For our non-British visitors who may not be familiar with the UK’s car registration number system, it is possible for motorists to acquire ‘special’ numbers – often originally used on vehicles dating back to before the 1960s – to personalise their cars. It’s a buoyant market which is worth considerable money.

Prodrive’s boss, Dave Richards, has actually owned ‘1 WRC’ for eight years. “I bought it at an auction organised by the UK’s licencing authority, DLVC,” he remembers. “It went on my road car to begin with. Then I asked my guys to keep a lookout for other ‘WRC’ plates. With time, they have successfully located and purchased ‘2 WRC’, ‘3 WRC’ and ‘4 WRC’. I also know where ‘WRC 1’ is, but I haven’t yet been able to come to a reasonable arrangement with its proprietor.”

The first driver to compete with ‘1 WRC’ on the front and back of his car was the late Richard Burns, who was obviously driving a Subaru at the time. “I honestly couldn’t say exactly how many cars the plate has been on, but the list is effectively quite long. It’s an easy switch, however. It’s a mere administrative formality which takes about two weeks to process,” adds ‘DR’.

Italia Sardegna, Mini, Richard Burns