Croc Hunter Plates For Sale

The tragic demise of eccentric Australian conservationist and popular television personality Steve Irwin has prompted a huge reaction worldwide. Video sharing sites such as Youtube.com report that tribute clips to Irwin are currently amongst the most viewed online videos. The sad event has, perhaps unsurprisingly, also resulted in a flurry of commercial activity. Demand for Irwin memorabilia is growing, and eBay now lists thousands of Irwin items.

One unusual item amongst the flood of Irwin-related opportunist auctions is an Australian personalised number plate. "SIRWIN" has been offered for sale on eBay Australia at a starting bid of AU $2202.62. The price is contrived from the digits of Steve Irwin's birth date. The number plates can be transferred to any car registered in the Australian state of Victoria and, in a final twist of questionable judgement, the seller describes the plates as being "croc green". He does, however, say that he intends to donate at least 20% of the proceeds to Australian wildlife charities, and if the auction raises more than $5000 then the donation will rise to 50%.

Second Hand Car Boom a Boost for Dateless Plates?

An increasing number of UK purchasers are opting for second hand cars rather than spending that bit more on brand new vehicles.

A report by AA Personal Loans showed that the proportion of new car shoppers fell from 30% to 26%, while those in the market for a used model increased from 40% to 45%.

A spokesman for AA Personal Loans commented: "Our summer research shows that demand for cars remains at a steady level, although an increasing proportion of the car buying market is looking for a second hand model."

New car buyers are most likely to be over the age of 50, while those in the 30-49 age range are increasingly looking to buy used.

One implication that has not escaped the notice of astute personal number plates enthusiasts is the extra appeal that such a situation may give to so-called "dateless" car registrations. Dateless plates are registrations which do not incorporate a year identifier like prefix, suffix and current style plates do. This absence of a year signifier means that they may be transferred on to vehicles of any age, unlike the year-coded plates which may only be placed on vehicles which were first registered in or after the year indicated by the number plate.

With a growing number of people buying used vehicles, the appeal of a personalised number plate which also conceals the age of the vehicle is obvious, and may well help maintain the upward trend in the value of dateless plates. In fact, this is a great time to look into the investment potential of dateless vehicle registrations.