IF you fancy driving around with the personalised number plate IT 1, it can be yours for £280,000 from an online Bedfordshire-based business.
IT 1 was the first recorded number plate in Co. Leitrim, and one of very first issued in Ireland — when compulsory car registration was introduced in 1903.
Because Leitrim was under British jurisdiction at the time, the registration is still valid on British as well as Irish roads today.
Luton-based regtransfers.co.uk, which specialises in the sale of personalised number plates, has the registration IT 1 number plate listed for £280,00.
So far there has been some interest in the registration, but no bids have come through. So the original asking price of £350,000 has been slashed.
IT 1 originally belonged to a Wolseley 10hp Twin-Cylinder Rear-Entrance Tonneau car purchased on May 23, 1902 by Irish motoring enthusiast Caleb S. Laird of Drumshanbo.
It was subsequently registered under the newly introduced Motor Car Act of 1903 . This car, under a different registration, was sold at auction in April 2007 in London for £161,000.
Today’s price for IT 1, of course, does not include the original vehicle — only the number.
Irish vehicle registrations — both from the Republic and the Six Counties — have long been popular amongst collectors because, unlike British plates, they often contain the letter I.
The ‘IG’ designation from Fermanagh is particularly sought after with BIG 4 currently available for £17,995, JIG 66 for £3,395 and LIG 11 for £7,745.
Luton-based regtransfers, whose many customers include Wayne Rooney, Coleen Nolan and Shay Given, also has the number plate IT 3026 available for £4,950.
