May's DVLA auction was an online event that ran from Wednesday 13th May to Tuesday 19th May 2026.
As always, prices quoted in this report include fees and taxes.
May's Top 5
Top of the shop this month was 57 O, for which the new owner paid £84,140 all-in. O registrations have a record of good performance in the auctions. In the last auction, top place was taken by 110 O at £82,904. O registrations also topped three of last year's DVLA auctions.
In May's second place was 788 HS, which sold for £50,521. This one could be a reference to McLaren's forthcoming 788HS model, a mysterious vehicle about which much is rumoured but little is known for sure.
At number three we saw 849 T at £48,840. For someone to pay this much, we suspect that it could be destined for a Ferrari 849 Testarossa, which is often referred to as the 849T. At least that's a car that is already on the road.
In fourth place this month was 122 A which was bought for £37,172. There's no obvious meaning to this one, so it must remain something of a mystery. A nice, short reg: very easy to spot when hunting for your car in the supermarket car park!
Rounding off May's top five was BUL 1T, which cost the purchaser £27,828. Another slightly enigmatic number, we read it as a representation of Bullitt, as in the classic 1968 Steve McQueen movie. If that is indeed the buyer's intention, then we can only hope that it gets displayed on a Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang GT, similar to that driven by McQueen in the film.
Words
There was a striking variety of word registrations to be spotted in this most recent auction. One of the most positive was the religious affirmation Y351 ORD (Yes Lord), which earned a monetary blessing of £18,669.
Perhaps a little less joyful was 26 GUN, which sold for £16,037. This is the latest in a series of 'gun' registrations to have appeared in the DVLA auctions. We have been a little surprised to see these as the DVLA's censors have generally been reluctant to pass mentions of violence and weaponry for release.
VEN 10M (Venom at £14,368) might appeal to people who keep snakes or tarantulas as pets, as well as to fans of the Marvel antihero, whose complicated relationship with Spiderman has made for a number of intriguing story arcs over the years.
11 TOW (£11,216) would be a good number for a vehicle breakdown and recovery company, while THE 804T (£10,228) would be great for an enthusiastic sailor or a nautical business of some kind. THE 102D (£9,103) is another plate with possible religious connotations. Considering the high expectations sci-fi fans have expressed for Steven Spielberg's forthcoming movie Disclosure Day, UFO 9Y (£7,756) should probably not have come as a surprise.
YRU 510W (Why are you slow?) at £6,668 made us smile. In the USA, however, some states have declined to issue licence plates bearing similar messages due to their potentially provocative nature. Maybe UK drivers are a little calmer. Or maybe not.
Names
A selection of personal and place name number plates were sold in May's auction. These ranged from 888 RAJ at £14,937, to imperfect bargain-basement options such as LAU 13A (Laura) at £4,357, AM53 BER (Amber) at £4,295, JA75 MES (James) at £4,295 and GR22 EEN (Green) at £3,059. While the cheaper examples may be far from perfect spelling of the intended names, they still work thanks to the human talent for seeing familiar words despite extra characters. An inexpensive way to own a fun private registration.
Other names we spotted were C900 PER (Cooper) and ROH 47N (Rohan), each of which sold for £12,452; AMB 35R (another Amber) at £8,126; JON 11H at £7,632 for Jon or Jonah; ALF 12E (Alfie) for £7,508; J41 ACK (Jack) for £7,496 and AL19 ERT (Albert) for £6,272.
The bottomless well of Singh plates continues to deliver, apparently regardless of how many are sold. May's examples were OR51 NGH (£9,387), GW51 NGH (£6,297) and BY51 NGH (£6,272).
Cars
We've already seen likely allusions to McLaren and Ferrari in sections above, but those weren't the only car-related registrations to appear in May's auction. 930 TBO (£26,654) would be the perfect finishing touch for a Porsche 930 Turbo, while for anyone with a Ferrari 849 Testarossa Spider, 849 SPY seems like a bargain at £19,992.
488 ST (£18,632) would look good on a Ferrari 488. Porsche 911 fans had several options, including 911 SXC (£5,654), 911 SKA (£4,406) and 911 PAG (£2,935).
Aesthetic
As we saw above, repetition of characters such as O and 0 is very popular for the visual effect conveyed. That said, repetition of other characters is also valued: XXX 66 (£10,104) was also a very effective plate, as were 1111 OD (£6,396) and 7777 KK (£6,309).
Other possible inclusions in this, admittedly vague and subjective aesthetic category were 4000 AK (£7,113), Y7 OOO (£4,418) and OO66 OOO (£5,407). This last example, as well as displaying the character repetition we mentioned, has the added appeal of near symmetry.
Top 50 sales
| Plate | Price * |
|---|---|
| 57 O | £84,140 |
| 788 HS | £50,521 |
| 849 T | £48,840 |
| 122 A | £37,172 |
| BUL 1T | £27,828 |
| 1 LRV | £26,666 |
| 930 TBO | £26,654 |
| 450 M | £24,837 |
| 247 P | £21,722 |
| 488 Y | £21,376 |
| 442 A | £21,104 |
| 849 SPY | £19,992 |
| 277 SA | £19,905 |
| 1 VVP | £19,868 |
| HAR 41S | £18,867 |
| 2 EEY | £18,842 |
| Y351 ORD | £18,669 |
| 757 S | £18,632 |
| 488 ST | £18,632 |
| 171 AS | £18,237 |
| 151 B | £18,150 |
| IG 25 | £17,446 |
| 1 RYR | £16,853 |
| 7 PSK | £16,556 |
| AYD 5N | £16,519 |
| 92 WA | £16,296 |
| 9 LUX | £16,148 |
| 26 GUN | £16,037 |
| 87 KE | £15,666 |
| 75 JAY | £15,592 |
| NAB 1X | £15,555 |
| 456 E | £15,542 |
| 3 URS | £15,542 |
| XAM 1N | £15,542 |
| 11 RSW | £15,530 |
| BHO 69L | £15,048 |
| 888 RAJ | £14,937 |
| CAR 5A | £14,924 |
| 155 SAC | £14,924 |
| 151 G | £14,912 |
| 99 OH | £14,912 |
| 77 HO | £14,554 |
| 15 UR | £14,554 |
| 97 FF | £14,430 |
| VEN 10M | £14,368 |
| 610 C | £14,306 |
| 992 W | £14,059 |
| 7 OJK | £13,898 |
| LSK 2 | £13,812 |
| 157 X | £13,787 |
* Prices include fees and taxes.
The stats
May's DVLA online auction comprised 2,000 lots, 1,984 of which were sold and 16 unsold. Purchasers spent a total of £6,541,609, delivering £6,377,691 to the Treasury.
The next DVLA online auction will run from Wednesday 17th June to Tuesday 23rd June 2026.
The Regtransfers auction
Buy and sell with our number plate auction. You can see what is coming soon or jump in to the listings.
DVLA Auction March 2026
Learn more about personal number plates that sold for great prices in the DVLA's previous auction.
