Fascination Personalised Car plates

Ever since the British number plate system was launched in 1903, people have been clambering over each other in order to reserve a set of desirable or personalised plates for themselves. In fact, Earl Russell camped outside the London office overnight in order to receive the first registration number issued there – A 1. Of course, A 1 has a very obvious air of prestige about it, but why are literally thousands of personalised plates sold in Britain each week?
The simple fact is that Britons love their cars. We spend hours cleaning, wiping and polishing our cherished motors and often see them as an extension of our personality and a channel of great pride. To be able to top off your pride and joy with a number plate showing your name, initials, birthday or favourite pastime is quite often the cherry on the top of the cake for many motorists. As British boxing supremo Amir Khan said, “When you see a nice car you always have a look at the number plate. It just finishes it off.”

That’s all well and good, but personalised plates are pretty expensive, right? Not quite. In fact, you can get your initials on a personalised plate for less than £200. These particular registrations tend to be very suitable for those who don’t want to ‘show off’ with a personalised plate, but would like to personalise their car in a way that means something to them. Even cheaper than these, however, are Irish number plates, which can cost under £100 but are more unlikely to feature your initials.
One aspect that must not be forgotten is the investment value of a personalised plate. In fact, most personalised plates will rocket in value over a relatively short space of time – much higher than the base rate of inflation. As BBC Top Gear’s Quentin Wilson said, “If you buy your number wisely, it will honestly be better than money in the bank.”