The landmark 1969 Hybrid model was offered at the Barrett-
Jackson Palm Beach auction where it was purchased for
$1.1 million.   

That’s more than 10 times its list price of $104,295, but it wasn’t
just bought for the bragging rights.

The buyer was none other than NASCAR team owner and car
dealer Rick Hendrick (below) who has been the high bidder at
many GM charity auctions.        

       
All the proceeds from the auction were earmarked for the
Donors Choose charity, which helps buy supplies and
project materials for public schools.

(FOX NEWS) – The only 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray ZL-1 convertible ever built is set to be auctioned for the first time in
January.

The Monaco Orange car is one of just two that were ordered
with the high performance ZL-1 option that year, the other
being a coupe.

The ZL-1 package was built around a version of the legendary
L-88 427 cubic-inch V8 engine that was developed for Can-Am
racing.

The car is scheduled to cross the auction block at RM Sotheby’s
Arizona auction on Jan. 26 and has a pre-sale estimate of $2.6
million to $3 million.

The only major component that’s not from the factory is the
aluminum short block assembly, which had to be replaced
under warranty during its first year on the road after the
engine blew.

A sale at the high end would make it the third most expensive
Corvette ever sold, behind the $3.85 million and $3,424,000
paid for a 1967 L88 convertible and coupe, but it is possible
this unique car could end up blowing them both away.

(Fox News) – It’s a pace car that’s been taking it easy.

A 1989 Pontiac Trans Am Indy 500 Pace Car replica has
been listed for sale in Nebraska with just 178 miles on its
odometer.

The car is being offered by Restore a Muscle Car, an outfit
that rebuilds and deals in classic American sports cars.

Mary Elizabeth Anderson (February 19, 1866 – June 27, 1953)

The patent office awarded U.S. Patent No. 743,801 to a Birmingham, Alabama woman named Mary Anderson for her “window cleaning
device for electric cars and other vehicles to remove snow, ice or
sleet from the window.” When she received her patent, Anderson
tried to sell it to a Canadian manufacturing firm, but the company refused: The device had no practical value, it said, and so was not
worth any money. Though mechanical windshield wipers were
standard equipment in passenger cars by around 1913, Anderson
never profited from the invention.

Giovanni Agnelli
(13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945)

Agnelli was an Italian businessman, who 
founded Fiat car manufacturing in 1899.
During its more than century-long history,
Fiat has also manufactured railway engines  
and carriages, military  vehicles, farm tractors, 
and aircraft.

In 2013, Fiat (together with Chrysler) was the 
second largest European automaker by volumes 
produced, and the seventh in the world ahead of 
Honda, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Suzuki, Renault,
and Daimler AG.

Front view of the Lingotto headquarters of Fiat
in Turin (2013).