Abu Dhabi Classic Number Plate Spotted in London on a Vintage Rolls-Royce
A dark Rolls-Royce Silver Spur II was photographed parked on Walton Place in Knightsbridge, a few streets from Harrods, wearing an Abu Dhabi Classic number plate: 234. London sees plenty of Gulf plates every summer, but almost all of them sit on new supercars. This one belongs to a category that has existed only since 2022, is issued only to cars that are at least 30 years old, and is rarely seen even in Abu Dhabi. Here is what the plate is, why it fits this car, and how a UAE-registered classic can drive in London legally.
The 30-second version.
- The car: a Rolls-Royce Silver Spur II, a model built from 1989 to 1993, so it clears Abu Dhabi's 30-year classic threshold.
- The plate: Abu Dhabi Classic 234. A red A.D. Classic panel, the number in Western and Arabic digits, and no code.
- The category: launched by Abu Dhabi Police and issued to the public from 1 August 2022, for cars aged 30+ that pass a technical inspection.
- Is it legal in London? Yes. UK rules let a visitor use a car registered and taxed in its home country for up to 6 months in any 12.
- The catch for an old car: UK insurance, TfL registration, and the daily ULEZ charge a pre-1993 petrol car will not escape.
In this article
- What was spotted on Walton Place
- What an Abu Dhabi Classic plate is
- Why a Silver Spur II qualifies
- How a UAE-registered car drives legally in London
- ULEZ, parking and fines for an older car
- The Gulf car season in London
- Abu Dhabi plates in London before
- What a plate like 234 could be worth
- FAQ
What was spotted on Walton Place
The photographs show the car kerbside on Walton Place, a quiet residential street in Knightsbridge a few minutes' walk from Harrods. The street sign is visible on the white building behind it. A black Range Rover on a British yellow plate is parked right behind it, which makes the contrast obvious: the Rolls-Royce is wearing something no other car on the street has.
The rear badge reads Silver Spur II. The plate is mounted in the long rear format: 234 in Western digits on the left, the red panel in the middle reading ابوظبي, A.D., كلاسيك and CLASSIC, and ٢٣٤ in Arabic digits on the right. A close-up of the front of the car shows the same number in the shorter two-row format: the red panel on the left, the Arabic digits on top and the Western digits underneath, in a black frame under the chrome grille.
That two-format detail matters to anyone who owns one. Like other UAE plates, the classic number comes as a matching front and rear pair, and the layout changes with the shape of the plate.
What an Abu Dhabi Classic plate is
Abu Dhabi Police announced a new category of classic vehicle plates on 31 July 2022 and began issuing them on 1 August 2022, through its website and the customer centres of the vehicle licensing department. The design was chosen after a public consultation and is inspired by the older plates once common on UAE roads. That explains why the plate on the Rolls-Royce looks nothing like a modern Abu Dhabi plate.
- No code. A standard Abu Dhabi plate carries a code number in front of the digits. A classic plate carries only the number.
- Two scripts. The number appears in both Western and Arabic digits, either side of the red A.D. Classic panel.
- Strict eligibility. The car must be at least 30 years old and pass a technical inspection before it is classed as a classic.
We cover eligibility, registration types, transfers through TAMM and how classic numbers are priced on our Abu Dhabi Classic number plates page, where the plates currently for sale are also listed.
Why a Silver Spur II qualifies
Rolls-Royce built the Silver Spur II, the long-wheelbase version of the Silver Spirit II, from 1989 to 1993. Even the last cars off the line are now more than 30 years old, so the model sits comfortably inside Abu Dhabi's age rule. It is exactly the kind of car the category was made for: old enough to be a classic, still usable on the road, and from a period when Rolls-Royce saloons were a familiar sight in the Gulf.
A classic plate on a classic car is also a statement in its own right. A three-digit number with no code, in the retro design, reads as period-correct on a car of that age in a way a modern plate never could. That is a large part of why owners pursue them.
