A rare South Australian number plate has broken auction records, selling for around three times the price of the average Adelaide home.

The number eight plate, among the first numeric plates issued in South Australia in 1906, went up for auction in late August with bidding starting at $600,000.

A two-week bidding frenzy from car enthusiasts saw the price quickly skyrocket, and on Monday night bidding closed at an astonishing $2,300,100 – almost four times the previous record set in 2020 when a bespoke ‘Number 1’ Grand Prix commemorative plate fetched $593,000.

Plate ‘8’ is the first single digit numeric plate to be sold by the State Government since plates 3,6 and 9 were sold at the 1985 Great Plate Auction. Back then they sold for $11,000, $6,500 and $7000 respectively.

Number eight is considered the luckiest number in Chinese culture, and according to some numerologists it represents strength, prosperity and victory.

Experts say having an ‘8’ within a plate sequence has become the digit of choice among number plate collectors, both for its luck and symmetrical format.

Bidders were also keen to snap up a number of other genuine numeric plates that were at auction alongside the ‘8’, with plate 55 selling for a whopping $625,100 and plate 873 going for $165,100.

A total of 28 plates were up for grabs including numbers 46000, 111444, 5566 and 249, with the total of $4,014,073 raised showcasing the high demand and interest South Australians have in genuine numeric plates.

Each plate comes with ‘Class Specific Rights’ which entitle the new owners to long-term rights to their plate. This means the plate can be transferred to vehicles registered in the same name and sold to a third party.

The plates can only be affixed to a vehicle that is registered in South Australia.

Revenue raised from the auction will be returned to the Department for Infrastructure and Transport to fund services.