Editor’s note: The ClassicCars.com Journal will be covering all of the action during Arizona Auction Week in Scottsdale, Arizona. Check out our other coverage here.
NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon raised $600,000 for charity Friday with the sale of his personal 2016 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R at the Barrett-Jackson in auction in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The car was hammered sold for $400,000, but the buyer immediately donated it back to be sold again. It was hammered sold a second time for $200,000.
Gordon said it was easy to make the decision to sell a car directly from his garage to raise funds for the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation, which supports pediatric cancer research, treatment and patient programs.
“When you interact with those kids (fighting cancer), you realize how special that (cause) is,” he said before his car hit the auction block.
The Corvette is the first street-legal car he has sold to benefit his foundation.
“This thing is unreal,” he said of the Corvette, a special edition vehicle with Z07 Performance and 3LZ Preferred packages. It is one of only 570 such vehicles with that equipment. It also has carbon-fiber ground effects and hood, magnetic ride suspension dampening and 6-piston front brake calipers.
Under the hood is a supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 engine capable of making 650 horsepower and paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
“I’m a race car driver. I like to see what the car can do, and I definitely did that,” he said with a laugh.
The interior is suede microfiber with power heated and cooled bucket seats made from carbon fiber and suede.
Gordon said he took an interest in helping fight childhood cancer after his first crew chief’s son was diagnosed with leukemia and that he has amped up his concern as he realized “how much need there is and the lack of funding there is for pediatric cancer.”
Sitting next to Gordon as the Corvette rolled onto the block was Lyla, a young girl battling cancer who lives in the Phoenix area. She said she was nervous, but excited, to appear in front of a crowd of thousands to help Gordon sell the car.
“It’s really cool and special that he is donating his personal car to (fight) childhood cancer,” she said.
