C8 Corvette No. 001 Comes Home to NASCAR’s Rick Hendrick
Just a couple of months after a $3 million winning bid at Barrett-Jackson, first production C8 arrives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Deliveries of the all-new C8-era Corvette are hitting the road before our eyes. The hype is beyond real for the first mid-engine ‘Vette now, especially if you’re one of the proud owners waiting for theirs to come home.
One owner went out of his way to make sure he scored the very first C8 Corvette, though. Back in January, NASCAR legend Rick Hendrick paid $3 million for the honor of owning No. 001. According to Motor 1, Hendrick’s new ride arrived by Hendrick Motorsports hauler March 5 at Hendrick City Chevrolet (best known as the sponsor of the No. 46 Lumina piloted by Tom Cruise in 1990’s Days of Thunder) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“I’ve been going to those auctions for 25 to 30 years and I’ve bought a lot of No. 1s at auction for charity,” Hendrick told the Detroit Free Press in January. “But nothing like this car. This had bidders from all over the world. It was so much drama. When you have the CEO of General Motors on the stage, that’s a big deal.”
Hendrick’s Corvette, a black-on-black 3LT with all of the fixings and the Z51 performance package, joins the other 120 Corvettes in his collection, one of the largest in the world. It didn’t come along on the hauler, either.
Hendrick also picked up the second-ever C8 Corvette, this one in Blade Silver. While he told the Detroit Free Press he would never drive No. 001, he didn’t say anything about not driving No. 002. Then again, we didn’t know he snagged No. 002 until now.
Per the Hendrick Automotive Group’s Facebook page, the all-black No. 001 C8 Corvette will be on display at Hendrick City Chevrolet until March 16. After that, it’ll head home to the Hendrick Heritage Center at his Charlotte HQ. Meanwhile, the $3 million spent to acquire this one-of-a-kind machine has gone to the Detroit Children’s Fund, according to Motor1. The charity’s mission is to improve the quality of schools in the Motor City.
It’s not every day the first-ever is shown to the public before going into a private collection. We’re glad Hendrick is sharing his first C8 Corvette with the world.
Photos: Facebook/Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet; Facebook/Hendrick Automotive Group
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