'AU 1' made famous by Goldfinger goes on sale
Choose your next numberplate carefully, Mr Bond - it may be your last
Shocking, positively shocking. ‘AU 1’, the numberplate made famous for its association with the James Bond franchise (it appears on Auric Goldfinger’s Rolls-Royce Phantom III), is up for sale, and expected to fetch ‘in excess of £300,000’ according to the number plate dealer charged with finding a buyer.
Primo Registrations suggests it’s an opportunity ‘for someone to own a piece of film history’ - although based on the 59 years that have elapsed since Goldfinger premiered in cinemas, you might have to jog the memory of anyone under the age of 40 if you’re keen for the connection to be explicit. That doesn’t mean the enduring appeal of Bond as an ‘iconic cinematic reference’ won’t help to shift ‘AU 1’ (being the periodic symbol for gold ought to help, too) but it’s safe to say the numberplate would already be worth its weight in the stuff regardless.
And that’s because personalised plates remain big business - certainly big enough for their investment potential to be a consideration. In those terms, shorter generally equals better, with two-letter and one-number derivatives often ranking among the most highly sought-after. That includes ’25 O’, still the UK record-breaker after it fetched more than half a million quid back in 2014 (because Ferrari 250 GTO).
While Primo Registrations clearly doesn’t expect ‘AU 1’ to reach those heights, its managing director, Peter Johnson, reckons there’s plenty of reason to be excited: “The last time ‘AU 1’ sold, it realised a huge return on investment for its then-owner, and we anticipate the trend will only continue, especially with shorter plates. We can’t wait to see where this one will go in the future – maybe it’ll go onto another Rolls-Royce!” Just not gold-plated one. Unless you’ve got the industrial laser to match.
In a country where 1in 5 people are at or below the poverty line, how about taxing ego car plates? If you can spend money on buying a plate just to stroke your ego, you can afford to contribute to mitigating some of your country's problems. The fewer positions your ego plate has, the more tax you pay. Just two positions? 10x road tax. Three positions: 5x road tax, and so on.
It could be an ego stroking thing in itself: have a short registration, show people you're really doing well, not just for yourself, but also for the country.
Perhaps if you'd done better at life, you wouldn't immediately presume those who advocate for a lower Gini coefficient are all lazy scroungers.
ks" as that's what the 1 in 5 statistic is.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff