The world's most expensive Car number plates

Famous Number Plates

1
Plate: F1
Price: £440,625
Buyer: Afzal Khan 
When: 2008

Afzal Khan, owner of car styling company Project Kahn, is officially the owner of the UK's most expensive plate. He first put it on his Mercedes-McLaren SLR, though we recently saw it on Mr Khan's white Bugatti Veyron parked in his Bradford showroom.

5
Plate: VIP 1
Price: £285,000
Buyer: Roman Abramovich
When: 2006

The UK's most famous Russian oil oligarch, whose net worth is an estimated £8.4bn, bought VIP 1 as a nice little boost to his self-esteem. Abramovich was planning on putting the plate on his prized pre-facelift second generation green Fiat Punto, but he decided on his Rolls-Royce Corniche IV instead.

4
Plate: M1
Price: £331,500
Buyer: Mike McCoomb
When: 2006

After Mike McCoomb sold his mobile phone company to BT for around £40m, a number plate seemed a nice way to parade his new wealth. We're not sure what plate he bought for himself though, because this one was for his ten-year-old son. Apparently the boy was furious - he'd specifically asked for a Play-Doh Barber Shop.

3
Plate: 1D
Price: £352,411
Buyer: Nabil Bishara
When: 2009

Lebanese property developer Nabil Bishara paid this staggering price at an auction in Warwickshire, in March 2009. He bought it for his wife's Bentley as a surprise present.

2
Plate: S1
Price: £404,063
Buyer: Anonymous
When: 2008

September 2008 saw the purchase of Edinburgh's first registered number plate, at a Bonhams auction in Chichester. The bidder said, perhaps sarcastically, that the plate would be registered to “an old red Skoda.”