Meet Afzal Kahn, British innovator who paid Rs 132 crore for a novelty car registration plate, yes 132 crore!

A person from United Kingdom has spend a fortune on a vehicle registration plate that reads “F1”. How much you will ask? Well, Rs 132 crore. Yes you read it right. Rs 132 crore.

The registration number reads F1 which has always been popular among vehicle owners. But the amount Afzal Kahn, owner of a British-based company that specialises in the modification of motor vehicles, paid was indeed ridiculously high. Afzal purchased the number for his Bugatti Veyron. The car itself costs around Rs 12 to 15 crore but Afzal had no issues paying 10 times more than the price of the car for its registration number.

The number plate that is awarded for a limited duration has been spotted on many high-end performance cars like Mercedes-McLaren SLR and Bugatti Veyron. F1 number plate denotes Formula 1 and most car enthusiasts know it. It is one of the most desired motorsports event in the world. Why this F1 registration plate is so expensive is because unlike normal registrations, UK government does not allow any other digital or alphabets on the registration plate. This is one of the shortest registration number of a vehicle in the world.

The F1 number plate was originally owned by Essex City Council since 1904. This number was put on auction in 2008 for the first time. The number was then bought by Afzal.

A bit more into the history of this registration number, it was first sold at an auction for Rs 4 crores. With desirability of this number going up along with inflation, the cost of the number also increased. It increased exponentially and is currently one of the most expensive registration number for a vehicle in the world. This is not the first time we have seen people paying large amounts just for a registration number. In other parts of the world similar instances have been reported. For example in Abu Dhabi, an Indian businessman bought a registration number that reads “D5”. It is not as expensive as the F1 plate but he still paid around Rs 67 crores. Another Abu Dhabi-based businessman bought the registration number having only “1” by paying Rs 66 crores.

There are several reasons why people pay so much for a registration number. As mentioned above, some pick lucky numbers and some go for registration number that matches with their astrological sign, birthday or some other factor. Then there are some people who simply like unique numbers and like to maintain a uniformity in the registration number for all their vehicles. India’s richest businessman Mukesh Ambani and family have a large collection of cars in their garage and many of them have fancy numbers. They have a large collection of luxury and sports cars in their garage.