Three of the coolest number plates in history go under the hammer! (And you get 007's DB5 thrown in!)

RM Auction is putting a great car up for auction, this time a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, which is an actual James Bond car! This car with the registration plate FMP 7B has been a property of Mr.Jerry Lee for over 40 years. He had bought the car from the film company for $12,000, and now it's expected to fetch over $5 million!

This DB5 is a full blooded Bond car. It has Front and rear hydraulic over rider rams on bumpers; Front firing .30 caliber Browning machine guns powered by trunk mounted oxy/propane system; Wheel mounted tire slasher; Retractable rear bullet-proof screen; Radio telephone concealed in secret compartment; Radar scanner in racing type wing mirror with tracking screen in the cockpit; Passenger ejector seat with removable roof panel (seat since replaced with standard seat); Oil slick ejector from left side rear light cluster; Triple spiked nails from the right side rear light cluster; Smoke screen released through separate rear system, located next to rear exhaust and most importantly; Three revolving number plates featuring licenses YRE 186H, 007JB and JB007.

Not that all of these things actually work on this car, but there they are! And the coolest thing is they're all hidden away normally.

"The James Bond car has brought me much enjoyment for some 40 years," said Jerry Lee. "Even as I sell it and use the proceeds to fund the Jerry Lee Foundation, the car will continue to give me great pleasure as it furthers the mission of the Foundation to do good around the world."





Reg

DVLA hoping for the million

DVLA Personalised Registrations could find itself in "seventh heaven" during its forthcoming three day auction which gets underway on June 2 at Whittlebury Hall.

Buoyed by the 7 O and 10 OOO registrations set to head line at Whittlebury Hall, DVLA's team of experts believe the agency could surpass the magical seven figure mark from the sale of a single series of personalised plates.

Released by DVLA Personalised Registrations to mark its 20th anniversary last year, the O series encompassing the registrations 1 O, 2 O, 3 O, 4 O, 5 O, 6 O, 9 O, 1 OOO and 2 OOO has amassed a staggering 872,000 pounds.

And while the agency is 130,000 pounds short of its magical 1 million mark, the high expectations surrounding 7 O and 10 OOO being sold at the Northamptonshire venue, ironically, the scene where 1 O sold for a whopping 210,000 pounds in January 2009, indicate that that million pound figure could well be banked for The Treasury.

DVLA Personalised Registrations Marketing Manager, Damian Lawson said: "While we had high hopes for the O series, we never in our wildest thoughts believed we could be on the verge of raising 1 million from their sale so soon.

"Since 1 O was sold at Whittlebury Hall 18 months ago there has been a terrific amount of interest surrounding the whole O series and while we do not expect to surpass the 210,000 pound it made, it would be truly ironic if Whittlebury proved to be the setting for hitting the magical million mark."

In total, DVLA's forthcoming auction will comprise 1,500 number plates chosen to offer an eclectic mix to suit all tastes, styles and pockets, including;

ALS 911 (reserve 1,900)
BOO7 HAM (900)
EL10 OTT (1,000)
ESS 3X (900)
F458 RED (900)
F1 USA (1,900)
GOF 11E (350)
H15 DOG (900)
599 JS (2,600)
51 NKS (1,900)
N47 URE (350)
N188 LER (300)
7 O (10,000)
0007 BND (900)
10 OOO (8,000)
OWN 805S (350)
ROL 333X (400)
SO10 ACT (1,000)
SKY 7V (400)
SO10 MON (1,000)
VE55 SPA (900)
W11 DOW (900)



Reg

DVLA number plate fraud

DVLA high level officers in the criminal investigation department continue to hold, in safe custody, the compelling criminal evidence dossiers concerning the forged and falsified 'Carroll Automobile Collection Cherished Number Plates Portfolio Log Books'.

Included in this portfolio are the rare 'A1, GJC1, and GJC11' personalised registration plates which were "stolen" in the longest running and largest white collar organised crime, tax evasion and money laundering case in modern economic history.

The Carroll Foundation Charitable Trust, one billion dollars, international case is bringing in the elite law enforcement officers from the FBI Washington DC field office and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in London.




