An online auction for specialty Colorado license plates for car aficionados kicked off Tuesday and runs through Oct. 12.

That day, a special in-person auction will allow car fans to bid for some hot license plate configurations. Think 911 — for a Porsche 911 — or C8, a Corvette model.

The auctions will benefit the state’s Disability Funding Committee, said Doug Platt of the Department of Personnel and Administration, which administers the fund on behalf of the governor’s office.

The idea of specialty configurations isn’t new, Platt said. License plates with custom alphanumeric characters were authorized in legislation in 2011 known as the Laura Hershey Disability Support Act, which helps people with disabilities obtain benefits.

But financing for the program has sputtered, as by law it’s to be funded mostly by the specialty license plate program.

Some initial funds from the General Assembly have kept the program afloat, but Platt and others are hoping the online auction — a first — will generate money to provide grants to nonprofits and people who need help collecting disability benefits. To date, the program has only issued “microgrants” in the $5,000 to $10,000 range, he said. But the fund’s website talks about foreseeing much bigger grants, up to $50,000.

A test auction generated a $250 bid from an animal lover for the configuration “Woof,” Platt said.

So what kinds of license plates are up for auction? The online auction, which started Tuesday, will allow bids on 20 license plate names, including Jaguar, Rocket, Quick, Itsfast and GTI.

The auction is designed for high-end car aficionados who favor BMWs, Porsches, Bentleys and McLarens, for example.

On Oct. 12, the live, in-person auction will be at Vehicle Vault in Parker, a car museum. It will feature the configurations 911, for the Porsche model 911; C8, for the Corvette; M3, a BMW model; Bentley and McLaren.

The driver who held the Bentley configuration let the registration lapse, so now it’s available to the public for 12 months. If no one snatches it up in 12 months, the Disability Funding Committee can reserve it, and that’s how the committee got the rights to the Bentley plate.

Platt said they hope a couple of hundred car enthusiasts show up at the museum for the auction. A car club already meets there once a month to show off McLarens, Ferraris and restored older cars, he said.

Future auctions won’t be limited to car fanatics, he said. They could do auctions for sports fans, animal lovers or other interest groups.

Once someone wins the right to a configuration, they can put it on a vanity plate, subject to existing state and motor vehicle laws and rules.

“There’s nothing quite like it in the rest of the country,” Platt said.