Number 4 Smashes Record at Shannons

By: James Robinson, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 30.08.2017

Things are perhaps getting a bit out-of-hand

There were plenty of ace looking automobiles up for grabs at Shannons’ Sydney Winter Classic Auction on Monday night, and quite a few very impressive prices achieved for some classic Aussie Muscle cars.

However, every lot at Shannons’ auction paled in comparison to the sheer spectacle and bidding frenzy that occurred when the NSW registration plate ‘4’ was called up to the auction block.

Bidding kicked off at an absurd $1,000,000, and that number steadily rose as Chinese Billionaire, sex toy magnate and number plate collector Peter Tseng kept his hand raised for the full duration of the auction.

The fierce bidding war ended with Tseng’s hand still raised, and when the auctioneers gavel struck, the price for a piece of metal baring a number on it stood at $2.45 million!

Tseng, who rocked up to the auction in a red Ferrari 458 Italia sporting the NSW rego plate ‘2’, also owns the Hong Kong registration plate ‘1’ and the NSW plate ‘One’.

The price achieved, which smashed the record for most amount of cash ever forked out for a rego plate, eclipsed the total amount achieved for every car sold at the auction, which was a comparatively measly $1,760,150.

"The opportunity to acquire such a plate is exceptionally rare, as most single-digit plates remain in family hands, are usually passed down through generations and rarely, if ever, come onto the open market," said Shannons National Auction Manager Christophe Boribon.

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