More Number Plates Censorship!

Regular readers of our newsletter and/or the Regtransfers and Numberplates.com blogs will be familiar with the twitchy trigger fingers of those who decide which number plate sequences to release and which to withhold - or ban, if you prefer. Well, the nervous scrutiny of the censor extends further than we realised.

We recently became aware that a number of combinations are being withheld from issue because they resemble risqué words... in Welsh! Character combinations containing "08 WMS" and "08 RON" are reportedly being axed because they might appear to resemble "bwms" and "bron", the Welsh words for "bums" and "breast".

Although a few commentators have welcomed this as a sign that officialdom takes the Welsh language seriously, that mild praise has been tempered with the accompanying observation that such laboured censorship is a bit on the mad side.

That said, it is not only UK authorities who spend time and money protecting what they imagine are the fragile sensibilities of road users. In the USA , the Departments of Motor Vehicles for various states get themselves pretty worked up too. In fact, there was a recent proposal in South Dakota to ban all vanity plates in order to eliminate the possibility of issuing offensive combinations. Fortunately, reason prevailed, and the proposal died before an unsympathetic committee.

All Eyes on Expected New Record

On February 16th 2008 the world record for most expensive car registration is set to be smashed again.

Despite concerns over international economic stability, it seems as if personal number plates fans in the United Arab Emirates are determined that nothing is going to prevent them from waging a bidding war in the next of the famous Emirates Auctions sales in Abu Dhabi. This will be a really special event as the prize that goes to the highest bidder will be a number plate bearing simply the number 1 - surely the ultimate private number plate in any registrations system.

This exciting sale comes hot on the heels of the new UK record set by businessman Afzal Kahn who recently set a new British high with his purchase of F1 for a spectacular £440,625.

The current world record price for a vehicle registration was set at a previous Emirates Auction when the number 5 sold for the equivalent of £3.5 million. No one wants to predict the what the final sale price of the number 1 will be, but we can tell you that officials from Guinness World Records have been invited!