Global Courant 2023-04-17 12:01:13
It has a number with a strong symbology among Islamic people. It surpassed one for which US$14.2 million had been paid in 2008.
Millionaire bids for classic, iconic or relevant cars for culture and the motor world have always been common. But lately in the always eccentric Dubai a new trend has taken hold, and that is to put up for auction patents that for one reason or another have a special meaning. And under that framework, now there was someone who paid 15 million dollars for one of them.
This is the P7 license plate –which for practical purposes is seen simply as “7”, since the number is arranged in the center and the letter in a corner–, sold in a charity auction organized by the royal family of the United Arab Emirates . Already in the preview it was the most anticipated item of the event, and it did not disappoint: the value offered by the highest bidder made it by far the world record for the most expensive plaque in history.
The Dubai patent for which they paid 15 million dollars.
The proceeds will be used to fight hunger through the foundation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. And it is not the first time that it has happened: in last year’s edition, for example, the AA8 patent – which is also seen as “8” – was auctioned for 9.5 million dollars, and the F55, the V66 and the Y66 for just over a million each.
But this year the fight between bidders went further, and allowed the Abu Dhabi patent to be dethroned with the simple but forceful “1”, which in 2008 had been transferred in exchange for 14.2 million dollars and was so far the best listed in the world
The Dubai patent for which they paid 15 million dollars.
This does not happen in Argentina, where license plates function as a vehicle’s identity document and go out of circulation when the vehicle is no longer on the streets. But the United Arab Emirates is one of the places where the sale of patents for use in a particular car is allowed. They belong to the individuals and not to the cars, in other words, and therefore with the operation the rights to circulate with it are exchanged between individuals.
This opens the game to a totally new market, which in destinations like these, where waste in some cases is a way of life, is exponentially enhanced. In fact, the streets of the United Arab Emirates are patrolled by Bugatti, Lamborghini or Aston Martin models, among other luxury brands of police mobiles used.
United Arab Emirates patent 1, a highly coveted treasure.
But what makes this “P7” so special? In principle, not necessarily a clue that the buyer is Cristiano Ronaldo, as has been rumored. In fact, the new owner of the plate at the moment remains anonymous.
On the one hand, the low numbering already gives it a unique value, and that in societies like Dubai can transform it into a status symbol. “It is a city of gold,” explained businessman Balvinder Singh Sahni, who in 2016 bought the D5 plate for 33 million dirhams, which today is equivalent to almost 9 million dollars, after being denied entry to a luxury hotel because his car had a license plate with many numbers. “It was always my dream to have a single-digit number, so when I had the opportunity, and to top it off for charity, I didn’t hesitate,” he justified.
The luxury cars that are used as patrol cars in Dubai.
But also the number 7 has a very important cultural, spiritual and religious meaning, especially in a Muslim country like the United Arab Emirates: without going any further, there are seven turns that a pilgrim who arrives in Mecca must take around the Kaaba –the sacred structure in the center of the mosque–, the first chapter of the Koran consists of seven verses and even in that sacred book it is described that the Yanna, understood as the Islamic paradise, consists of seven levels, the seventh being the most high. And the list goes on. That is why the specialists also justify the exorbitant amount that was paid for this patent.
Millionaire patents: not only in the Emirates
But although it may seem like a practice typical of the eccentric luxury that usually dresses exotic cities such as Dubai, the truth is that the practice of selling patents is a phenomenon that occurs in many parts of the world.
For example, in the United Kingdom: there, the F1 plate is on sale today for no less than 18.1 million dollars, which, if sold, will exceed the one sold in Dubai and will become the most expensive in the world. world. It is also the case in Switzerland, where it is commonplace to pay six figures for patents with low or special numbers.
Great Britain’s F1 patent: it’s for sale and they ask for an exorbitant amount.
And across the globe, in Australia, there is the antecedent in 2017 of the payment of 1.6 million dollars for the number 4 license plate of New South Wales, the state known for its most important city, the capital Sydney.
