This summer in a large airplane hangar in
California, a very significant automotive milestone in history took place. Many
excited fans and onlookers were there to witness the arrival of the 2020 Chevy Corvette
Stingray, which was the first mid-engined Corvette production model to ever
exist. You will soon be able to own the very first model that rolls off the
line complete with a VIN ending in 001, but you'll need to be quite cash-heavy
to do so. The rights to the first model will be sold during a Barrett-Jackson
auction this coming January in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona.
Chevy will donate all proceeds from the sale to
the Detroit Children's Fund, which helps with the provision of much-needed
educational resources for the large Michigan metro area. The education
landscape of this particular city has seen challenges for many years now, and
scores of gifted individuals have been toiling to improve the situation. The
Detroit Children's Fund targets lower-performing schools and figures out ways
to give everyone an equal opportunity and successful future. It won't be a
surprise if the price exceeds the $1 million mark, as similar auctions of the
first 2017 Ford GT and first 2017 Acura NSX both received $2.55 million and
$1.2 million each.
In the past, the winning bidder has been Rick
Hendrick, who owns Hendrick Motorsports and is the original founding member of
the Hendrick Automotive Group. The car will come with all of the options
including the Z51 performance pack. Whoever the lucky winner is will also be
able to choose features such as exterior color and cabin trim to add to the
car. Steve Davis is president of Barret-Jackson, and he claimed that he
couldn't be more proud to continue the tradition with help from Chevy and the
sale of the first retail production mid-engined Corvette to support the kids in
need from the Detroit area.
All of us here at Jim Butler Chevy of St Louis
have had so many reasons to be overly excited about the final release of the
C8. The new power plant in play cranks out 500 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of
torque. That is 10 hp and lb-ft of torque more than the 2020 Stingray minus the
Z51 performance package. A brand-new and compact 6-speed sequential
transmission handles shifting duties, and its new size makes additional room
for a diffuser that helps massively in the speed category. Shedding weight and
increasing all-important stiffness were the top engineering goals for the new
C8, and the results were tremendous. It makes us happy that this event is sheer
proof that there is still some goodness left in the world, and esteemed people
out there taking amazing cars and using them for a very positive change.