[VIDEO] Hendrick Chevrolet Birmingham Delivers a Special Z06 to a Young Man with Brain Cancer

With the new year well under way, I wanted to share this great story about a special Corvette Z06 delivery that happened over the holidays with our friend Gary Nelson who runs the Corvette department at Hendrick Chevrolet in Birmingham, AL. Too many times we hear about when bad things happen with a Corvette order, so it’s great to also share a “good news” story of a dealer going above and beyond the call of duty to make a special Christmas delivery for a young man suffering with brain cancer.

Dalton is a young man of just 22 years old who had been training for a career in aviation and was working towards his commercial pilot certifications. One day he was scheduled for a flight training session which would lead up to him taking his instrument check ride. After he failed to show up for the flight, his mother Karen grew concerned and went to his home where she found him unresponsive and suffering from a brain hemorrhage. Dalton was taken to the hospital and rushed into surgery to stop the bleeding, and that’s when the tumor in his head was discovered.

After receiving a diagnosis of brain cancer, Dalton’s flying days were over. He was scheduled for another surgery and chemo when his step-father David began calling Chevrolet dealers looking for a Z06 allocation for Dalton. That quest eventually let him to Gary Nelson at Hendrick Chevrolet Birmingham. After explaining the urgency in trying to locate a Z06 for Dalton, Gary says he could totally relate to the situation. Not only was Gary a former AH1 Cobra combat pilot and a retired Boeing 747 pilot, but he had also experienced the loss of his granddaughter who passed away a few years previously from brain cancer. Gary told David he had two Z06 allocations coming up and one of those would go to Dalton.

Dalton spec’d out his dream Z06 build and then underwent brain surgery as David phoned in the order to Gary. The car was configured as a Z06 Coupe 3LZ in Competition Yellow with Z07, visible carbon fiber wheels, carbon fiber roof, level 2 carbon fiber interior, and several other options that brought the MSRP to almost $184,000. Of course, the worry about this order was whether or not the constraints would allow it to be built. Gary got the news that it was clear and the order was submitted with the car being completed on December 10th.


While it was great news to have the car completed, the problem now was that the plant was scheduled to close on Friday, December 13th for the three week holiday break. Unless Gary could get that car out of Bowling Green in the next couple of days, it would be stuck there until January. Here is Gary telling us how he did it:

“So when we first talked, he stated he would really like to receive the car before the end of the year. I told him with the way things were going I thought we would see it before Christmas. The car was produced on December the 10th but the plant was closing at the end of the shift on Friday, December the 13th! Normally, when a car is produced, it immediately moves to status 4150-invoiced. However, the next day Dalton’s Z06 was still at 3800-produced. I knew if I didn’t get it out of the plant by Friday that we would not see it until after the first of the year. The dispatcher at Jack Cooper Transport and I have become friends over the years, so I called him and told him my urgency in getting this car. He looked up the VIN and told me that it has not been released to them and he can’t do anything until it does. He did tell me if I can get it released, he would make sure I got the car before Christmas. I made a couple more calls to contacts at the plant and informed them of my situation to see if they could help. Later that day the car moved to 4150, I called Jack Cooper, he looked it up and said it has been released and he would get it on a load coming my way. This was on Thursday December the 12th. I received the car the next Tuesday 12/17, but we had a lot to do to the car other than the regular PDI! He had ordered an exhaust system delivered to me we had to install plus several other items. So I set a date for Monday, December the 23rd for delivery.”

With the delivery date of the Corvette Z06 now sorted out, Gary approached his general Manager Nicole Moley about his plan to make the delivery a “red carpet” event for Dalton. Gary and the Hendrick Chevrolet staff did exactly that, keeping the car hidden while Karen and David completed the paperwork. With members of the Hendrick team standing by, Karen’s mom led Dalton to the car with his eyes closed. When told to open them, Gary says “Merry Christmas” as he passes the keys to Dalton. You can watch that great moment here:


Hendrick Chevrolet posted the video of Dalton to their social media channels. On the post they wrote, “This day was extra special for Dalton and his family. After a challenging year fighting cancer, this delivery brought pure joy and excitement to a family that truly deserved it. Watching Dalton light up as he saw his dream come to life was a moment we’ll never forget.”

Gary says that the moment was very emotional for both of them. He tells us, “Delivering that car to that young man who is fighting for his life was the Christmas present to me! I felt like I was put in this position 10 years ago for this very event.”


Congratulations to Dalton on his new 2025 Corvette Z06, and we also say “well done” to Gary for making the special day happen. Gary is the Corvette Manager at Hendrick Chevrolet in Hoover, Alabama. He can be reached at 205-215-9065.

Make sure you join Gary Nelson later this year as Hendrick Chevrolet Birmingham sponsors their annual track day on May 24th at Talladega, benefitting the non-profit Hendrick Driven for Veterans. Drive your Corvette or other vehicle on the high banks of the 2.7-mile Talladega Superspeedway! More details can be found here.

Source:
Hendrick Chevrolet Birmingham

Subscribe Now: