Why will they pay over $6.2 billion for a car license plate?

One of those news that’s hard to understand, but in the world of super millionaires, it’s an eccentricity. Just like a few months ago we saw that an Australian businessman was buying a McLaren Senna GTR and lifted it by crane to his penthouse on the 57th floor so he could decorate his reception room for guests. He didn’t care that the sports car would never move again.

A new example of “I do it because I can” in the automotive world also comes from the oceanic country, where it will be auctioned in the Lloyd’s house a car license plate. What is unusual is that the purchase price has already exceeded 10 million Australian dollars, or approximately 6.5 million euros, which in our currency is equivalent to more than 6.2 billion pesos.

Why would you pay this price for a license plate? All this happens in New South Wales a small Australian town where the plaque bearing the inscription NWS 1 is up for auction.

What makes this patent so special is that it is the first license plate issued in Australia and it is already more than a century old, dating back to 1910.

According to several media outlets, the value at which it will be auctioned will be five times the highest price paid so far in Oceania for a license plate number. We will have to wait to see what the final value will be.

Interest in certain automobile patents is quite high in some countries, especially in those where they can be personalized or where they can be purchased for a driver, because in these countries the patent is associated with the person and not the vehicle.

In Chile this does not happen, the registration plate is attached to the car and must meet certain requirements, both in terms of numbering and typography.

Other countries offer the opportunity to buy a particular number plate, attracting so much interest that they are sold for prices that far exceed the value of some super sports cars.

In the case of the Australian NSW 1 patent, it was issued in 1910 by order of the first Commissioner of State Police.

Then, in 1930, it was acquired by a millionaire from the railway industry, founder of the airline ANA, who died in 1961.

News reports indicate that after the tycoon’s death, his widow rejected a $200,000 offer for the license plate because he had used it on a Ford Fairmont he owned.

After the wife passed away, the plaque remained in the family until it was put up for auction.

In any case, even if the value we are talking about is astronomical, it is still far from approaching the record paid for a car license plate.

This year in Dubai, at the Emirates Auction Company auction house, a patent was sold for 55 million dirhams, or approximately 14.9 million US dollars (approximately $12 billion).

The auction was for the “P 7” patent and, according to the auction house, the transaction was so high that it entered the Guinness Book, leaving behind a record that is already 15 years old.

This action left behind the “1” patent acquired by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri. It was also auctioned by Emirates Auction Company.

Another landmark auction took place in 2016, when the “D 5” license plate was sold in the United Arab Emirates for 33 million dirhams ($8.9 million).

On this occasion, its buyer, Balvinder Singh Sahni, emphasized in Bloomberg that “I always dreamed of having a single-digit patent”, adding that, in Dubai, where he worked, it was a city of great personalities and that “everyone wants to show their status.

But beyond these reasons, there are also less logical reasons. Shai said at the time that he made a bid for the recording because his lucky number is nine and D is the fourth letter of the alphabet, so five plus four equals nine. Billionaire stuff.

The desire for special plates is not only evident in the wealthier countries of the Middle East. In Europe, in 2006, Mike McCoomb paid 373,000 euros for the “M1” license plate, to give it to his six-year-old son, even though he would not be able to drive for many years.

Another example is that of Nabil Bishara, a Lebanese businessman living in London, who paid 398,000 euros for the “1D” patent. The goal was to give his wife a Rolls-Royce.

Another case is that of Afzal Khan, founder of the company Kahn Design, who acquired the “F1” plate in 2008 for 498,000 euros. He installed it in a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. A decade later, Khan put this number plate up for sale at a base price of €13.7 million, but it failed to sell.

In the United Kingdom, another country where patents can be personalized, Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri (whom we mentioned above as a former record holder) paid 9.5 million euros to have the “1” on his Rolls -Royce.