Another month, another DVLA auction. The auction that ran from 27th July 2022 to 2nd August 2022 was an online sale, as all DVLA auctions have been since the live events were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That said, we understand that DVLA has provisional plans to begin holding live auction events again later this year. View our coverage of the previous DVLA auction here.
Variety
The registrations on offer comprised the usual mixture of the obvious and the seemingly inexplicable. The highest earner, 41 O, appears to fall in the latter category, so far as any intended meaning may be concerned. We may not understand it but we like it: a striking number that would look great on any car. At an all-in price of £73,422, it could still have some investment potential. It also continues the high-achieving trend of 'O' plates at auction: a number of two-digit 'O' registrations have made big money in previous DVLA sales.
Other top prices paid were £47,742 for 1 YUM, £37,329 for 812 C, £34,199 for 8 TRU and £29,047 for 1007 AM. The buyers of 108 of the numbers sold in the auction paid over £10,000 for them. The highest price paid for an obvious name registration was £20,508 for BA22 ETT, followed by CA22 OLL at £19,224. High performing word registrations included 8 LOW ("blow") at £22,627 and FAT 805S ("fat boss") at £19,340.
Hidden meanings
While it seems likely that 812 C would have been purchased for a Ferrari, and that 992 JC and 911 RAV will end up on Porsches, there were also a few intriguing sales where one can guess at a registration's significance to its new owner but not really be sure. For example, 1 KWH is, surely someone's perfect number one initials plate, but with those letters also forming an abbreviation for "kilowatt hour", a unit of energy commonly applied to electricity, it could also appeal to the CEO of an energy company - although displaying it in that context at the moment could be considered tactless…
Other good plates that went under the hammer include A111 ENA ("Allena") at £12,920, and a fairly amusing "stolen" plate, S701 LEN, at £9,094. This one could also be a reference to the German fruit bread, stollen.
The table below shows the top performers in this recent sale.
| REGISTRATION | PRICE |
|---|---|
| 41 O | £73,422 |
| 1 YUM | £47,742 |
| 812 C | £37,329 |
| 8 TRU | £34,119 |
| 1007 AM | £29,047 |
| 786 MUS | £28,328 |
| 992 JC | £27,378 |
| 115 HY | £27,057 |
| 1 KWH | £25,901 |
| 911 RAV | £25,824 |
| 765 MCL | £24,489 |
| 24 MJS | £23,141 |
| 8 LOW | £22,627 |
| 678 M | £22,563 |
| 4 TDF | £21,921 |
| 7 KSA | £20,637 |
| BA22 ETT | £20,508 |
| 111 SSP | £19,353 |
| 94 FF | £19,353 |
| 812 CA | £19,353 |
| FAT 805S | £19,340 |
| CA22 OLL | £19,224 |
| 6006 OO | £18,737 |
| 4 MUK | £18,082 |
| 22 ACK | £17,298 |
| 525 J | £17,029 |
| 4 ORD | £16,785 |
| 10 OOR | £16,772 |
| 98 NK | £16,271 |
| 181 P | £16,271 |
| 77 YK | £16,143 |
| 700 AP | £15,565 |
| SHA 21B | £15,488 |
| 66 SJM | £15,488 |
| 14 MSC | £15,295 |
| KAA 51M | £15,116 |
| COO 2K | £14,885 |
| 4 JVM | £14,576 |
| 151 JS | £14,345 |
| 8 KLJ | £14,217 |
| NXD 1A | £14,204 |
| RED 911P | £13,896 |
| 1 VFD | £13,588 |
| BF 76 | £13,331 |
| 3 NGS | £13,010 |
| 1967 SL | £12,933 |
| 786 ST | £12,933 |
| 15 SHO | £12,933 |
| 77 JMW | £12,933 |
| 96 JU | £12,933 |
Prices include fees and taxes.
More great number plate auction information
The Regtransfers auction
Buy or Sell using our own terrific auction service. View our current listings or learn more about the auction.
The DVLA June 2022 Auction
Learn more about personal number plates that sold for great prices in the DVLA's previous auction.
