Colorado drivers looking to personalize their vehicles are in for a treat.
Thanks to a law enacted in 2011, a number of distinctive license plates that had previously expired are back on the market in Colorado. Plates like “5280,” “BRONCO,” “18” and “GOLFER” will be auctioned off Jan. 28, with proceeds benefiting Coloradans with disabilities.
Two single-character plates will also be sold, with the winning bidders choosing a single letter, A-Z, or a single number between 4 and 7.
“How cool would it be to drive around with the license plate ‘7’?” said Marty Zimmerman, a contractor for the event. “You would literally be the one person in a generation to have it. Some of these plates haven’t been around since the 1930s. Some of them have never been used.”
The auction is the first live event organized by the License Plate Auction Group, which was created in 2011 under the Laura Hershey Disability-Benefit Support Act.
In 2014, the group’s first online auction raised more than $10,000 from 13 exclusive license plates like “2FAST4U,” which sold for more than $3,000.
This time, LPAG is combining its silent auction, slated to begin Wednesday on , with the live auction a week later. In the online sale, more than 30 custom plates will be available in categories related to winter sports, love, NFL teams and double entendres — think “GR8SKIR,” “ILUVU,” “PACKERS” and “MARYJNE.”
According to the law, LPAG is authorized to use market research to decide which plates might be most valuable. Then, if the state approves those plates and they are not in use, they are effectively reserved for the auction and cannot be purchased in any other way.
“We have a number that deal with the cannabis industry,” Zimmerman said. “This has never been done in Colorado, so we’re really just trying to see what interests people. We also have a special requests category. One of them is ‘BASSOON’ because a man called in and said he’s always wanted it.”
According to the LPAG website, license plate auctions have been taking place around the world for years. In some places, low-digit plates have become so desirable that they sell for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The world record was set in 2008, when plate “1” sold for $14.3 million in the United Arab Emirates.
Veteran comedian will perform at the auction event, which will take place from 6-8 p.m. at the History Colorado Center. Fonseca bills himself as “America’s original sit-down comic” because he uses a wheelchair due to his cerebral palsy.
“We were looking for somebody who would be lighthearted and entertaining, but also someone with a disability who would send a positive message of trying to help people,” Zimmerman said. “We also wanted someone from Colorado. Chris fit the bill of everything we were looking for.”
Up to $1.5 million from the auction will be donated to the Disability Benefit Support Fund, which helps people with disabilities access needed services. The Colorado Health Foundation says there are as many as 80,000 adults in Colorado with disabilities who are not receiving the support they need.
“I’m hoping that, by helping raise these funds, I can help make this process easier for the people struggling with it,” Fonseca said.
Tickets, $75 a piece or $125 a couple, are required for the auction, which will feature appetizers and drinks.
Anna Gauldin: 303-954-1666, agauldin@denverpost.com
