The Most Expensive Number Plates In The World

If you thought spending Rs 1 lakh or Rs 4 lakh on the number '1' in India was ostentatious, you better sit down for this one! What is possibly the most sought after number plate in the world, 'F1' in the United Kingdom has officially gone on sale for Rs 132 Crore. The F1 number plate has been on a variety of cars in the last decade since it came into private ownership including the likes of the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, custom Range Rovers and most notably, a Bugatti Veyron.

Before the plates were sold in 2008 for about Rs 4 Crore, the plates were under the ownership of the Essex City Council since 1904. The plates have since been under the ownership of Afzal Kahn, owner of Kahn Design, a British firm that specialises in customised vehicles.

The F1 plate is one of the most famous plates in the UK and in the world due to obvious references to the premier motorsport and also to the rarity of the two-digit plate. If sold, the F1 plate will be the most expensive plate ever sold in the world out shadowing the D5 plate sold in Dubai to Indian Balwinder Sahani for a staggering Rs 67 Crore. Following closely behind is the '1' plate sold in Abu Dhabi, which was sold at a cool Rs 66 Crore in 2008.

Although we don't have customised number plates in India (what a shame!), you can buy special number plates directly from the RTO. Special number plates for two wheelers range from Rs 5,000-50,000 for two wheelers while those for four wheelers range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 1 lakh. In case the same number is wanted by two individuals, there is a bidding process that takes place. That said, I personally would love to have customised plates available from the RTO in a special alphanumeric form just like in most international markets.

New car registrations in Hungary climbed 28.5% from a year earlier to 12,748 in March 2018, mainly attributable to high demand from private customers, the Hungarian Association of Vehicle Importers (MGE) said on Tuesday.

In January-March 2018, there were a total of 31,609 new car registrations, up by 29.8% compared to the first quarter of last year, national news agency MTI reported.

Motorcycle registrations climbed 4.8% to 283 in the third month of the year, and were up by 27.2% at 473 in Q1.

Sales of light commercial vehicles fell 1% to 1,775 in March, but were up 17.8% at 5,066 in the first three months of the year.

Bus registrations amounted to 97 for the month, up 185.3%. In the first quarter of 2018, there were 214 bus registrations, 46.6% more than one year earlier.

Sales of heavy commercial vehicles were up 34.7% at 640 in March, and up by 45.7% at 1,713 in Q1. Sales of heavy trailers rose 33.2% to 490 in March alone, and were up 42.3% at 1,332 for the quarter.

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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