.

Lorne Grabher, from Canada, has had the license plate GRABHER on his car for over 25 years, after purchasing the custom plate for his father’s 65th birthday. Lorne’s dad died in the 1990s, and he has used the plate ever since.

Speaking to CBC, Lorne says he can’t believe his own name was targeted.

‘Where does the province of Nova Scotia and the government of Nova Scotia get the right to discriminate against a person's name?’ he asks.

An email sent to CBC by the Department of Transportation explained that some people might interpret the plate in a way that promotes violence against women.

‘With no way to denote that it is a family name on the plate, the department determined it was in the public's best interest to remove it from circulation,’ it reads.

The particular phrase “grab her” is thought to be particularly tasteless considering the statements recorded by US President Donald Trump in relation to women.

But Lorne says it shouldn’t matter.

‘Donald Trump is a totally different person. He's ignorant. He doesn't care about anybody and I shouldn't be put in a class like him,’ he said.

‘I’ve never once had anybody come up to me and say they were offended.’

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.

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