High performance Chevrolets raise $2.14 million in charity auctions

Five Chevrolet high performance cars, including the first retail production model of the 2014 Corvette Stingray, raised a combined $2.14 million (£1.35 million) at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale collector car auctions that concluded Sunday.
 
Proceeds benefit the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Habitat for Humanity Detroit, the American Heart Association, the Guy Fieri Foundation for Inspiration and Imagination and the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans.
 
The all-new Corvette Stingray – Vehicle Identification Number ending in 0001 – sold Saturday to businessman and NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick for $1.05 million (£664,000) just days after the Stingray’s world debut preceding the North American International Auto Show. The money will go the College for Creative Studies, one of the world’s premier institutions for industrial and transportation design. Corvette goes on sale later this year.
 
Earlier, an autographed press kit for the Corvette – numbered No. 1 of 2014 – sold on eBay for $4,300 (£2,700) to the Bowling Green, Ky. Chamber of Commerce; proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society. The Corvette is built in Bowling Green.
 
Four other unique Chevys got bidders rolling at Barrett-Jackson, including:

GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson’s Regal Turquoise 1958 Corvette sold for $270,000 (£170,500); funds benefits Habitat for Humanity Detroit’s efforts to improve the city’s Morningside Commons neighborhood.

A 2012 COPO Camaro Convertible sold for $400,000 (£253,000) aiding the American Heart Association. It is the final of 69 COPO Camaro factory drag-race cars built for 2012. It is one of two convertibles built and the only one painted Inferno Orange Metallic.

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri’s personalized 2013 Corvette 427 Convertible Collector Edition sold for $270,000 (£170,500) and benefits Cooking With Kids, a program by the Guy Fieri Foundation for Inspiration and Imagination. Powered by a 505-hp LS7 engine, the 427 Convertible is black with custom yellow stripes – a twist on the yellow-and-black color scheme of his other Chevys.

A 2013 Camaro ZL1 Convertible, the third Camaro ZL1 and first Convertible off the assembly line – sold for $150,000 (£95,000). One-hundred percent of the winning bid goes to the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans, which helps injured veterans compete in mainstream athletics, including marathons. It’s powered by a 580-hp supercharged 6.2L LSA small-block engine.