Sources close to the DVLA at the Swansea headquarters have confirmed that "multiple forged log books" covering the Carroll Super Car Collection which contains ten Ferraris, seven Lamborghinis and a rare Automobilia Fine Art Collection was the fraudulent mechanism used by the FBI / SOCA task force, to target Goodman Derrick Crime Syndicate in this US HM Crown Carroll Trust National Security Public Interests Case.

A1, is thought to be the very first UK vehicle registration number. Originally issued in London in 1903 it is considered to be the UK's most famous registration plate, having had a continuous and well documented history since Earl Russell managed to secure it by getting his Butler to queue up all night outside the licencing authorities office in London.

Should 'A1' come onto the market today, the sales price will undoubtedly be in the millions.







Reg

The 6IXTH S3NS3

(If you're gonna be 'number plate negative', this is how you do it;)

"I've had enough of personalised number plates. After spending the best part of five months ogling them and not the beautiful Auckland surroundings, I've finally given up the ghost.
So, here's a round up of the plates I've seen so far;

The Geeky Ones
H1TMAN- This guy genuinely had a barcode above the plate and an Agency sticker on the dash.
X MAN- Though to be fair, this might not be a comic fan. It could be a transsexual.

The Honest Ones
DUMBER- Found on a humvee, which says it all really.
VODKA- Certainly goes a long way to explaining how this jeep was being driven.
B1GDOG- Having sighted the driver, I have to agree, though the plate MUNTER would have been more accurate.
V1AGRA- On a 1930's ford being driven by a very old man. With a huge smile on his face.
CHOLLO- On a car driven by a very large Hispanic gentleman.
MY WILI- On a Toyota Will VI. Again being driven by a smiling old man.

The Misleading Ones
SALADS- The advertising for this owner-operator company car was somewhat offset by the fat guy driving it.
RADBOD- It wasn't. Really.

The Ambiguous Ones
GAS IT- I couldn't figure out if this person had flatulence, was pro-electric or just being anti-Semitic.
BENDS- Either someone suffering from nitrogen in the blood, or declaring his sexual proclivities.
RIDEZY- Come to think of it, the driver did look a bit morally loose.
K8S L8- I wasn't sure where this was coming from. Is Kate tardy? Is she dead? Has she skipped her period?
WAXN IT- Is this person a surfer or merely fond of Brazillians?

The Zuh? Ones
HO COIL- I don't know what this is. My gut reaction is it is something a pimp ensures his ladies have to stop them getting preggers.
WHY 2K- Why indeed.
ASK GOD- Just begging for the underplate writing "why I am driving like a retarded orang utan".

The Gobshite One
BLING- On an SUV in the city centre. This thing had blacked out windows too, which juts proves the adage that the darker the windows on the SUV the likelier the possibility that the loser inside cries themselves to sleep every night.

The Regrettable Ones
BJS- I don't think the driver even noticed.
BUL177- On a Porsche than was just asking to be keyed.
MET WAT- On a company car. Think about it.

But the winner by a country mile is NOBASS.

I don't know what the driver was aiming for, but in the absence of number plates saying SLAVE1, BALL5 or FUKNUT then he gets the prize.

In future I'll just report by exception, though if I see any car with the word PLAYER/PLAYA or any alphanumeric combination thereof then there may be a short delay in my bloggage while I stand trial for murder."

(Cheers to "Jimbo" of Auckland :)




R3G

Another City Council urged to sell off personalised number plates

The Taxpayers Alliance is calling for the City Council of Aberdeen to auction the lord provosts registration plates, RG0, to help fund the national economic recovery.

The alliance is pushing for Scottish councils to sell off their private number plates, some of which are reputedly worth up to 500,000 pounds.

Aberdeens elected members have hit back, claiming this solution is shortsighted and would losing a piece of the city's heritage.

The convener of the council's finance and resources committee, Councillor Kevin Stewart said: "Once you have sold off an asset, that's it gone for ever. What we would actually be selling off is part of the history of the city, so I would have to be convinced we would get an amazing price for it, to even consider doing it."

