Cycle Mechanic To Jaguar, BMW, Audi Owner: This Is His Story

We have often seen in movies where the lead character from a poor and humble background works hard and finds his way to becoming a millionaire. Well, this is not just another cliché scene from a Bollywood movie - for Rahul Taneja, it is the story of his life. Rahul Taneja is originally from Madhya Pradesh and hails from a very poor family in a village in the Mandla district. He was the youngest among his siblings and was forced to help his father, who worked as a mechanic. Rahul repaired tyre punctures with his father for quite some time.

He worked hard at the workshop for many years before deciding to change his fate. He had bigger dreams, and to achieve them, he left home and worked at local dhabas, taking up small gigs in several places.

Rahul was tall, which made him suitable for modelling jobs, and later he even won titles such as Mr. Rajasthan and Male Model of the Year. Once things started working in his favour, he left his job at the dhaba and began taking more modelling assignments.

In time, he managed to gather enough money for his first luxury car. In fact, Rahul now owns multiple luxury cars and has enough wealth to not only buy expensive vehicles but also spend large sums in auctions for fancy registration numbers.

Rahul purchased his first luxury car - a BMW 5-Series sedan - back in 2011. Simply owning the car wasn’t enough for him; he wanted it to stand out. So, he went a step further and opted for a premium registration plate bearing the number RJ 14 CP 0001. Rahul used the car for some time and later sold it and bought a 7-Series. Although he sold the car, he retained the fancy number and continued to use it on his 7-Series.

Seven years later, Rahul fulfilled another dream by buying a Jaguar XJ L. Finished in an elegant black shade, the luxury sedan came with a price tag of around ₹1.5 crore. However, Rahul didn’t take delivery of the car right away. He decided to wait because he wanted his favourite registration number for the Jaguar too. After waiting for about a month, he finally managed to secure the 0001 number - but only after paying a hefty premium for it.

Today, both of Rahul’s luxury cars - the BMW 5-Series and the Jaguar XJ L - proudly display the 0001 registration number. He spent ₹16 lakh on the Jaguar’s number plate, which he obtained through a competitive bidding process, and ₹10.3 lakh for the BMW’s plate. A firm believer in numerology, Rahul says that the number ‘1’ has always been his lucky charm.

Recently, Rahul Taneja’s name made headlines again after he gifted a brand-new Audi RS Q8 SUV to his son. Not just that, he also got a fancy number for the Audi. As per reports, Rahul spent around ₹31 lakh in an auction to get the registration number RJ 60 CM 0001 for his son’s SUV.

Apart from the cars, Rahul also owns a 1996-model scooter with the registration number 2323, which adds up to 10. Since he did not have the money to buy a premium registration back then, he used this number instead.