Bizarre bidding battle Car number "So 1" already costs over 1 million francs
The canton of Solothurn is auctioning off the license plate "SO 1". The auction pulverizes all records. After just over 24 hours, the highest bid is over 1 million francs.
04.12.2025, 10:09
05.12.2025, 14:30
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- The license plate "SO 1" is currently being auctioned online.
- The auction price has already reached over 1,010,000 francs - more than three times the price of "ZH 24", the most expensive car number in Switzerland to date.
- The number was last auctioned in 1994 and is now being offered again at the request of the public.
Note: The auction has since been canceled. The canton of Solothurn has confirmed the suspicion of abusive bidding. Read more here:
The online auction of the license plate "SO 1" began on Wednesday evening at 10 p.m. and will continue until December 17. The canton of Solothurn had set the starting price at 10,000 francs. And the start was furious with over 40 bids already received.
The highest price that a Solothurn license plate had ever achieved before was 35,000 francs. The auction virtually flew over this mark.
The price quickly climbed to 300,000 francs, breaking the previous record of "ZH 24", which was auctioned for 299,000 francs in July 2024. The previous record holder was the "ZG 10" sign, which sold for 233,000 francs in 2018.
And that was far from the end. Although the increments have become smaller, it seems that several people want to bolt "SO 1" to their car at any price.
The million falls on Thursday evening
Late on Thursday evening, one bidder apparently lost patience and raised the bid from the 500,000 francs that had been on the table to 1,000,000.
And that was not the end, because at 4.36 am another bidder added another 10,000 francs. The auction will run until December 17.
The catch with the auction: anyone can bid. Whether they actually have the money remains to be seen at the end. So fun bids are also possible. The bidder - or bidder - called "Incest" is an indication of this.
The Solothurn cantonal councillor Richard Aschberger, who proposed the auction of the exclusive license plate years ago, doubts in "Blick" that everyone is serious about their bids.
Buyer must pay immediately
This is not the first time that the special "SO 1" license plate has gone under the hammer. It was offered back in 1994, when Solothurn was the first canton to auction off license plates. Back then it was even cheaper - a motorist won the bid for the exclusive number for a negligible CHF 20,000 compared to today.
Since 2008, this plate has been back in the motor vehicle inspection depot. The government council has now decided to auction off SO 1 again. The government council noted that the public had repeatedly expressed a desire for this.
The auction will take place exclusively online, the cantonal council added. As with the other auctions of number plates - currently, for example, SO 16,300 would also be up for grabs, starting at CHF 200 - the winning bid is final.
However, the license plate will only be handed over against immediate payment. "If you want to secure SO 1 as an exclusive Christmas present, you should have the necessary capital ready," the cantonal government made clear. At the latest then it will become clear whether the horrendous bids were meant seriously.
