Bidding reaches stratospheric heights in car number plate auction
The Dubai Police Officers Club was not a place for the faint-hearted yesterday as the first "distinguished" car number plates to be auctioned by Dubai Police went under the hammer. A total of Dh13.68 million was raised in the auction. The largest sum paid was for the smallest number on offer - number 2 - which went for a staggering Dh1.24 million.
Local businessman Abdul Rahman Amanallah Al Kamali, 46, said he was delighted with his purchase, especially as he expected it to sell for around Dh2 million. He had already bought number 6 for Dh810,000 and number 11 for Dh840,000.
Al Kamali plans to buy a Rolls Royce to put the number plate on. He said he bought the plates for himself and his family, as having a "distinguished" number plate is a "complementary factor for a businessman."
He said he liked numbers 2, 6 and 11 and was prepared to pay any price to get them. Al Kamali, who has three daughters and two sons, said one number would be used by his son who is a secondary level student at Al Ittihad private school and another by his 17-year-old daughter when she passes her driving test.
The auction was the first time that the public was able to buy their own number plates, which they can either use or resell on the open market. The numbers sold yesterday were single digits from two to nine and matching double digits such as 11, 22 and 33.
General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defence Minister, bought the number 7 with a bid of Dh910,000. Mohammed Al Maghrabi, who represented Sheikh Mohammed at the auction, said 7 is Sheikh Mohammed's favourite number which he uses in endurance races.
The auction was inaugurated by Maj Gen Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police. Forty-two people took part in the bidding, six of them via the Internet, but many bidders represented several dignitaries and businessmen. A 15-minute limit was set for bidding on each plate, and a bell announced the close of bidding.
The auction was conducted by Brig. Abdul Rahman Rafee, Director of the police Traffic Department. The second highest bid was for number 3 which sold for Dh1.030 million. It was bought by businessman Ali Saeed Belhab Al Amiri, 32.
The third highest was for number 9, which sold for Dh1.020 million paid by Abdullah Mohammed Saleh Al Kermastaji. "The plate deserved such an amount and I will personally use it," he said. He also bought number 55 for Dh480,000.
Number 4 was sold for Dh980,000 to Abdullah Al Owais. He also bought number 8 for Dh910,000 and number 44 for Dh500,000, all for his personal use. The numbers are his favourites. Number 5 went for Dh930,000 to businessman Mohammed Rashid Hamad Ghdaiyer.
Number 22 sold for Dh610,000, 33 for Dh550,000, 44 for Dh500,000, 55 for Dh480,000, 66 for Dh410,000, 77 for Dh400,000, 88 for Dh360,000 and 99 for Dh400,000.
The second auction will be held tomorrow for 72 numbers of two digits such as 10, 20 and 30. The starting price is Dh210,000, and for other two-digit numbers it is Dh200,000. Registration will be held today from 8am to 8pm.
Brig. Nasser Abdul Razzaq, Assistant Chief of Dubai Police for Supplies and Equipment, said, "The prices were beyond our expectations. We did not think that they go would much higher than the starting prices."