The Full Story of VIP 1 Number Plate

It all started out in 1971, when it was first issued to businessman Bill Finnegan in Kilkenny, Ireland - which used the xIP area code. It was issued to him as Mr Finnegan founded the Kilkenny Beer Festival and he did lots of work for the city. He placed it on his Jaguar XJ6

In 1979, Pope John Paul II had a replica of the plate displayed on his “Popmobile” while touring in Northern Ireland.

Mr Finnegan moved to London in the 1970s for his new job, working for Gulf Oil and brought the Jaguar with. However he could not keep the car, he had brought an Irish car and plate into the UK, which was supposed to not be transferable. He sold the car and plate for £5,500.

In 1989, it sold again at an auction for £92,000. A loophole allowed it to be turned into a UK plate, along with around 300 other Irish plates, most famously VIP 1, however. (Others include IT 1, LIZ 1 and 1 IW)

Russian billionaire and former owner of Chelsea Football Club, Roman Abramovich, bought it for £285,000 in 2006, making one of the most expensive UK plates at the time.

Due to the Russo-Ukrainian war, Abramovich's assets were said to be frozen and the plate was sold in December 2024 to second-hand car sales tycoon Peter Waddell. He claims he paid more than £2m, although we were offered it for a little over £250,000 in 2021!