[Land-speed] Auto interest, non LSR

[Wester Potter]

John, a 150 Club member,  is in England on business and shot a couple
of photos from his hotel balcony.  They are too dark to really see
much but he added this comment to explain why the interest.

Here's his comment:

I know it's a horrible picture - I took it from the balcony of my
hotel in London - but check out the license plate. It's a Dubai plate.
Then read the article below. Who says that a license plate can't be
worth more than the car it's on...

BTW, the car is a McLaren SLR 722. Only 150 made and about $480,000 new.

http://www.carreg.co.uk/number_plates/get_news/150

(DUBAI, May 11, 2008) Emirates Auction holds the record for the top
ten most expensive license plates sold worldwide, after Plate 9 sold
for a record #2,150,000 at Saturday's auction in Abu Dhabi.
"We now dominate the Top Ten chart after bumping off Hong Kong's six-
million-dirham Plate 9," announced Abdulla Matar Al Mannaei, Managing
Director of Emirates Auction, which organizes the Code 5 license plate
auctions on behalf of the General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police.

Emirates Auction sold the most expensive license plate in the world 
Dh52.2 million Plate "1"  at its Feb. 16 auction. At Dh15.4 million,
Plate 9 now ranks in third place, after Plate 6 which sold for
Dh15.2million.

Number "9" was the fifth single-digit number to go under the hammer,
and beat out Plate "6" (Dh15 million) and Plate "7" (Dh11 million),
despite being a higher number.

At Saturday's auction, held at Emirates Palace Hotel, Plate 29 sold
for Dh 4million, Plate 87 for Dh2.45 million, and Plates 93 and 52 for
Dh2.2 million each. Rounding out the list of million-dollar-plus
plates was Plate 300, at Dh1.08 million.

"The strong interest and the increasing prices are proof that license
plates continue to be a great investment," said Mannaei.
In total, the auction raised more than Dh 52 million from the sale of
100 plates and was attended by 450 bidders. In one year, Emirates
Auction has raised more than Dh420 million from the sale of 794 plates
in nine charity auctions.
All proceeds go towards building a world-class emergency and trauma
care center for victims of road accidents and other debilitating
conditions, as announced by H.H. Major-General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed
Al Nahyan, the UAE's Minister of Interior.
Hong Kong's plate "9" was snapped up by tycoon Albert Yeung for HK$13
million (Dh 6 million) in 1994, making it the most expensive plate
sold there.
The auctions are organized by the world-renown Emirates Auction on
behalf of the General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police and sponsored by
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Emirates Palace.