R you shocked?
A personalised number plate is a sign of status for many drivers, not only in the UK but also clearly in Hong Kong, where one such example recently fetched 25.5 million Hong Kong dollars, the equivalent of £2.7 million, at auction.
The number plate, which is simply the letter “R”, was sold by the Hong Kong Transport Department as part of a Lunar New Year auction, but it exceeded the reserve price by 5,100 times and more than doubled the estimated guide quoted by local registration plate dealers.
The winning bidder is unknown, but local sources say the R plate has a strong association with racing and sports cars, while also being considered lucky in Chinese fortune telling.
However, while £2.7 million seems like a lot to pay for a registration plate, it’s not the most expensive number to be sold in the Chinese administrative region. The single-letter “W” plate sold for £2.74 million in 2021, while the government-run transport department has earned £64 million from the sale of cherished plates since 2006.
Drivers in the UK like their private plates, and while they won’t pay as high a premium as those in Hong Kong, there have been some big bids on registrations that have come up for auction in the past.
The most expensive registration plate ever sold in the UK was 25 O, which went for £518,480 in 2014. The buyer was John Collins, who runs classic Ferrari specialist Talacrest based in Surrey, and he put the plate on his Ferrari 250 GT SWB that was previously owned by guitar legend Eric Clapton.
At that same auction, Collins also bought the plates 250 L and 500 FER to join his collection, but for significantly less money.
The 20 most expensive numberplates sold at British auctions
Other half-million pound plates to be sold in the UK include X1 and G1, while RR 1 sold for £472,000 in 2018. The number one is popular on personal UK plates, and the registration F1 was sold for £440,625 in 2008. While you might think that a big fan of Formula One snapped that one up, it was actually bought by an entrepreneur who has since turned down offers of at least £6 million for the plate.
Elsewhere in the world, buyers have shown an eagerness to splash out on registration plates with as few letters and numbers as possible. The world record is around £100 million, which was paid by a buyer in Abu Dhabi for the number “1”.
In the US, each of the 50 states administers registrations, and while personalised plates are common, whether they’re transferrable from vehicle to vehicle depends on in which state you live. The official record for the most expensive registration plate in the US is just under £500,000 for the number “6”, which was sold in Delaware.
In California, where plates have been transferrable since 2017, one opportunistic seller has the plate ‘MM’ available for a massive £20.4 million, although the sale is attached to the murky and confusing world of cryptocurrency and NFTs, so it’s not a clear-cut price for this registration.
Slightly clearer is the licence plate NEW YORK, which is registered in, you guessed it, New York. This number plate was on sale for £16.6 million, and it came with a 1998 Volvo V70 attached. However, there were some questions over whether the state of New York allows licences to be transferred, so if somebody did take the plunge, they would really be paying a record price for a used Volvo.
- After reading about the ‘R’ number plate sold for the equivalent of £2,7m, you might like to find out whether 3D and 4D number plates legal in the UK
- Check out our guide on how to put a private plate on a car
- Or check out the revolving number plates fitted to a Belgian MP’s car
Keyword: Car number plate sells for £2.7m at auction