How a UAE-registered car drives legally in London
A car on Abu Dhabi plates parked in Knightsbridge is not a loophole. UK rules allow it, with conditions.
The six-month rule
According to GOV.UK, a visitor does not have to register or tax a car in the UK if the car is registered and taxed in its home country and is only used in the UK for up to six months in total in any 12 months. That can be one visit or several shorter ones. Stay longer, or become UK resident, and the car must be registered and taxed in Britain. The police can ask for proof of how long the car has been in the country.
Private use only, then out again
The temporary import relief behind this rule is for private use. The car cannot be sold, lent or hired out in the UK, and it has to leave again within the six months.
The plate has to be readable
GOV.UK says a car whose registration characters cannot be identified in the UK needs a Q plate. A plate showing Arabic digits only could be a problem. The Abu Dhabi Classic design avoids it, because the Western digits 234 sit right next to the Arabic ones.
Country sign and insurance
The UAE acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic in 2007 and the UK is also a party. Under the convention, a car driven abroad should show its country's distinguishing sign, for the UAE the letters UAE, on the rear. Insurance is separate: a UAE motor policy does not normally cover UK roads, so visitors arrange UK cover for the period of the stay.
Leaving the UAE without losing the registration
A trip abroad and a permanent export are two different things. An export certificate cancels the UAE registration, which is the last thing the owner of a classic plate wants. For temporary travel the usual route is a vehicle tour certificate from the Ministry of Interior together with a carnet de passages, which keeps the car registered at home. Check the current requirements with the Ministry of Interior before you book shipping.
ULEZ, parking and fines for an older car
This is where a 30-year-old car pays for its charm. London's Ultra Low Emission Zone requires petrol cars to meet Euro 4, which a car built between 1989 and 1993 does not. Non-UK vehicles have to be registered with Transport for London before they drive in the zone. Unregistered foreign vehicles caught on camera are pursued through Euro Parking Collection, TfL's contractor for non-UK enforcement.
Parking is the other trap. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which covers much of this part of Knightsbridge, raised its higher-rate penalty charge to £160 on 7 April 2025. Councils have long complained that tickets issued to Gulf-registered cars are hard to collect. The Wall Street Journal reported that Westminster issued 13,423 tickets to UAE-registered vehicles between 2018 and 2022 and that only about 1% were paid.
The Gulf car season in London
The Silver Spur is an unusual guest at a familiar event. Every summer, roughly from the end of Ramadan and Eid, owners from the Gulf fly their cars to London for the season, and Knightsbridge, Sloane Street and the streets around Harrods fill up with plates from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait.
- Getting there. Most cars arrive by air freight. In 2015 The National reported that flying a car from Abu Dhabi to London and back cost up to £12,000. More recent reports quoted by Carscoops in 2026 put a single flight much higher, so treat any figure as a range.
- The backlash. Kensington and Chelsea consulted residents on noisy supercars in 2015. In August 2026 the Metropolitan Police seized 90 vehicles worth more than £8 million in Kensington, Chelsea and around Hyde Park during an operation against antisocial driving.
- Why the classic stands out. Against that backdrop of new Ferraris and Lamborghinis, a quiet 1990s Rolls-Royce on a retro plate is the car people stop to photograph.
Spotting cars and plates has become a culture of its own. We looked at how plate photography drives attention, dealer marketing and resale value in the plate photography economy, and at why a UAE plate is the one luxury item that travels with its owner in why every visitor notices the plates.
Abu Dhabi plates in London before
Abu Dhabi plates in London are not new. In 2011 The National described Abu Dhabi-registered Ferraris, an Aston Martin and a black Rolls-Royce convertible parked around Knightsbridge's hotels. The most remarkable link between Abu Dhabi, London and Rolls-Royce is older still: a 1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V, first shown at the Earls Court motor show in London and delivered to Abu Dhabi's ruler in 1966, was found in Vienna in 2019 and restored in London, Gulf News reported in 2020.
