The very first Corvette ZR1 has rolled off the assembly line at General Motors' assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the proud owner of the 638-horsepower hellraiser was there in person to claim his prize. Chevy dealer and Corvette aficionado Dave Ressler won his supercharged Vette at the Barrett Jackson auction back in January for the astronomical sum of $1 million dollars, which equals about 10 times the ZR1's base price of $103,300. Ressler was allowed to sit behind the wheel of his rarified Vette as it completed its assembly run and exited the factory, and let his granddaughter, Ayden Lynn, ride along shotgun. The special ZR1 is set apart from other Blue Devlis with a unique VIN number and a LeMans Blue paint job that will appear on no other car.
After being performance tested, the ZR1 was put in a trailer and carted back to Montana where it will be put in a museum with Ressler's 45 other Vettes, including his #003 1953 Corvette. We know, that's no way to treat a thoroughbred like the ZR1, but at least Ressler's million bucks went to a good cause.
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The Barrett-Jackson auctions have seen no shortage celebrity cars cross the block, but is the sale of a pair of KITTs at the upcoming Palm Beach event a sign that the series has already succumbed to its crushing craptasticality? Given the movie's ratings, that's unlikely. It seems, rather, that we're going to be stuck with NBC's awful retread of a not-very-good original, and these auctions appear to have been in the works for a while. The proceeds from the sale of auction lots 665 and 665.1 -- a "normal" and an Attack Mode KITT -- will benefit Ford's Salute to Education charity. While we can all hope that the new Knight Rider either gets better – at least to be as bad as the original would be laudable – or is put down mercifully, Ford's scholarship program will be the big winner when someone ponies up for these ponycars.
Most early Ford show cars were sent to be destroyed after serving their duty, but this special car, a one-off Thunderbird called the "Italien" managed to escape the crusher. The story goes that this special Thunderbird was displayed at the 1964 New York World's Fair (the one and only time it was shown), and was destined to be destroyed after the show. Instead, it was sold to actor Dale Robertson, and later in 1986 sold to Ford collector Don Chambers. Chambers owned the car for twenty years, and then sold it to Thunderbird restorer Tom Maruska, who brought the car back to its original condition as seen here. Design features of the "Italien" include a fastback roof line and a unique leather interior.
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If Wikipedia is correct (isn't it always?), there were a total of 309 General Lee Dodge Chargers used in the making of Dukes of Hazzard. The show used at least one or two cars per episode, nearly all of which were destroyed by the end. However, a few of the car still exist in various states of (dis)repair, including this particular one owned by John Schneider who played Bo Duke. The car currently has a 511cid Hemi V8 with 725 bhp and 610 lb-ft torque and has hit 165 mph in the Silver State Classic according to Schneider. The car was featured in the "Dukes of Hazzard" TV reunion movie, and each member of the cast has signed the underside of the hood.
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Who wouldn't want to own their very own 29 ton, 40 foot robot that can crush 20,000 pounds with its teeth and shoot 20 foot flames out of its nostrils. As the largest robot on earth, Robosaurus has entertained fans for nearly two decades by ripping cars and even airplanes in half. It is without a doubt the most ridiculous vehicle ever sold at Barrett-Jackson.
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We were hoping Dodge would give us our first look at the production version Dodge Challenger at Barrett-Jackson (we've seen plenty of it already with the reader-submitted photos!), but to no avail. The concept car was brought to represent what potential buyers would actually be bidding on - the first production Dodge Challenger SRT8. The car will come with all available options including the 6.1-liter Hemi V8, 5-speed automatic transmission, navigation, and sunroof. A plaque on the dash will identify it as car #1.
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The automotive world waited what seemed like forever to get its first look at the 2009 Corvette ZR1, but one lucky bidder won't have to wait any longer to get into the driver's seat. The "first retailable unit built" ZR1 was snapped up with a final bid of $1,000,000, not including auction fees. The winning bidder, Dave Ressler, also bought the oldest available 1953 Corvette just a couple years ago at Barrett-Jackson for the exact same price. While the ZR1 on stage was not the actual one purchase, Ressler will get a one-of-one Le Mans blue version that no one else will get. All of the proceeds from the sale benefited The United Way, and everything over the $99,999 list price of the ZR1 will be tax deductible. Not a bad way to spend a million bucks!
Pininfarina, meet Corvette. Corvette, Pininfarina. This one-off 1963 concept car was created for the Paris Auto Show and has been stored at the Pininfarina museum since new. Chevrolet commissioned the design house to build the car, which is based on a 1963 Corvette chassis and has a 327cid/360-hp V8 under the hood. The car has a much more European feel, and features fixed headlights and a "swallow tail" rear end.
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What does it cost to be the King of the Road? Apparently $605,000 (after auction fees). That's how much Ron Pratte, who seems to be buying just about every Shelby at Barrett-Jackson, paid for the right to own the very first 2008 Shelby GT500 KR Glass Roof. That will only last for a while, though, since at least 999 more KR's will be built and are currently being assembled at the Shelby plant in Las Vegas. Numero uno features a black-on-black paint scheme that looks stunning in person, as well as a glass roof option that won't be available for the rest of production. As usual, Carroll Shelby was on hand to send the car off, reminding buyers why they are paying this much money for a Mustang. All the proceeds from the sale went to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, so it's all for a good cause.
Anything with Carroll Shelby's name on it automatically has a higher value, and even more so if his name is on the pink slip as well. This 1969 Shelby GT500 Convertible has been owned by Carroll since new. The only other 1960's Shelby that he still owns from new is the very first Shelby Cobra, CSX2000. The car underwent a five year rotisserie restoration that was finished up in September of 2007.
Bidding for the car started at $100k, then quickly rose to $300 within a few seconds, then up to $500 where it stalled. Bidding slowly creeped past $600,000 and finally rested on $675,000. The winning bidder? You guessed it - Ron Pratte, the same guy who bought the Cobra SuperSnake last year.
