It will be several months yet before the first retail-production 2014 Chevrolet Corvette drives off the assembly line in Bowling Green, Kentucky, but that car – with its VIN ending in 0001 – is already sold.
The deal was done last night at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, where the future first-production car was hammered sold for a price of $1,050,000.
General Motors donated the car for auction, with the proceeds to go to the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit – the alma mater of many of the world's top automotive designers and a personal favourite of GM's design VP, Ed Welburn, who was on hand for the auction.
The buyer was well-known Chevrolet dealer, Corvette collector and NASCAR team owner, Rick Hendricks.
It was one of several purchases by Hendricks at Barrett-Jackson, including another million-dollar Corvette, the iconic 1969 L-88 Stingray race car sponsored by Owens-Corning Fiberglass – perhaps the winningest Corvetter racer of all time.