What has changed since 2022 is that owners of old cars now have a dedicated Abu Dhabi plate that matches the age of the car. We have found no other published photograph of an Abu Dhabi Classic plate abroad, which is what makes the Walton Place Rolls-Royce worth a second look.
What a plate like 234 could be worth
There is no public price list for Abu Dhabi Classic plates, and so few change hands that asking prices vary widely. The same rules apply as for every Abu Dhabi plate: the fewer the digits, the rarer the number, and patterns and round numbers add a premium. A three-digit classic number like 234 is short, but it is a sequence rather than a repeating pattern.
If you want a number rather than a guess, run it through our plate value calculator with the Abu Dhabi Classic setting. It works for any classic number, including yours.
Own an Abu Dhabi Classic plate?
Classic numbers rarely come up for sale, and buyers who want one have very few places to look. Listing your plate on LicensePlate.ae is free, and buyers contact you directly.
List your classic plate for free · See Abu Dhabi Classic plates for sale
Frequently asked questions
Was an Abu Dhabi Classic plate really seen in London?
Yes. A Rolls-Royce Silver Spur II wearing Abu Dhabi Classic plate 234 was photographed parked on Walton Place in Knightsbridge, London. The street sign and the Silver Spur II badge are both visible in the photographs.
Can a car on UAE plates be driven in the UK?
Yes, as a visitor. GOV.UK allows a car that is registered and taxed in its home country to be used in the UK for up to six months in total in any 12 months, for private use only. It needs UK insurance, and in London it must be registered with TfL for ULEZ and congestion charge purposes.
Does an Abu Dhabi Classic plate need a UK Q plate?
GOV.UK requires a Q plate only when the registration characters cannot be identified in the UK. The Abu Dhabi Classic plate shows the number in Western digits as well as Arabic digits, so the characters can be read.
Which cars can get an Abu Dhabi Classic plate?
Cars that are at least 30 years old and pass a technical inspection, so that they are officially classed as classic vehicles in Abu Dhabi. Our Abu Dhabi Classic page explains eligibility, registration types and transfers in full.
Does a classic car pay the ULEZ charge in London?
A petrol car built before the mid-2000s generally does not meet the ULEZ Euro 4 standard, so a 1989 to 1993 Rolls-Royce would normally owe the daily charge. Foreign-registered cars must be registered with TfL first, or penalties are pursued through Euro Parking Collection.
How much is an Abu Dhabi Classic plate worth?
There is no official price list and very few sales, so prices vary. Digit count matters most, then patterns and demand from classic car owners. Our plate value calculator has an Abu Dhabi Classic setting for a quick estimate.
Sources
- Abu Dhabi Police, launch of classic vehicle plates, 31 July 2022 — adpolice.gov.ae
- Gulf News, "Abu Dhabi Police launch classic vehicle plate numbers" — gulfnews.com
- Khaleej Times, "Abu Dhabi Police launch new 'classic' license plates", 31 July 2022 — khaleejtimes.com
- GOV.UK, importing vehicles into the UK: temporary imports — gov.uk
- UNECE, accession of the UAE to the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic, 2007 — unece.org
- London Assembly, enforcement of ULEZ charges on foreign-registered vehicles — london.gov.uk
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, parking fines increase from 7 April 2025 — rbkc.gov.uk
- Carscoops, foreign supercars and unpaid London parking tickets, citing the Wall Street Journal, 2 September 2026 — carscoops.com
- The National, luxury car hire and the UK supercar season, 22 January 2015 — thenationalnews.com
- The National, "Gulf blingmobiles hit the streets of London", 29 July 2011 — thenationalnews.com
- Arab News, Metropolitan Police supercar seizures, August 2026 — arabnews.com
- Gulf News, Sheikh Zayed's Rolls-Royce Phantom found in Vienna, 21 February 2020 — gulfnews.com
The plate graphic on this page is a LicensePlate.ae rendering of Abu Dhabi Classic plate 234. UK rules and charges change; check GOV.UK and TfL before travelling.