If you’ve ever dreamed of one day owning a race car previously driven by a legend of the sport, well now you have an idea of how many piggy banks you need to fill to fulfill that dream. Quite a few of them, is the answer. A car driven by famed NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon has just sold online and set the standard.
Now, there are many bargains to be found on the used-race-car market. You could, for example, set your sights on a car driven by a professional NASCAR driver in another, less-prestigious series. Prices in that sub-category can range from $20,000 to $40,000, depending on the vehicle and its condition.
But to enter the realm of legends, the toll to pay rises. Case in point, this 1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, driven by four-time series champion Jeff Gordon (winner in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2001). It even contributed to the conquest of a championship, the second by a driver currently holding third spot in the history of the series with 93 victories, behind the legendary David Pearson (105) and Richard Petty (200); and it has just sold for $155,000 USD online.
Under the banner of the Hendrick Motorsports team, this car competed in five NASCAR Winston Cup Series races in 1996 and four more races the following year. In those nine races, which were run on small tracks (teams build models specific to certain track types), Gordon won three times and placed in the top five on seven occasions. Hendrick Motorsports last used the car for testing in 1999. It was refurbished by Rhine Enterprise of Denver, North Carolina, in 2009, before being acquired by today’s seller about ten years ago.
The sale took place on the Bring a Trailer website, still a fabulous spot to discover gems. Of particular note, the event generated a ton of interest with the website racking up over 83,000 visits to the page showing the model.
And for all that, the first bet was placed at $24.
