Dealership donates Corvette ZR1 to charity auction

[Gunner KS1]

Read this in the newspaper yesterday and thought I would share.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram August 2, 2008 Section G Page 22

Given the opportunity to make an easy (and in this case monumental) profit on the sale of a car, most car dealers would jump at the chance. And in the case of the highly publicized release of the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the potential profit margin is nothing short of staggering.

After months of speculation, spy shots, and magazine stories, the Corvette ZR1 was officially unveiled at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show and met with much anticipated euphoria from car enthusiasts from coast to coast. And now, Chevrolet dealers lucky enough to receive one or more of the coveted vehicle are likely eager for their chance to get $30,000, $40,000 or even more over msrp.

That, however, is not the case for Tom Durant, owner of Classic Chevrolet, who stands by his principle of never selling over list price. "I've never sold a car over list," stated Durant, "and I'm not about to start now."

Listed at $117,500, the limited production ZR1 is fetching as much as three times over list price. But for Durant and Ken Thompson, of the Thompson Group at Classic, a sense fairness trumps profit. "We're not opposed to making a reasonable profit on the sale of any car," explained Thompson, "but we're not in business to take advantage of people, even if folks are willing and able to offer thousands over list price. It's not right. It's not how we do business."

And this comes from the one dealer in the country who has the most potential for profit, because Classic Chevrolet has been allocated a dozen of the fastest, most expensive Corvette ever produced. All said, the ZR1 Corvette is the ultimate collectors dream car.

And, recently it was announced that Durant and the Thompson Group has provided a ZR1 to be auctioned in California by RM Auctions on August 15 and 16 at the Sports & Classics Monterey Auction. Proceeds will benefit Grapevine's own GRACE Foundation (Grapevine Relief and Community Exchange), a faith-based, non-profit relief agency that provides food, clothing and other emergency support services.

For more information, contact Thompson at Classic-Fleet.com or TheClassicDifference.com. For more information regarding GRACE Foundation, go to GraceGrapevine.org

[DGthe3]

Sounds like a good place to buy a Camaro from next year