Proceeds From Auction of Car Donated by Jewelry Designer & American Car Collector Nicola Bulgari Will Go To Elegance at Hershey Charities
Organizers of The Elegance at Hershey, a weekend long series of vintage and collector charity car events June 8-10 at The Hotel Hershey® today placed a special 2002 Camaro RS Collector car up for auction on eBay, with proceeds to be directed to the Elegance at Hershey charities. The Elegance at Hershey raises funds for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), the AACA Museum and the AACA Library & Research Center in Hershey.
Donated by famed jewelry designer and American car collector Nicola Bulgari, the 2002 Camaro RS was specially ordered by him. With less than 1,000 miles on the odometer, after multiple alterations and upgrades by SLP Engineering of Toms River, NJ and Lingenfelter Performance Engineering of Decatur, Indiana, the collector car is originally valued at more than $38,000. The car will be sold on eBay with a modest reserve beginning 10:00 p.m. EST Friday June 1 and ending at 10:00 p.m. EST on June 11th. The eBay number is 134432368821.
"We are extremely pleased and grateful that Nicola Bulgari has chosen to donate this special car to The Elegance at Hershey to help raise funds for our beneficiaries," noted Mark Lizewskie, a member of the Elegance at Hershey Board. "This is a special car, from a very special person and no doubt will be successfully bid by another special collector," he said.
Bulgari originally intended to export the Camaro to his Rome, Italy residence to run down European exotics on the Autostrada, according to Lizewskie. Powered by a L36 3.8 liter V6 engine, it is mated to the MM5 5-speed manual transmission. The car includes such factory options as a power 6-way driver's seat, leather wrapped steering wheel and Ebony leather interior, remote keyless entry, body color body side moldings, rear window defogger, rear performance axle w/ 3.23 ratio, traction control, Monsoon premium speaker & sound system with a 12-disc CD changer, and sales package RS dual labels.
That is where the factory package ends. The Bright Red exterior was custom-ordered by Bulgari in a monochromatic scheme, with red roof and mirrors to match and the factory stripe deleted. The instrumentation is metric due to its original ENEuropean intentions. The car has covered only 955 kilometers (593 miles) since leaving the factory.
"Due to his close ties with General Motors, when Mr. Bulgari orders a vehicle, it is treated with the utmost importance and attention to detail," Lizewskie explained. "For example, when assembly is completed, his cars are pulled from the assembly line and put through rigorous testing on GM's Milford Proving Grounds Test Track, as evidenced by the windshield sticker still affixed to the car," he noted.
After all tests are completed, Bulgari's cars are then brought back to the factory, disassembled and inspected to ensure the vehicle is perfect in every detail. Factory sticker price on the car was $23,446.01 with the sticker and all original paperwork remaining with the vehicle today. As it left the factory, however, work on the car was far from complete.
The Bulgari Camaro RS was then sent to SLP Engineering of Toms River, NJ for multiple performance and appearance upgrades including 17" x 9" ZR1 style wheels shod with B.F. Goodrich g-force 275/40ZR tires and the Rally Sport suspension package for a total added cost of $2514. After their modifications were completed, SLP Performance engineers Reg Harris and Ed Hamburger signed under the hood to identify their work.
Taking delivery of the car on October 15, 2001 through Bennett Chevrolet of Allentown, PA, Mr. Bulgari kept the car for a time in his private collection of prized American-built cars. Plans to export the car to Italy changed, and in 2007 the car was sent to Lingenfelter Performance Engineering of Decatur, Indiana for even more upgrades. Some $12,062 later, the car emerged wearing Baer 4-wheel drilled and ventilated disc brakes, a throaty Corsa exhaust, heavy duty front and rear sway bars with adjustable coil-over suspension and cold-air package. The car was then fully dyno-tested and calibrated to gain the utmost power while still keeping its 50-state emissions package. Total final price tag: $38,022.01.
Mr. Bulgari has generously donated this better-than-showroom vehicle to The Elegance at Hershey to be sold for charitable purposes. The car comes with full paperwork, including factory build sheets and original invoices from SLP and Lingenfelter.
The 2002 Bulgari Camaro RS will be on display at The Elegance at Hershey events June 8-10 at The Hotel Hershey. For more information and advance tickets go towww.theeleganceathershey.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment