Barrett-Jackson 08: [VIDEO] 1st 2009 Corvette ZR1 Sold for $1 Million

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The hype surrounding the sale of this special car has been building since last Saturday when the all new 2009 Corvette ZR1 made its debut at the GM Style Party in Detroit. But I don’t think anybody expected to see what happened on Saturday night with millions of automotive and Corvette fans watching the 37th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction as they saw the first blue devil auctioned off with the proceeds going to the United Way.

Giving a fantastic introduction as only he can was Jay Leno. Jay has a way of connecting with enthusiasts because he is one himself. Jay was joined on the block with GM North America President Troy Clarke while GM Performance Vehicle Line Manager Tom Wallace stood in the background.

The bidding started at $100,000 and quickly climbed to $900,000 with collector Dave Ressler holding the high bid. As the money for the Corvette is going to charity, Dave added an additional $100,000 to make the final bid $1,000,000. Barrett-Jackson waived the buyers commission as this was a charity auction. The Corvette shown on the block is a prototype only. Ressler will get to move to the head of the line and receive the first available retail version Corvette ZR1 later this summer. His Corvette ZR1 will be painted in a one-only LeMans Blue and will feature option code BD1. The Corvette will be delivered to the National Corvette Museum where Ressler will receive the car. In addition to winning the Corvette, Dave will receive a three-day driving experience at the Bondurant School of High Performance where Corvette Racing’s Ron Fellows will serve as a special instructor. Jay Leno has also donated tickets to the Tonight Show as well as a tour of his personal collection.

Dave Ressler is well known in the Corvette hobby for spending $1 million dollars back in 2006 at Barrett-Jackson to buy the oldest surviving Corvette, 1953’s #003.

In terms of who won the horsepower wars at tonight’s auction, this should be a slam dunk for Corvette. The 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR sold for $550,000 while the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8’s selling price has yet to be known. We’ll update this post once the results are in.


Sources:
Barrett-Jackson.com
SpeedTV.com

Related:
Live: Watching Corvettes at the GM Style Party
2009 Corvette ZR1 Photo Gallery
2008 Barrett-Jackson Corvette Auction Preview



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3 COMMENTS

  1. Its nice for the ones in the ivory towers to spend away at these ‘overpriced’ auctions for the sake of simply not wanting to lose a bid. Barrett-Jackson has single-handedly ruined the ‘used’ muscle car market for 99% of us who are just normal working Americans. Now, every "Billy Joe Bob" who has one of these cars rusting away in the barn thinks he has a Barrett-Jackson valued car…refusing most reasonable offers. The Barrett-Jackson mentality of over pricing everything in front of the gavel has now infested every known popular auction across the country and infused most auto trade pubications. Although I own Corvette, I bought when prices were ‘normal’. Most every one knows the 1967 big block Corvette is the most wanted, desired, and popular Corvette around. And we also know in the "all others" Corvette world, they are overpriced and overvalued when reaching the $100,000 mark. Every common man (or woman) that I know when traveling the car shows more than raise their voice in displeasure at the overpricing barrett-Jackson has brought into the muscle car arena. Most agree the ’67 big block Corvette is valued at maybe $75,000 to the common man…but find one for that price at most price gouging used Corvette dealers!

  2. To John E Legere,

    I know Dave (the high bidder). He’s not one of those "in the ivory tower" like you stated. He started as a used car salesman and worked his way into an ownership position. He also contributes a lot to charity, as he did here. You may want to get your facts straight before commenting.

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