Don't you just hate it . . .

when somebody's registration plate is worth a lot more than your car?

I was having a wander round the local common yesterday evening when I spotted this Bentley Mulsanne (or maybe it's a Flying Spur) parked in a side street.

I couldn't find any information on this particular registration but Autocar magazine published details of the most expensive UK "cherished number plates" and they show an "M1" registration, also on a Bentley

I imagine the two plates might be fairly well matched in value, and since my near-17 year old Vauxhall Corsa with the peeling paint would probably fetch about £100 for scrap, the current estimated price tag on the M1 plate is worth 10,000 times my little motor. One would not wish to be accused of the sin of envy, but that is just a little galling.

The most expensive plate at the time of publication was this one

"X1" came in at No 2

And the famous Rolls Royce plate was only fourth

In the US, of course, you can make up your own personalised plate for a relatively small fee, provided it isn't offensive or obscene. You can't do that in the UK, all you can do is buy a genuine plate, originally issued by the licencing authority, from a scrapped car with a combination of numbers and letters that suits your needs (or your ego). The DVLA (UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) does a nice bit of business selling these so-called "cherished" plates and there are also plenty of firms which buy them up and offer them for sale. Many of them don't look remotely distinctive or eye-catching but presumably the theory is that almost any combination will be someone's initials or "significant number". I've seen a nice black Chanel (the perfume firm) van driving around with the registration "N0 5". I bet that cost them a few quid as well.

Of course, if you aren't one of those ego-trippers, you can just buy a Mulsanne with a standard issue plate and save yourself a bit of money. Current list price £238,000 to £286,000 (USD 336,000 - USD 403,700) depending on specification and trimmings.