When it comes to private number plates, there is no doubt one businessman knows his stuff.
Designer and entrepreneur Afzal Kahn not only designs and coach builds some of the world’s most desirable vehicles in the form of the Flying Huntsman, Huntsman 6X6 and the Vengeance, an officially licensed Aston Martin DB9.
Vehicles are not his only speciality however, Afzal has spent a fortune building up one of the most valuable number plate collections in the world.
His first number plate - 'KHA 17' - was purchased for £700. Four years later he sold the plate for £6,000. It was at that moment Kahn's passion for number plates turned from a hobby into a business.
Today Kahn has amassed over 68 number plates in his ever growing collection, with the value of each plate varying considerably.
Some of the most popular number plates are the Asian range of number registrations.
One of the cheapest is AFO2 ALS whilst the K11 ANS range of registrations include AK11 ANS, BK11 ANS, CK11 ANS, OK11 ANS, the list goes on.
Also up for grabs is J007 NAZ and a range of mainstream registrations.
You would have to cough up a significant figure if you wanted to get your hands on Afzal’s F1 number plate. Having paid around £460,000 for the plate in 2008, the registration is rumoured to be worth over £10 million.
It was reported Afzal has turned down a number of multi million pound bids thus far. Not a bad investment at all.
When pressed on the reports, Afzal Kahn told Asian Image: “How can you place a value on something so rare?” he reveals.
“The number plate was first registered in 1904 by Essex County Council and obviously bears the acronym of Formula One.”
The right number plate makes the car insists Afzal: "I believe number plates are a better investment that property – from a business perspective the only way is up. Number plates will always be seen as a fantastic investment, they are a better investment than gold and property these days.
“I have been at the forefront of two recessions and everything tends to drop apart from number plates, they are only ever issued by the DVLA once and you only get one of a kind.”
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