How much would you pay to own the first of something? It doesn't even have to be a car. Anything. The first Nintendo 64? The first copy of The Lord Of The Rings? What exactly is that worth to someone? Depending on the person, its value may pale in comparison to the idea of owning whatever that "thing" is.

Eventually, if you're lucky and hard-working, you arrive at a point at which you can afford to think like that. Rick Hendrick can certainly afford to think like that. In fact, he's demonstrated he can on more than one occasion. He's the one who cast the winning bid on the first 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 convertible, not to be confused with the first, VIN#001 Z06, which he also owns. Hendrick will later be able to fully customize the car he's just won, in case he's not a fan of the orange paint.

Odds are, you all know what the Corvette Z06 is. For now, let's focus on the auction and Hendrick. He's chairman and CEO of the Hendrick Automotive Group and owner of 14-time NASCAR Cup Series champions, Hendrick Motorsports. So yeah, he can definitely afford to think like that, which he often does, to the benefit of charity. The man paid $700,000 for a Shelby GT500, the proceeds from which also went to charity. If you need further convincing, the Hendrick Automotive Group grossed around $11 billion in revenue in 2021.

As for the auction, this one, like many other Corvette auctions that Hendrick has bid on, goes to benefit charity. GM didn't make a penny off this car. Instead, its $1 million final bid went to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund's Teacher Quality & Retention Program. That program is a training initiative that'll help aspiring teachers develop their skills. Additionally, the Marshall College Fund exclusively represents historically black colleges and predominantly black institutions.

Now, in case you're out of the loop on the Z06 that Hendrick won, really all you need to know is that it's a pretty serious car. The newest Corvette Z06 houses the highest-horsepower N/A V8 ever made and comes with a sky-high 8,600 rpm redline.

It's also got a definitely-not-Ferrari-derived flat-plane crank that makes it sound more like a European exotic than its estimated $90,000 MSRP would lead you to believe. Let's hope that 72-year-old Hendrick still has a need for speed. At the very least, we know how much Hendrick is willing to pay to own the first of something really, really special. That is, as it goes to a good cause.