"The auctioneer tells us that there have already been several telephone bids for this particular lot. Someone on the phone kicks things off with 180,000. The room holds its breath. Behind us are various astonishingly luxurious cars. One, an orange 1992 Mazda RX-7 FD Veilside Fortune Coupe, was used in the film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. All of a sudden the bidding for lot 56 is at 220,000. Now 230,000. Now 240,000 from someone online. Now 250,000."
"Until recently, the UK record for a number plate sold at public auction was 518,480, set in 2014 when Ferrari dealer John Collins beat the competition to get his hands on 25 O. Private deals have been done for millions of pounds. In Dubai, P7 sold for 12m in 2023, setting a world record. Number plates can dwarf the value of the cars on which they sit. The question is: why?"
"John Harrison, 75, is known as the modern godfather of autonumerology the hobby of being enormously into registration plates. He tells me over the phone: You've got people who are mainly interested in what I'd call the pattern of numbers, the more technical side; people interested in personal numbers; people interested in foreign plates. I do a bit of all three."
An auction at Goodwood saw bidding for a number plate escalate from £180,000 to £250,000 amid luxury cars and racetrack noise. Lot 56 was a registration plate rather than a vehicle, illustrating how plates can command sums exceeding many cars. The UK public-auction record is £518,480 for 25 O in 2014, while private sales have reached millions; Dubai's P7 fetched £12m in 2023. Enthusiasts pursue plates for numeric patterns, personal meaning, or foreign origins. John Harrison, aged 75, is a leading collector who catalogues plates and authored The Number Plate Book; his hobby began with childhood scribbling and research.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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