Institution in Indiana auctions sports car for $2.39 million

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana says a one-of-its-kind McLaren P1 sports car donated to the school was sold in an auction for $2.39 million.

The car was given to the western Indiana school by a graduate and was auctioned off Friday by Gooding & Company in Amelia Island, Florida. Rose-Hulman says the auction proceeds will be used to establish the Alfred R. Schmidt Chair for Excellence in Teaching, honoring a longtime mathematics professor at the Terre Haute engineering school who died in 2007.

The gas-electric hybrid car made by Britain's McLaren Automotive can reach 200 mph. The school says the donor wishes to remain anonymous.

Rose-Hulman President Jim Conwell says he is delighted with the car's sale price and the unique way the donor chose to support his alma mater.