2020 Chevrolet Corvette #0001 fetches AU$4.3 million at charity auction

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 20.01.2020

NASCAR team owner gives millions for the first production Corvette, and the Detroit Children’s Fund

Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction has a recent history of charitable auctions for the ‘first production units’ of various new cars.

Last year the first 2020 Shelby Mustang GT500 sold for US$1.1 million, and the first 2020 Toyota Supra fetched 2.1 million in the very same auction.

Over the weekend however, the allocation of the first production example of the incoming 2020 Chevrolet Corvette exceeded all previous charitable sales, fetching a whopping USD$3 million (AU$4.3 million) in the name of the Detroit Children’s Fund.

The buyer of the very first C8 Corvette is owner of Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR team, Rick Hendrick.

The headline price doesn’t actually include the price of the vehicle itself however, it only buys the allocation of the first unit – which will eventually be a black-on-black 3LT model, with GT2 seats, spoiler, Performance Data Recorder and Z51 performance package.

Hendrick’s black Corvette should roll off the production line sometime in the first quarter of this year, and will be delivered to Richard at Corvette’s Bowling Green, Kentucky plant.

It’s a heck of a premium in securing the first Corvette which could retail on Australian shores for under AU$150,000 – according to recent reports by Wheels Magazine; but these auctions often have their fair share of philanthropic hype added to the mix.

As an interesting aside: Wheels Magazine also reports that the first right-hand drive C8 Corvette has been earmarked by Australia’s own Mike Simcoe, "who’ll be able to drive the right-hooker in the US before then shipping it back to Australia".

The 2020 Chevrolet C8 Corvette is due for Australian deliveries late-2020/early-2021.

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