Most expensive license plate-Abdulla al Mannaie
sets world record
[April
30] TEHERAN, Iran--A businessman named Saeed Abdul Ghafour
Khouri paid 52.2 dirham ($14.3 million) for the local license
plate labeled "1" at an auction at the 7-star Emirates Palace
Hotel in Abu Dhabi, setting the world record for the most
expensive license plate.
"From 1 to 10, these are the most expensive
numbers," said Abdulla al Mannaie, managing director of Emirates
Auctions
.
( enlarge
photo
)
"Ten to 99 are the second category. On the other
side, you look to numbers which is like 11, 22, 23 they are
expensive because it carry [repeating digits].
Another plate numbered "5" went for $6.8 million.
"We are trying to link between car models and
number plate, like a Ferrari 599 and the plate 599, as well
as date of birth or anniversary," said al Mannaie. "They are
looking to the number plate as if it is their identity, their
personal identity."
Plates "5" and "7" sold for nearly 10 times
the value of the luxury cars they adorn. "Our job at Emirates
Auction
is to make an expensive car without a prestigious
license plate worth nothing," al Mannaie told ABC News. "Owners
will change their car, but they will keep using the same plate
for life." He has had the number "383" for more than 30 years.
He has since bought a cell phone number to match.
The
price paid for these plates is much more than the vehicle
they adorn, but at least you can keep the plate and put it
on the next Ferrari you own.
The previous record was held by Abu Dhabi plate
number 5, bought at auction for $6.8 million by stock broker
Talal Khouri last year.
The oil-rich cities of the Persian Gulf
are driven by car culture, with relatively few pedestrian
areas or public transport options. Vanity plates are a matter
of personal pride and indulgence.
The cool thing is that in the past five auctions
alone $56 million has been raised for charity -- and that
is only for 393 plates, which is also a new world record for
the most of money money in a plate auction.