Corvettes Raise Over $2 Million for Charity

The first C7 Corvette ZR1 and the first Carbon 65 Edition both sold to high profile collectors via Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale.

This past weekend, performance car fans around the country spent hours glued to their televisions for the 2018 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction. Among the hundreds of cars to roll across the block were a pair of C7 Corvette beings sold for charity, including the first Carbon 65 Edition Z06 signed by President George W. Bush and a bright red 2019 ZR1.

Carbon 65 #1

The first of the high profile Corvettes to hit the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction was the first Carbon 65 Edition Z06 coupe. This car was featured in a video last year where President George W. Bush drove the car and when he was done driving it around his facility in Texas, he signed the passenger’s side of the dash board.

The first Carbon 65 Corvette was being auctioned off to benefit the Bush Center’s Military Service Initiative, a charitable organization that provides employment and housing services for critically injured US soldiers. The car was first introduced on the broadcast by Jay Leno, but a short time later, President Bush came on stage to talk about the car and the charity.

Bidding was hot and heavy as soon as it began, with the price quickly reaching the million-dollar mark. When the final gavel was sounded by the former President, the first Cabron 65 Edition Corvette Z06 sold for $1.4-million dollars.

The winning bidder was well-known collector John Staluppi, owner of Atlantic Automotive Group.

C7 ZR1 #1

A short time later into the Saturday broadcast, a bright red 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 rolled into the bright lights of the Barrett-Jackson auction block. The car featured was a preproduction model, serving as a placeholder as the crowd bid on the rights to own the first C7 Corvette ZR1. The winner of this auction got to have the first new ZR1 fully configured to their tastes.

This 755-horsepower Corvette ZR1 was being auctioned off for the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a group that builds homes for US soldiers whose lives were forever changed by severe injuries. For example, the ZR1 was joined on stage by a former US soldier who lost his legs in service, so he would need a home that accommodates someone in a wheelchair. The foundation was named after a New York firefighter who was among the first to respond to the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11^th, 2001. Stephen Siller lost his life, but his family set up a charitable foundation to carry on his name while helping US soldiers.

Like the Carbon 65 auction, the bidding on 2019 Corvette ZR1 was intense at first, but it slowed as the price neared a million dollars. Remarkably, the final gavel sounded at “only” $925,000, coming as a smokin’ bargain with a price under a million dollars.

Not surprisingly, NASCAR team owned, car collector, dealership group owner and famous “first-unit-buyer” Rick Hendrick bought the rights to the first C7 ZR1. Hendrick also won auctions for the first C7 Stingray and the first C7 Z06, so he completed the set with the new ZR1.