UAE NUMBERPLATE sells for $14 MILLION!?

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Jim Prower

Jim Prower

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SAY WHAT?

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - A license plate with nothing but the number "1" on it went for a record $14 million at a charity auction Saturday.

Saeed Khouri, a member of a wealthy Abu Dhabi family, wouldn't say how many automobiles he owned or which of them might carry the record-breaking single-digit plate.

"I bought it because it's the best number," said Khouri, whose family made its fortune in real estate. "I bought it because I want to be the best in the world."

The oil-rich UAE began auctioning off vanity license plates last May.

Ordinary automobile license plates issued to drivers here — and even most other vanity series plates — carry both Arabic and Western numerals and script, defining the issuing city and country.

Khouri's plate, however, has only the Western numeral and no letters.

The record sale surpassed the $6.8 million that was paid for an Emirati license plate at an earlier auction with the Western number 5 on it — also without Arabic numerals or letters.

Proceeds from the auctions, which are held in a lavish hotel here, go to a rehabilitation center for victims of traffic accidents.

On Saturday, 90 license plates were auctioned off in all, raising a total of $24 million. The previous five such events raised more than $50 million.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080217/ap_on_fe_st/odd_emirates_vanity_plate

Uh...was there THAT much demand?
 
Crikey mate, that's a lot of money for the number 1. I knew some plates sold for high at charity auctions like the first Simpsons plate in Australia did, but $14 milliion is a lot of money. You could get 13-14 Bugatti Veyrons for that much. :scared:
 
That's probably what he's gonna stick it on. These guys have a ridiculous amount of money. I'm starting to wonder if their currency is inflated somewhat.
 
I'd so laugh if he announced he was going to mount it on a wall or something, $14mil for nothing pretty much. But then, imagine the thieves just waiting for him to go shopping in that car..................There's a bucket of money for 10sec work. Dodgy thieves.
 
Wow...... 14 Million seems like nothing to them Arabs.... :scared: Why on earth do they spend money so much like that? Just for a lousy plate number.... as if they couldn't make one themselves.... ;) But yeah, if its for charity, then I guess it isn't so bad after all......
 
Muzaffar Musa
Wow...... 14 Million seems like nothing to them Arabs.... :scared: Why on earth do they spend money so much like that? Just for a lousy plate number.... as if they couldn't make one themselves.... ;) But yeah, if its for charity, then I guess it isn't so bad after all......
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Would you rather they NOT spend it? At a charity auction no less?
 
Money gets spent like this all over the world that ISN'T benefitting charities. That's the sad part. If he or she wants the license plate "1" and it benefits charity I say more power to him or her...regardless of WHERE they are from. Don't bring "arab" racial overtones into this thread as its borderline racist. Just a general comment not directed at any one person.
 
If this was an American spending this kind of money, I'd be just as befuddled, I assure you.

I mean, it's just the number 1. I don't see why that number's so in demand.
 
People in the UAE just have a lot of money, I mean they control a good size portion of one of the most demanded commodities on the globe. It's their money and they can spend it how they like. Plus everything in the UAE is excessive, look at Dubai City.
 
a case of more money than gray cells.
 
Maybe, in the future when this guy is down on his luck (if ever), he'll be sitting at home looking at his license plate, and think, "What in the **** was I thinking?"

Seriously, this man qualifies for idiocy.
 
*McLaren*
Maybe, in the future when this guy is down on his luck (if ever), he'll be sitting at home looking at his license plate, and think, "What in the **** was I thinking?"

Seriously, this man qualifies for idiocy.
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I wonder how it will depreciate. It'll probably keep his Veyron worth more methinks.
 
When you pay a price like that you will always live with the feeling that the thing its plastered to is cheaper! :scared:

Your going to need a $14 million car to make it feel right!

Robin
 
They showed this on German TV. The new owner is a 25 old student. Not a problem if your Daddy is a billionaire. The number 1 (not the plate) is a big status symbol over there. Having the "1" on your plate makes you more important than others. The plate is mounted to a Zonda by the way.
 
RouWa
They showed this on German TV. The new owner is a 25 old student. Not a problem if your Daddy is a billionaire. The number 1 (not the plate) is a big status symbol over there. Having the "1" on your plate makes you more important than others. The plate is mounted to a Zonda by the way.
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How nice it is to know your license plate determines your place in society. 👎
 
Sad to see a man do something so great for charity (charity for what should be a good cause in the eyes of motor-enthusiast such as ourselves) only to be called an idiot and looked down upon.

What this act says about the man from abu dahbi can be summed up in 1 word... Charity.
What the reactions here on the GTP say about non-millionaire westerners can't be summed up... Move this topic to the rumble and people just might argue for years. :scared:
 
Kent
Sad to see a man do something so great for charity (charity for what should be a good cause in the eyes of motor-enthusiast such as ourselves) only to be called an idiot and looked down upon.

What this act says about the man from abu dahbi can be summed up in 1 word... Charity.
What the reactions here on the GTP say about non-millionaire westerners can't be summed up... Move this topic to the rumble and people just might argue for years. :scared:
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Bull crap, Kent. He didn't do it for charity. He said it himself right here.
"I bought it because I want to be the best in the world."

He's a f'ing dumb*** for all I care. If you think a license plate with the #1 means you're the best in the world, you are an idiot to me. The fact his money went to charity meant nothing to him, and is the only upside of this story. I hope the plate is stolen within days to teach this "Best Guy in the World" a lesson.
 
Getting money off rich dumb people is the only way charities are going to seriously survive, I don't care what his intentions are as long as the money goes to a good cause..
 
Robin.
Getting money off rich dumb people is the only way charities are going to seriously survive, I don't care what his intentions are as long as the money goes to a good cause..
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That's all fine and dandy.

However, Kent's statement that this man did something so great for charity is a load of hogwash because the man specifically states he didn't do it for charity.
 
But a charity benefitted so I consider it a win-win. If a charity wasn't benefitted then I would be with the rest of you. Can't we all just be happy that less fortunate people will infact benefit from this regardless of the money spender's MO?
 

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