In the Netherlands you are dependent on the license plate that happens to belong to your car, but in many other countries you can also score another plate. This is also the case in the United Kingdom, where some special license plates are under the hammer.
Maybe you have a license plate that goes well with your car or that you have come up with a nice meaning for yourself. You may have even picked your car for it. In the Netherlands you can’t do much more than that to make it something fun, but in the United Kingdom you can also choose a different license plate and register your car. There is therefore a lively trade in striking license plates. Private individuals offer special plates, as well as the official publisher of number plates, the DVLA.
Now there is a whole series of striking plates on offer at the DVLA on which you can bid. All with an opening fee, depending on how special a license plate is possible. The most notable are ‘AMG 1F’ (from £500) and the minimum £250 each costing ‘A35 AMG’, ‘E36 BMW’, ‘VW71 BUG’ and ‘LO17 TUS’. Of course perfect for the matching brands or models. There are also various license plates that resemble names. There’s ‘AMY 7C’ (£350), ‘JOE 6H’ (£350) and ‘AD21 ANA’ (£400). For the F1 enthusiasts, ‘SF21 FER’ and ‘MCL 35M’ are fun.
Whether there is really a huge stunner in terms of yield, is open to question. The most expensive British records ever sold are a bit more special. For example, there was ‘F1’, see photo, which was bought by Afzal Kahn in 2008 for almost half a million pounds and has since been on several of his cars. Rumor has it that Kahn has since declined offers of up to 20 million pounds. Other multi-ton license plates were ‘RR 1’, ‘GB 1′, ’25 O’ and ‘IS’, although the latter may have become less attractive since its sale in 2010.