Personalised plates are all the rage in the US and UK, and they're starting to catch on here. Anne Flynn reports.
Ever fancied a registration number that has your very own personal touch? Or one that is chosen especially for you?
Although the protocol differs somewhat between Ireland and our nearest neighbours in the UK, you can still manage to secure a specific number plate with minimal effort through the Revenue Commissioners.
Dennis Harkin of the Revenue Commissioners says 1,880 such requests were received for the year 2002 for a standard fee of € 315.
According to Harkin, there are a host of different reasons why people apply for certain numbers in advance.
"Some wish to display their year of birth or their ages, while others want to include the model of the car in the plate, like a Peugeot 206," he says.
Superstitious people have even booked a specific number to ensure that the digits obtained don't add up to unlucky 13.
Harkin recalls one customer who wished to surprise his wife with a plate exhibiting the year she was born. "The wife was a little sensitive about her age," so needless to say didn't welcome the gift. "But in the main, the plates are a good gift idea. They have become ever more popular in the last number of years. Sometimes they can set off a new car nicely, even if they don't have any significance for the onlooker," Harkin enthuses.
Keith Butler from the Society of the Irish Motoring Industry (SIMI) emphasises, however, the huge restrictions that are in place on the Irish market compared to Britain.
In Britain and Northern Ireland, these "cherished plates" are bought and sold regularly. "There is only so much novelty to be had in the Republic," he says.
Ruby Speechley, spokesperson for Reg Transfers in the UK, a company that acts as a broker for private and commercial plate dealers, says there is huge interest in the lower end of the market.
"We would get a couple of hundred enquires a day. Everyone thinks they should have one even if it's just initials," Speechley says. "Although it might not mean anything to the onlooker, it is something special to them personally."
Some of the most popular plates, which mimic football teams, such as "AR51 NAL" and "1 UTD" are like gold dust. They are next to impossible to pick up and are usually bought and sold privately between friends and clients, never reaching the open market.
If, however, one were to be auctioned off, it is estimated that the owner would make a small fortune on the sale.
People have been keen to display their hero on their reg plate with football star plates like "K3 ANE" being extremely popular, while there's even a plate for Harry Potter fans, "POT 73R".
Many personalities have themselves sported vanity with various anagrams of their names. Princess Ann used to hold the plate "1 ANN", but was forced to replace it for security reasons. The popular "VIP 1" was originally issued for the Pope's visit to Ireland in 1979. Currently back on the market, it is priced at the very top end.
Some even offer messages to their fans in this manner. It is rumoured that the irreverent Robbie Williams - who possesses a rather sizeable collection of cherished plates - attempted to apologise to fans for spending so much money on a flamboyant Ferrari, by displaying the plate "S8RRY".
The newer style plates in the UK, which were introduced in September 2001, have placed greater restrictions on the format of the registration. Now, the format cannot simply be made up, but must be a configuration that is already on file.
Despite this, very strange requests are still received. Just days after the twin towers atrocity, some twisted individual requested the plate "SEP 11" from Reg Transfers. This and many others have been outlawed, including any plate with the letters "SEX" and the plates "J3SUS" and "B1BLE".
Noel Smyth, regional manager of Northern Ireland with the Retail Motoring Federation, believes that personalised plates have become more popular because people can obtain them for less than a couple of hundred pounds in some cases.
The cheapest plate on the Reg Transfers books is £70 sterling with a further transfer fee of just over £80.
The most expensive plate on the market - the prestigious "MG 1" - will set you back an astronomical £275,000 sterling.
Even further afield, in the US these "vanity" plates can be bought for a mere $25 where just about any combination of letters and numbers are allowed. And where consequently it is not unheard of to spot a moving "A TEAM" or "COOL CAR".
Although it's not likely that we'll be seeing a "BERTIE" or a "MARY" on an Irish registration plate in the near future, it's some consolation to know that the numerical equivalent - a "237843" or a "6279" - is entirely possible. It might not be instantly obvious to the observer, but you can be safe in the notion that you have your hero, your mother or perhaps your significant other's name on your plate.
PRICEY PLATES
Some car registrations in Britain sell for what can only be described as outlandish prices.
Here's just a few examples:
- K1 NGS (Kings) sold for £235,000 (331,609.65)
- 1 A sold for £202,000 (285,054.60)
- S1 NGH (Singh) sold for 108,000 (152,405.45)
- 1 RR sold for £106,000 (149,582.04)
- Gi LLY (Gilly) sold for £87,500 (123,478.38)
- P1 LOT (Pilot) sold for £82,500 (116,421.89)
- ELV 1S (Elvis) sold for £75,000 (105,826.35).
Other name and novelty plates that have changed hands recently for five-figure sums include:
lO RD; L4 DY; J4 PAN; F4 TSO; NUT 5; 5 USY; l UCY; M4 TCH; B1 RDY; Ci LLA; l EO; and 5O NGS.
Some plates have become such collectors items that an investment seems like a sure fire bet.
For example: 1 NU was bought in 1995 for £2,400 (€3,386.13). It's current market value is around £25,000 (€35,269.85).
PAU 1Y was bought in 1996 for £2,600 (€3,667.70) and is now priced in ther region of £20,000 (€28,213.05).
1 YF was bought in 1998 for £4,000 (€5,642.21) and would now sell for somewhere in the region of £22,500 (€31,735.27).