GOLD-plated: Times Malaysians broke the bank for special vehicle numbers

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Unique vehicle registration numbers are coveted in Malaysia but those who want one must pay for the privilege, with the most desirable serving as a symbol of their owners’ status.

On June 20, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim won the 'FFF 1' registration number with a record-setting bid of RM1.75 million, the most ever paid to secure a vehicle registration number.

Here are some other things about the FFF series

• Bidding was open for five days from May 11.

• The series was auctioned off in conjunction with the Road Transport Department’s (JPJ) 78th anniversary

• The funds raised will go towards assistance schemes for B40 Malaysians including free helmets and licence payments

Before this, the highest ever paid for a vehicle registration number in Malaysia was also set by Sultan Ibrahim.

GOLD 1 — RM1.5 million

In February this year, Sultan Ibrahim made the highest bid during the auction for the GOLD series, when his bid of RM1.5 million secured him the GOLD 1 registration number.

The series was a unique commemorative run to mark the golden anniversary of the federal territories.

PATRIOT 1 — RM1.3 million

In 2015, the JPJ introduced the one-off "PATRIOT" line of vehicle registration numbers for Yayasan Patriot Negara Malaysia (YPN) to raise funds towards charitable endeavours including programmes that benefit veterans, youth development, and other community-oriented activities

That auction would also lead to a record RM1.3 million bid for the PATRIOT 1 number that would stand until it was broken by GOLD 1 earlier this year.

The winner of the bid was not announced as the person chose to remain anonymous.

FF1 — RM1.2 million

The FF series of vehicle registration numbers was the most successful auction in the introduction of JPJ’s eBid system, with Transport Minister Anthony Loke saying it raised RM34.2 million.

The highest bid in the series was for ‘FF 1’, which went to Sultan Ibrahim who paid RM1.2 million for it.

This was followed by ‘FF 8’ that fetched RM950,000, ‘FF 9’ at RM911,999, and ‘FF 3’ at RM639,000 in third place.

MALAYSIA 1 — RM1.1 million

In 2018, the new government introduced the MALAYSIA vehicle registration series in conjunction with National Day that year, with a record bid winning placed for the MALAYSIA 1 number.

Also the transport minister then, Loke announced that Aldi International Sdn Bhd won the number with a bid of RM 1,111,111.

The public bidding was open from August 1 to August 15 that year with a total of 3,353 bids received.

V1 — RM990,000

In 2016, the JPJ introduced the V series to replace the previous W line of vehicle registration for Kuala Lumpur.

This made the ‘V 1’ plate especially coveted at the time, with Sultan Ibrahim again coming out on top with the winning bid of RM990,000.

Other notable bidders included Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan who won the bids for 'V 9', 'V 99', and ‘V 170’; Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman who got ‘V 63’; and former deputy finance minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani with 'V 40'.

F1 — RM836,660

On July 1, 2016, Sultan Ibrahim, again, won the 'F1' vehicle registration number with a bid of RM836,660.

Coincidentally, F1 is the shorthand for Formula 1, the pinnacle of single-seater motor racing in the world.

The next highest bid was for the ‘F2’ number at RM514,800, followed by ‘F9’ acquired by Trans Penang Inn Sdn Bhd for RM404,800, and F7, secured by Pli Trading Sdn Bhd for RM396,000.

WWW 1 — RM 520,000

In 2012, Sultan Ibrahim also acquired the highly coveted WWW 1 number plate with a winning bid of RM520,000

Want to bid for your own special number? Here are the steps:

Register with JPJ’s eBid website.

Watch for the registration series available for bidding.

Place a bid for the number you want (subject to RM10 non-refundable fee per bid).

Wait for a notification of your bid’s success (or failure). The notification will include instructions on how to complete the registration.