’25 O’ number plate sets DVLA record at £518k

The number plate ’25 O’ has set a new DVLA record for a ‘vanity’ number plate, fetching £518,480 at the 150th DVLA auction this week.

Personalised number plates; you either love them or hate them. But they are big business.

In what, to many, seems like a complete waste of money, British businessman John Collins has paid a total of £518,480 for the registration number 25 O. But there is logic.

The most expensive car money can buy is the Ferrari 250 GTO, a car which, assuming you could get someone to sell you one of the 33 built, would cost you anything north of £35,000,000. So, in those terms, and extra £500k for the ultimate plate for the car seems a drop in the ocean.

But, not satisfied with dropping £500k on 25 O, John Collins – owner of Talacrest, a Ferrari dealers in Ascot, also dropped another £130k on the plate ‘250 L’ and has plans for both number already.

The ’25 O’ plate is going on a Ferrari 250 SWB once owner by Eric Clapton, and the ‘250L’ plate is going on a Ferrari 250 Lusso (Collins also bough 500 FER for £3k).

The DVLA had given a reserve price of just £4k for 25 O, but spirited bidding saw the price climb rapidly, and the £518k total price (£400k plus VAT plus buyer’s premium) becoming a new record price for a DVLA auction sale. John Collins indicated he would have been prepared to go even further, even contemplating a price over £1 million, but the under bidder obviously wasn’t as keen.