Number plate 51 NGH sells for £254,000.00. purchased by a Mr Singh we are guessing
Article date April 26th 2006
The DVLA held its 100th auction of rare personalised vehicle number plates last week and records were smashed for the most valuable in the UK. It raised a total of £6.5 million from the sale of over 1,200 plates.
The hammer goes down on 51 NGH the top selling plate, 51NGH perfect for SINGH went for £254,000.00 (including associated extra costs), beating the previous record for a UK plate, K1 NGS which went for £231,000.00 in 1993.
51 NGH’s sister plate MR51 NGH went for £101,000.00. Other top selling plates were 1 00 (£197,000) and SSS 7 (£44,289). RU55 ELL was bought by Oxfordshire property developer Russell Harrison for £78,500. He plans to put it on a new Rolls Royce and use it to publicise his company. Damian Lawson of the DVLA Swansea commented: “We thought that some of the marks would attract a lot of interest but this level of response is exceptional, this record result is even more incredible when you consider that we reduced the number of lots offered for sale by 250 for this auction.”
The top 10 plates sold at the auction (the DVLA’s 100th auction) isn’t just a story of big numbers however. Two cousins, Robert and Gerard Calise from Sheffield and London respectively, who had never met and were unaware of each others existence, were both drawn to the auction by the number plate CAL 15E. Gerard prevailed with a bid of £1,100 but then approached his only competitor for the number and discovered the family link. “I thought I might be the last Calise in Britain and wanted the plate to keep the name in the family. I was amazed when this man sat right in front of me and started bidding! His father was my hero when I was a boy and I’m absolutely delighted to discover that he is still alive and living in Sheffield,” said Gerard Calise. His cousin Robert added “I lost the plate but gained a cousin! we will definitely be getting together after the auction, there’s so much to talk about.”
Another successful bidder, Carl Elsby from Northampton, who is a Liverpool supporter showed a lot of confidence in his team when he purchased F4 CUP for £11,200 the day before his team successfully played their semi final against the competition favourites Chelsea. “I’m hoping to turn up to the FA Cup final with this number on my car,” Carl stated
The youngest winner at the auction was six month old baby, Devon Lalani whose parents, Phil and Katrina bid £10,000 for the number ‘D3 VON’. “Well we’ve got his 18th birthday present sorted, now we have just got the other 17 to worry about” said father Phil.