2011 Audi R8 Spyder Chrome for the Elton John AIDs Foundation

For the past eight years, Audi has created a special model to be auctioned off at the EJAF White Tie & Tiara Ball. Last year, Elton John’s charity was able to pull in £350,000 (about $522,500 at the current rates) by auctioning off the pink Audi A1 designed by renowned British artist Damien Hirst. This year, Audi doubled its efforts by providing not one, but two one-off chromed R8 Spyders for the auction, one from Audi Group Germany and one from Audi UK. In total, the two cars were auctioned off for an impressive £620,000 - or almost $1 million at the current exchange rates.

The chrome look is something we’ve seen before on an Audi R8. The German automaker brought a chrome-domed R8 5.2 FSI V10 coupe to the Frankfurt Motor Show back in 2009. It received plenty of attention at the auto show, so we’re not surprised it was such a rousing success at the charity event.

"We are absolutely delighted to have been instrumental in raising such a magnificent sum for Sir Elton’s charity," commented Jeremy Hicks, Director of Audi UK. "We couldn’t, of course, have done so without the incredible generosity of Sir Elton’s guests, to whom we owe an enormous vote of thanks" he added.