With our sincerest apologies to the SRT Viper, you sir, have just been trumped big time. When the first production Viper sold for $300,000 at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Orange Country last June, we thought that the figure was pretty impressive.

Turns out, it didn't even get to sniff a third of the winning bid price the first production Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray->ke4579 received over the weekend at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale.

$1.1 million was the winning bid for the Corvette C7 Stingray, proving without any hint of a doubt just how popular this American supercar has become since it made its debut a week ago at the Detroit Auto Show.

Not surprisingly, the winning bidder came from someone who knows a thing or two about Corvettes: NASCAR team owner and Corvette collector Richard Hendrick.

Proceeds from Hendrick's...uhmm...generosity will go to a worthy cause, as the money will benefit the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, which is acclaimed in the U.S. for its outstanding automotive design program.

Big congratulations to Richard Hendrick for scooping up the first production Corvette C7 Stingray. Not only did he prove his worth as a serious Corvette collector, but more importantly, he's sending his money to a school that will need the funds to develop the future of this industry.

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