S1 record sale

On the 20 September 2008 the UK car registration number S 1 was sold by Bonhams the auctioneers at the Goodwood Revival Festival. The full price paid was £404,062.50, an amount far in excess of the £250,000 bandied about by press speculation before the sale.

S 1 was one of the first number plates issued in Edinburgh. It was initially released in 1903, the same year that the first ever registration, A 1, was issued in London. The first owner of S1 was Sir John MacDonald, Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland, who owned one of the country's first motor vehicles.

At the time of the auction, the price paid for the S1 number plate was the second most expensive registration ever sold in Britain. The holder of the UK record is currently F 1, which was purchased in January 2009 by businessman Afzal Kahn of automotive styling studio Project Kahn.

Reg

Sign of the times

In January, 1904, the registration plates FA 1, and FA 2, were issued to the town's first autos by the County Borough of Burton-upon-Trent.

The exclusive rights for the FA plates finished in January, 1964, with the UFA series, ending 60 years of FA designation.

How ironic, that the (Football Association) FA headquarters should be on Burton's doorstep.

When I revisit Burton, my home town, later this year I want to see signs at each main entrance into Burton declaring 'Burton-on-Trent – home of the FA'.




From: John Roberts
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
First Published: 22/01/2010