{"id":142603,"date":"2020-01-20T16:07:22","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T21:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=142603"},"modified":"2020-01-20T16:07:22","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T21:07:22","slug":"first-corvette-c8-draws-3-million-at-barrett-jackson-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2020\/01\/first-corvette-c8-draws-3-million-at-barrett-jackson-auction\/","title":{"rendered":"First Corvette C8 Draws $3 Million at Barrett-Jackson Auction"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
A new C8 Corvette drives across the block at the Barrett-Jackson Auction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s hard to say whether the long production delay caused by last autumn\u2019s strike at General Motors played a role, but the first street-legal version of the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette managed to land a $3 million winning bid at this weekend\u2019s Barrett-Jackson Auction.<\/p>\n

Rick Hendrick, one of NASCAR\u2019s most successful team owners, placed the top bid after what can best be described as a \u201cspirited\u201d chase among those gathered at the annual event. The proceeds from the charity auction will go to the Detroit Children\u2019s Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the number one Corvette junkie in the world,\u201d said Hendrick. \u201cThanks to Chevrolet and Barrett-Jackson, because they always pick charities that are so good and help so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Corvette takes home North American Car of the Year)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Doubtless, Hendrick\u2019s win will leave many other Corvette fans jealous. As a result of the six-week walkout by the United Auto Workers Union, production at GM\u2019s sports car plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is well behind schedule and it will still be nearly another month before Corvettes start rolling into U.S. showrooms.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
GM CEO Mary Barra with NASCAR team owner Rick Hendricks, who placed the winning, $3 million bid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In fact, the car that rolled across the auction block over the weekend was a red pre-production prototype. The car Hendrick will wind up getting will be a black-on-black Corvette — VIN #0001 \u2013 the 3LT version of the Stingray, with the Z51 performance package and pretty much every other option available. Fittingly, for a NASCAR team owner, the accessories will include a performance data recorder.<\/p>\n

\u201cReaction to the mid-engine Corvette has been extraordinary,\u201d said Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO, who was on the stage as the red \u2018Vette rolled across the auction block, sending the crowd into a frenzy.<\/p>\n

(First Drive: 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray)<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What has come to be known, simply, as \u201cthe Barrett-Jackson,\u201d anchors a slew of annual auctions in tony Scottsdale, Arizona. Now in its 49th year, it regularly holds a special charity auction featuring one of the year\u2019s hot new products. A Toyota Supra commanded a winning bid of $2.1 million, while a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 last January was gaveled at $1.1 million.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The red Corvette at the auction actually was a prototype. Hendrick’s Stingray\u00a0 will be a black-on-block model, with the Z51 Performance Pack, VIN 0001.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Corvettes have been the real money objects, however. At a Barrett-Jackson event last June, the very last final front-engine C7 Corvette commanded a winning bid of $2.7 million.<\/p>\n

The $3 million figure for the first production-model Corvette was doubly significant considering it came in just short of the top bid for any vehicle over a weekend that historically sees some wild prices for classic cars. A 1995 Ferrari F50 Coupe commanded $3,222,500 at the Gooding & Company auction.<\/p>\n

The various auctions in Scottsdale each January have come to be seen as a bellwether of how the classic market will perform for the rest of the year. According to a report by Hagerty Insurance, which tracks the auction world, the long weekend \u201crevealed polarization in the market. Cars below $25,000 are accelerating regardless of condition, but offerings above $250,000 are proving to be more difficult to find new homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

(“Base” C8 Corvette officially clipping 60 mph in just 3 seconds)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Corvettes, in general, provided one of the bright spots, with nine of 11 fourth-generation, or C4 Corvettes, commanding bids at or above their target numbers, according to Hagerty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buying the first of anything is often exciting and expensive. Add the fact that its first-built C8 Corvette and the dollar signs get big: $3 million. NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick ponied up the cash at a charity auction at Barrett-Jackson for the first-ever 8th-gen ‘Vette. Details at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5],"tags":[],"make":[45,58],"post-state":[],"category_old":[118,150,151,123,195,133,243,132,119,125,303,164,288],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142603"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=142603"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=142603"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=142603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}