North Dakota Corvette Owners Vexed by Front License Plate Laws

Drivers are frustrated by constraints of current laws, and new proposed bill would only benefit a small number of cars. 

To adhere to the law in North Dakota, Owen Michelson must get on the floor of his garage to affix a front license plate to his 2019 Chevy Corvette. It is a drag. As is the front plate itself.

“It scrapes on every curb and things like that, but I want to make sure I’m legal. I don’t want to be stopped for something as simple as not having a front license plate,” Michelson told Valley News Live. “Aerodynamically, the Corvette wasn’t set up to have a front license plate.”

Yes, there are a number of ways to install a front plate, but is it necessary?

Michelson certainly doesn’t think so. So, when this longtime Corvette owner heard that this law might be changed, he was thrilled. Until he read the fine print.

Currently, 19 states require drivers need only a back license plate. But ‘Vette owners who hoped North Dakota would join this list were mistaken. The new proposed bill would still require sports cars to display a front plate. Unless the car seats two and is valued at or over $110,000. In which case, only a back plate is needed.

Huh?

“It doesn’t make any sense at all,” Michelson says. “There’s very very few Corvettes that are going to be over $100,000 much less $120,000. So, it doesn’t do anything for the thousands of Corvettes in North Dakota.”

Valley News Live spoke with local sports car experts and found the average new Corvette in the state is valued at an average of $80,000. The majority of Corvette owners miss the mark by at least $30,000.

We’re not sure who would benefit from this change in the law, but it would be only a precious few. While the rest continue to shimmy in the garage to put on that front plate.