This is the final front-engine C7 Corvette, bound for charity auction

Car enthusiasts are excited about the new, mid-engine, eighth-generation Corvette, set to arrive later this year. Later this week, however, bidders will get a chance to buy the very last C7 Corvette, a black Z06 coupe, at Barrett-Jackson’s Northeast Auction. The sale will benefit the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which provides support for severely injured military service members and first responders. The foundation’s Smart Home Program, which constructs accessible smart homes uniquely fitted for service members who have been catastrophically injured, will get 100 percent of the hammered price.

Lot #3001 will be the last C7 built at General Motors’ Bowling Green, Kentucky, facility. It will be painted gloss black with Adrenaline Red trim, and feature a custom-wrapped red interior, Performance Data Recorder, and navigation. It will be powered by GM’s all-aluminum, supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V-8 engine with 650 horsepower, driving through a seven-speed manual gearbox. Brembo brakes supply the stopping power.

Actually, the black Z06 on the auction block will not really be the last front-engine Corvette made. Since production of the last C7 will not take place until sometime later this summer, GM is building an exact replica for the auction.

GM hasn’t said what it plans to do with that replica, but considering such stand-ins are relatively rare, it will probably be collectible all by itself, though obviously not as notable as the final C7.

It’s probably safe to assume that the first C8, when it arrives, will also be sold to benefit a charitable cause.