When it comes to collecting unique and rare vehicles, Barrett-Jackson is your one stop shop for pretty much anything you could desire, including many first-production cars, and last week, one more graced the famous auction block. But it wasn’t just any low-VIN car that made its appearance at the Palm Beach auction. It was the first production C7 Corvette Stingray Convertible.

Following the tradition that Barrett-Jackson and Chevy have followed for the last few years, this very special car was auctioned off for charity on April 5th. And if you thought the expected $60K to $70k price tag for one of these new ‘verts was high, just wait until you hear how much the first production model actually went for.

A few weeks ago, we announced that the rights to the first production C7 convertible would be auctioned off at the Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach Auction with all of its proceeds benefiting the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.

In the last two years, the GM Foundation has given the Karmanos Cancer Institute $400,000, bringing GM’s total monetary gift to the organization to $6 million over the last 16 years. With this latest auction, however, GM has substantially increased their contribution to the Institute, signing over a check for another $1 million- the winning bid for the first production C7 convertible.

So who is the lucky owner of the very first production C7 convertible? Well, not surprisingly, that honor went to Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Motorsports. Earlier this year, Hendrick picked himself up the rights to the first C7 Corvette coupe and his recent winning bid will give him a pair of firsts when production starts. Hendrick will also be able to go to Bowling Green to see his new convertible come off the line and have the honor of firing it up for the first time. Not a bad way to spend a million bucks for the avid Chevy collector!