Historic 'S5' number plate to sell for £180,000

The auction will take place in Chichester

The historic “S5” plate was only the fifth issued on the day registrations were introduced in the Capital, in December 1903.

The reg has since been used on a Rolls-Royce and more than a dozen Porsche 911s.

It will be sold by Bonhams at its Goodwood Members’ Meeting Sale in Chichester on March 20, with an estimate of £150,000-180,000.

Sholto Gilbertson, specialist in Bonhams’ motoring department, said: “S5 was one of a sequence issued by Edinburgh Borough Council, commencing in December 1903.

“It was the fifth registration issued on the first day and therefore is of some significance in the history of motoring in Scotland.

“Believed to have been on a Rolls-Royce previously, ‘S5’ has been in the vendor’s possession for more than 30 years, appearing on a series of Porsche 911s and latterly on Audi A6 Estates.”

The private number plate market in the UK is thought to be worth £2.3 billion a year.