High roller blasted after paying out nearly £400K for S1 number plate during credit crunch
Posted on October 15, 2008 by Number Plates
A SCOTTISH car number plate sold at auction last night for a credit crunch-busting price of £397,500.
After the worst week so far of the global financial crisis, a high-roller shelled out the world-record sum for the right to put the plate “S1″ on his car.
The average annual salary in the UK last year was £23,700. The bidding bonanza will stun hard-pressed ordinary families.
Mary Maguire of trade union Unison said: “This is obscene. We are all being told that there is a credit crunch and public sector workers are being told to tighten their belts.
“They are feeling the effects of huge increases in the cost of the basics of life, yet there are people who are able to pay huge sums of money for a piece of metal.”
Auctioneers Bonhams revealed that there were plenty of other super-rich bidders willing to lay out huge sums for the plate.
Spokeswoman Josephine Olley said: “There was a battle between several people on the telephone and a bidder in the room.
“The bidder, who was present, eventually secured the lot, to a round of applause. We’re obviously delighted to have broken the world record.”
Olley refused to name the winning bidder, saying only that it was a “private buyer”.
The mystery bidder thought to be a number plate dealer, who declined to be named, said of the sale: “I believe that number plates in general are a good investment even at this price. The registration number will remain in the UK and will be going on an old red Skoda which will be seen around the Midlands.”
The S1 plate is believed to be the first ever to be issued in Edinburgh.
It’s the first time it has come on the market since 1903. It originally belonged to judge Sir John HA MacDonald, who was one of the first Scots to own a car and became the first president of the Scottish Automobile Club.
The plate was sold at Bonhams in Chichester, West Sussex.
The same company sold the number plate “M1″ for £331,500 in 2006.
To purchase the S1 registration, visit our website on speedyreg as we have exclusive rights to the registration.
