Personalised number plates and cherished registrations

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH NUMBERS

Whether for yourself or as a gift for a loved one, a cherished number plate is a wonderful way of personalising a car. It also disguises the age of your vehicle if you wish to do so.

The Uber team has uncovered a selection of reputable companies who specialise in sourcing and purchasing personalised and custom registrations for the discerning client.

The 10% of UK drivers who now own their own personalised number plate certainly stand out from the crowd! As well as being a fantastic way of getting yourself noticed, personalised number plates can be a savvy investment. A personalised number plate provides exclusivity to the vehicle and as a general rule is a sound investment offering returns ranging from 20% to over 1000% in just a few years on some of the best number plates!

Online companies allow you to look at all the options available and see what they really look like. It is easy to track down something special to you, just enter three key intials. Number plates can be used to spell out a name using both letters and numbers. An 8 can become a B, a 1 becomes an I, a 4 becomes an A and so on; the options are virtually endless.

Dateless registrations such as AMS 1 owned by Lord Alan Sugar are seen as the crème de la crème within the number plate industry. Another great investment would include pre-fix personalised plates which contain a year identifier at the beginning of the registration and are ideal for creating names such as S73 VEN (Steven) and R4 NDY (Randy). Suffix DVLA number plates contain the year identifier at the end of the registration and were issued to vehicles manufactured between 1963 and 1982; good examples of these registrations include BLO 550M and Jen 11E.

BUYING AND SELLING CHERISHED NUMBERS

IMAGE MARKS

POA

This classic number plate for a 1969 Aston Martin DB6 is one of thousands of cherished number plates bought and sold by Image Marks.

With more than 20 years experience, the company has grown to become a leader in its field and the team of friendly advisers can arrange transfers quickly and without fuss.

Staff will bid at DVLA auctions on a client's behalf if required. There is an option to create your own personalised number plate.

Uber Ideas

Elite Registrations - Long established dealer knows all the ins and outs. Online search facility for thousands of plates or seven days a week phone service for people who prefer to discuss their requirements.

Classic Nouveau - User friendly website for quality registration numbers. Personal service for buyers and sellers with quality back-up.

DVLA Personal Registrations - The government's vehicle licensing authority has joined the personalised registrations market. Millions are available online but the most collectable go to auctions held six times a year.

F1 IS THE NUMBER ONE

Not surprisingly, registration marks with the figure 1 fetch top prices. The record for a British vehicle registration number is £440,625, achieved at a DVLA auction in January 2008 when Bradford businessman Afzal Khan placed a winning bid for F1. The plate - first issued in Essex in 1904 long before anyone thought of Formula One - was bought to go on his Mercedes-Benz McLaren, which though a worthy supercar, cost only half the price paid for the number plate. In November 2011, he reportedly turned down a £5m offer for his "F1" number plate.

Second to this was £404,000 for S1, the first registration number to be issued in Edinburgh. It had belonged to Sir John HA MacDonald, who was the Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland from 1888 to 1919 and one of the first owners of a car north of the border. He foresaw the need for a proper road system and was a founding member of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland. The price was achieved by auctioneers Bonhams at a Goodwood Revival Sale in Chichester, West Sussex, in September 2008. For information about the Goodwood Festival of Speed, see our Uber Events pages.