This past weekend has been an amazing time for a couple of charities in the U.S., as two of the biggest car makers raised a significant amount of money for them by donating the first production units of their new models: the 2015 Corvette Z06 Convertible and the Shelby GT350R.

Both cars were sold by the famous auctioneers of Barrett-Jackson auction house. The Corvette Z06 Convertible was the first to go under the hammer, and it went for $800,000. The winning bidder was NASCAR guru Rick Hendrick who has also bought all the other ‘first’ C7 variants. As part of the deal, he will be getting a three-day Performance Driving Course, although we suspect he doesn’t need it.

As for the Shelby GT350R, this hot new ‘Stang which is yet to be launched went for the staggering sum of $1,000,000 to an as yet unnamed bidder. All the proceeds from the sales of the GT350R will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). The winning bidder will have the chance to customize his car with all the options he desires at the factory.

It has become a great tradition for American car makers to donate the first production units of new models for charity. Not to be superstitious or anything, but all the models that started out this way turned out to be quite successful in the market!