you thought prices for specialist number plates were high in Australia, spare a thought for collectors and investors in the UAE where a new world price record for a number plate has just been set.
Dubai ‘P7’ sold at auction on the weekend for 55 million Dirhams ($AU22.3 million), surpassing the 52.2 million paid ($AU21.3m) for Dubai ‘1’ back in 2008. This makes the two-character plate the most expensive registration in the world. The final bidder remained anonymous.
For some context, the plate was advertised for the auction mounted to a Bugatti Divo. The rare (1 of 40) 1103kW hypercar can be yours for a rather paltry $AU8.1 million, or almost one-third the price paid for the plate.
The ‘Most Noble Numbers’ auction was run to benefit 1 Billion Meals Endowment, a food-aid charity sponsored by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai. A total of 97.92 million dirhams ($AU40 million) were raised at the auction.
The record for an Australian number plate was set in May last year when Vic ’14’ sold for $2.27 million. If you’re wanting to spend over $16 million on a plate today, the Californian two-character ‘MM’ plate is available to buy (both as a licence plate and accompanying NFT, of course) for 5888 eth (Etherum) from NFT trading platform, OpenSea.
