The record for the most expensive number plate in the world has a new holder. Emirates Auction LLC just sold plate number “P 7” to an unidentified wealthy client for 55 million AED (AU$22.5 million), with all proceeds going towards 1 Billion Meals Endowment, the global food aid initiative of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
Auctioning off vanity plates for charity has become something of a trend in the Middle East, particularly in the United Arab Emirates. The previous record was established in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri, who paid 52.2 million AED (AU$21.3 million) for a plate with the number one in Abu Dhabi. Given the Emirate’s strong economy and tax-free lifestyle, it’s become an effective way of flashing your cash in a region with much of it.
RELATED: Michael Schumacher’s Championship Ferrari F1-2000 Is Up For Auction
Number plates are clearly a way to show status. For example, when businessman Balvinder Singh Sahni, known as Abu Sabah, visited the famed luxury hotel Burj Al Arab in 2006, he was denied entry on the basis that his number plate had too many digits. He was told that he needed either a two-digit plate or a reservation, so he went and bought plate “D 5” in 2016 for 33 million AED (AU$13.5 million). A self-proclaimed numbers man, Sahni chose “D 5” due to his favourite number being 9. D (the fourth letter of the alphabet) + 5 = 9.
“Dubai is a city of gold,” he said. “It’s a city of big people, secure people, nice people. So everybody wants to show their status… It was always my dream to have a single-digit number. When I got the chance, and they told me this money all goes to charity, I went all in.”
We don’t know why the mysterious purchaser of “P 7” was motivated to make it the most expensive number plate of all time. However, we do know that they will be able to transfer it to any car registered in the emirate, whether it’s a supercar or not.
