The ultimate automotive detalj or tasteless tat... where do you stand on private number plates?I am sure you will be as delighted as I am to learn that the registration number PEN 15 is set to be auctioned early in 2013. Apparently it has been banned from advertisements for being too X-rated. Regtransfers, the largest independent private plate specialist in the UK, believes the phallic-themed registration could be sold for a fee as large as 100,000. Its a free country, just about, so if you want to look like a KNO 8 you only have to shell out a six-figure sum. Ive never understood the whole private plate thing, despite some particularly close members of my family having a large set. Each to their own, but my view is the same as the Triumph Stag-owning hero of the Terry Venables-penned TV series Hazell. Private detective (or dick) James Hazell solved a case by observing that with a private plate everyone could see you coming. Presumably being the centre of attention is the main reason why many buy them, and I notice that Dragon Theo Paphitis has RYM4N plate on his chrome-wrapped Maybach. Rather alarmingly, the registration company claims to have BO11 L0X, ORG 45M and 53 XEY on their books. So come on, I need someone to justify the whole personalised registration thing. Mind you, if anyone has JR 1 for a fiver, ja Ću consider transferring it off their Proton.