The Corvette, auctioned by Lloyds Auctions last Saturday (June 25), is one of a handful of brand-new Corvettes on the market in Australia with price tags of up to $299,000 – almost $125,000 above the listed price.

Lloyds chief operations officer Lee Hames said the Corvette was “in extremely high demand with wait times exceeding two years, which has seen the value dramatically increase.”

“These vehicles usually retail for around $160,000,” he said.

Before the auction last week, he said the highest bid online for this Corvette had already hit  $235,000 “due to the long wait times on the vehicle.”

On Saturday, the car was sold for $255,000, a $94,500 premium on its $160,500 (plus on-road costs) list price.

At Shannons, national auctions and external relations manager Christophe Boribon told GoAutoNews Premium that demand was outstripping supply and keen buyers were turning to the private market and were prepared to pay over the odds.

“We have also seen this happen previously with limited edition Ferraris and Porsches, where they have sold for far more than retail due to numbers available locally,” he said.

Meanwhile, three of the latest Corvettes are listed on a popular automotive website with prices ranging from $277,980 for a 3LT version at a Queensland dealer with 80km on the clock, to $238,990 and $299,880 for, respectively, a 1300km and 103km example for sale by dealers in Queensland and NSW.

Manheim Auctions also reports it is experiencing premium results, but on some less exotic cars.

Manheim recently sold a 2020 Subaru WRX STI spec.R, a relatively rare car, for $72,500, a  healthy premium compared with the new car RRP for that model of $59,440 plus on-roads

Other recent results at Manheim include:

• 2021 Toyota RAV4 AXAH52R Cruiser Hybrid sold for $53,000 (RRP $43,415 plus on-roads from new)
• 2021 Hyundai i30 CN7 sold for $39,000 (RRP $36,220 plus on-roads new)
• 2021 Kia Stonic YB Sport- sold for $25,900 (RRP $25,990 plus on-roads new)

Lloyds’ Mr Hames said that the market for the Corvette was similar to that of many classic cars over the past few years which have seen increased demand and prices skyrocketing because of their rareness and significance.

“This is a unique vehicle and we haven’t seen anything of this late model in our normal classic car auctions,” he said.

“We’re excited by the amount of inquiry that has been pouring in from people looking to get their hands on this vehicle from all over the country.”

Mr Hames said it isn’t the first time that Lloyds has seen vehicles sell for more than the original retail price. 

In March, the business auctioned second-hand Tesla’s for higher prices than their original price where a 2022 Tesla Model 3 sold for $73,000 when it normally retailed for $68,000.

“It’s also not limited to just vehicles but extends to other luxury investments including high end watch brands such as Rolex where in February a stainless Rolex Daytona sold for over $50,000 with the original retail price being just over $13,000 at Lloyds,” he said.

Lloyds will also auction more than 420 classic cars on Saturday June 25 as part of its Grand Carmada Event.

Vehicles include a 1985 Holden HDT VK SS Group A Blue Meanie that has had just one owner from new and Peter Brock’s personal Blue Meanie which is up for tender.

2022 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C8 3LT

By Neil Dowling