Scores of car fanatics are splashing the cash this week at a Nottingham DVLA number plate auction, with one plate costing a massive £27,000.
Hundreds of bidders have spent thousands of pounds at the three day auction, which is being held at the luxury Nottingham Belfry Hotel.
A total of 1600 personalised plates are up for sale over the three days, with registrations such as ‘COR 24L’, DYII LAN’ and ‘BAT 7H’ up for grabs. However the highlight of the auction was the sale of the Ferrari-linked registration ‘250 C’.
Auctioneers bring the hammer down on the ‘250 C’ plate.
Thought to appeal to owners of Ferrari’s 250 GT California Spyder, experts predicted that the plate could top the DVLA’s previous record and sell for more than half a million pounds.
A similar registration, ’25 0′, smashed previous records when it sold at last year’s DVLA personalised registration auction for around £500,000.
Last year, number plates ’25 0′ and ‘1 D’ sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Despite the high expectations however, the winning bid for the ‘250 C’ was much less than predicted, being bought for £27,000.
“We are selling over three days, 1600 private registration plates with a starting reserve of £250,” said Matthew Dilton, the DVLA auction manager.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to come down and get hold of a personalised registration.”
Bargain
Commenting after the sale of the ‘250 C’ plate – which went to a telephone bidder – Jody White, another DVLA auction manager who helped host the event said that the buyer had bagged a bargain.
DVLA auction manager Jody White gives her view on the day’s biggest sale.
“That’s the very nature of the auctions on the day because you might get something for less than you expected” she added.
“We always encourage people to come along because there are bargains to be had as we have seen with this one.”
“You might get something for less than you expected.”
Jody White, DVLA auction manager
Crowds gather in the DVLA auction room at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel.
The 1,600 registration plates being sold at the auction over the three days are expected to make between £3m and £3.5m for the HM Treasury.
Another big seller at the auction so far has been ‘AH11 MAD’ – which sold for more than £17,000.
Throughout the event, two auctioneers will be running the auction at any one time, with car fans able to bid in person, online, by phone or by post.
The ‘250 C’ number plate that sold for a whopping £27,000 is linked to a type of Ferrari.
DVLA auctions take place in a number of locations across the country throughout the year.
For more details on when and where the next one will be, visit the DVLA auction website here.