Councillor Neil Cooney added: "It's a historical tradition in Aberdeen and we should hold on to as much of our heritage as we can. It is of great sentimental value to the citizens of Aberdeen. I would be opposed to selling it off."

As well as referring to the historical value of RG0, the council says the vehicle, which is used to transport the lord provost while he is performing civic duties, is worthy of the registration because of the prestigious role it plays.

The Taxpayers Alliance, however, remain unconvinced.

"There's no excuse for councils owning prestige number plates at a time when people are struggling to make ends meet. "This kind of indulgence reflects the attitude of politicians towards the hard-pressed taxpayer. "They should be auctioned off and the proceeds used to directly benefit the communities." Said Campaigns director Mark Wallace.

One of the largest number plate dealer in the country has predicted RG0 would fetch at least 50,000 pounds but, say the council, this would barely scratch the surface of the budget deficit.

Councillor Ian Yuill, a member of the finance and resources committee, concluded: "Frankly, anything we would see from a one off sale of RG0 would not even be a drop in the ocean."

Lord Provost Peter Stephen could not be contacted for comment.




Reg

Mayors 150k number plate

Personalised number plates have long been considered the status symbols of millionaire celebrities, not of the mayor of a cash strapped councils.

Cllr Ann Norman is the latest mayor of Brighton and Hove City Council and is using the 150,000k number plate, "CD1", on her Toyota Prius .

The registration plates were given to the council 30 years ago and have been used on the mayoral car ever since. "CD" stands for "corps diplomatique", the symbol used for diplomatic cars around the world.

But now residence in Brighton, East Sussex have asked the Council, which seeks to save 45 million pounds over the next three years, to auction the registration.

A council spokesman said: "We think that number plate is of great historical interest and is a part of the city's heritage. We do not intend to sell parts of that heritage on a piecemeal basis."

A spokes person for one of the UKs larger number plate dealers said, "It's a desirable number plate. If it was sold at auction we would expect it to attract a great deal of interest and a selling price of 150,000 pounds or more would not surprise us at all."





Reg

Franz Ferdinands 'spooky' registration.

It's hard to think of another event in the troubled twentieth century that had quite the implications of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. The Archduke was heir to the throne of the tottering Austro Hungarian empire; his killers, a motley band of amateurish students, were Serbian nationalists (or possibly Yugoslav nationalists; historians remain divided on the topic) who wanted to turn Austrian Bosnia into a part of a new Slav state.

Of all the tall tales that attached themselves to Franz Ferdinand after his death, the best known and most widely circulated concerns the car in which he was driven to his death. This vehicle, a Graf und Stift double phaeton, built by the Graf brothers of Vienna, had been made in 1910 and was owned not by the Austro Hungarian state but by Count Franz von Harrach, "an officer of the Austrian army transport corps" who apparently loaned it to the Archduke for his day in Sarajevo. According to this legend, Von Harrach's vehicle was so cursed by either [a] its involvement in the awful events of June 1914 or [b] its gaudy blood-red paint job that pretty much every subsequent owner met a hideous, sort of end.

One piece of history went completely unremarked on for almost a century, until a British visitor to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, where the car now resides, noticed the number plates. Brian Presland seems to have been first to draw the staff's attention to the remarkable detail contained in the Graf und Stift's registration plate, which reads 'AIII 118'. That number, Presland pointed out, can be taken to read A (for Armistice) 11 / 11 / 18, which means that the death car has always carried with it a prediction, not of the dreadful day in Sarajevo that marked the beginning of the First World War, but of 11 November 1918: Armistice Day, the day that the war ended.

A couple of things suggest that this is not the case, though. Firstly, the meaning of the intitial 'A' applies only in English as the German for 'armistice' is 'Waffenstillstand,' and secondly, Austria Hungary did not surrender on the same day as its German allies anyway. It had been knocked out of the war a week earlier, on 4 November 1918. So the number plate is a little bit less spooky in its native country. It also contains not five number '1's but three capital 'I's and two numbers. Perhaps it's not quite so surprising that the museum director first approached by Brian Presland freely admitted that he had worked in the place for 20 years without spotting the plates significance.



Reg