It's called inflation. When those who have the money don't care how much something costs, and they want it, this is what you get.

 

Exactly - I thought the guy that bought a basket-case Hemicuda convertible for $400,000+ was crazy, but they're going for $2 million now. There's every chance that when Ron Pratt decides to sell the Cobra, he'll break even or make a profit. It's not like the money is gone - he's just parked it for a while in an asset that will likely appreciate over time. Would he have been any less-intelligent if he had invested it in gold, the stock market, or artwork?

I don't know how Ron Pratt made his money, but in America, we don't have royalty, and there aren't a lot of old-money families, so he's probably a businessman. He also spent over $4 million last year for - get this - a GM bus called the "Futureliner".

He probably didn't make his millions by being a blooming idiot, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in his investment decisions.

 

It will be interesting to see how well this market holds up. Several years ago Ferraris were bid up this way, and then there was a "crash" in prices. Right now we're looking at baby boomers buying into their dream cars--but they're aging. Will the new generation still want them, or will they go to newer cars? I see lots of young people (I'm over 50) at the MINI meetings, but few my age.

 

Just think, that dude could have had 5 million Biggie Fries from Wendy's. What a dope!

Hey, who CARES how another person spends their money. It's THEIR money, it is not for us to judge. Even of you wanna raise the whole, you could feed hungry children with that money. How do you know this gentleman doesn't feed hungry children with other another $5 million he has lying around, or possibly more. Snap judgments can be bad, m'kay...

That being said, nice cobra! Twin superchargers? That thing is a BEAST.

 

Just look at Bill Gates. His house cost $97 million, which is ridiculous by almost anyone's standards, but he's also given over 7 *Billion* to various charities and causes, with more to certainly come. If he wants to spend 0.2% of his net worth on his house, good for him.

 

Really? Royalty - Kennedy, Bush, Hollywood. Old money - Carnegie, Mellon, Getty, Ford, etc..

I often wonder whether I would spend money such as this if I had it. Since I don't this is pure speculation, but I doubt that I would. I guess I still would be a tight-wad. There are those wealthy individuals that build multi-million dollar homes that have 20,000, 30,000 or even 40,000 sq ft and it is just a couple living there. I really doubt that I could bring myself to such excess even if I had the money.
That said I'm willing to find out. Now if each NAMer would send me $1,000 I will let you know what I do with the money.
At current membership that would give me about $31,000,000 to experiment with and that should be just enough.
Thanks in advance!

 

I meant "Royalty" literally - as in Queen of England / House of Saud/ Prince of Monaco / Sultan of Brunei - type wealth. The Kennedys, Bushes, and almost all of Hollywood are veritable pikers by comparison.

And I did say that there *are* some old-money families in America, but there are few enough that the odds are that Ron Pratt isn't one of them.

 

Frankly, given the car, I'm not shocked/surprised it pulled down this kinda money.

 

They aren't and you did - I stand corrected.
I would still like to continue the "Send MiniMaybee a thousand bucks" experiment though if that is alright.

 

but most importantly, was that a 3sp or a 4sp AT?

 

What difference does it make? There will be a boatload of torque in any gear.

 

Very well said C4.

 

Not as much as you would think. Hagerty collector car insurance, the big guy ... these cars are not driven ... they are collected in musuems. If you buy collector car insurance you must guarantee the car alway sits in a controlled atmosphere, locked garage/warehouse/whatever and is ONLY driven to like concours show ... no pleasure driving.

There were lots of 356s up at BJ. Most going for 35K or so. The problem with the 356s is that they are up against James Dean and his 550? Forget the number. One he died ... that changed everything in terms of what was going to be collectible in that era BUT you got a great car!

:impatient I'm going to forget the religious stuff but it put it simply.

Some ppl collect stamps, other people collect cars. The truly rich collectors .... and by that the ones who have their private musuems .... when you see that guy in the Ferrari jacket bidding at BJ, his is just the buyer for the very rich ... the front man.

Check out this guy http://www.jabbasworld.net/viewtopic...er=asc&start=0

Now he is NOT a collector, IMHO, but word is just buys cars.

I am not going to get Clover mad at me but I dont see anything moral or ethical about this at all. Its a car, an object, a hunk of metal to be looked at as a piece of art.

How is this different than the very rich collecting Rembrandts????

Good question. BUT ... if you look closely at the exotics once selling for a million and now for under $80K, they were the common ones .... not the truely rare ones.

In other words, paying $500K for a 308 was and is insane. But an original GTO or TestaRossa (not the "new" one) are STILL worth milllions because they are truly rare

Same will hold true in the current market. Just look at how many Vettes were up for sale. Hundreds. Way to common.

Buy when you got 1 of 2 Hemi Cuda convertables ever made, it will ALWAYS be worth millions

and its that rarity that matters ... same 20 years ago and same today.

 

I agree that these cars are works of art. And really, we do not know enough about the purchaser to be passing judgment.

I wish they'd collect my art!

 

chows, you are a rare breed... how much are you worth?

 

Chow--a point about the insurance. Hagerty allows us to drive our classic Porsche at will, as long as it's not to and from work. You also must have another car in the household (not with their policy). There are restrictions about modifications, but most of us with classics keep them pretty much original, or at least "correct."

I'm waiting for the $500,000 Speedster. Could happen, they're over $100,000 now and rapidly rising. We've had to increase insurance limits on our SC twice this past year as a result. Sort of a bootstrap effect.

 

daffodildeb, that Speedster is one of my all-time favorite cars! I'd love to have one. Hubby owned a few when he was in high school, but dumped them because he said it was "hard to get parts." UGH! Didn't he know he'd meet and marry a Speedster fan one day?

 

ROFL. Why, do you think I am collectible

I'm "worthless", its my wife who will be rich collecting on insurance Worth far more dead than alive

 

You snicker at that thought, because any one whose ever been in real Cobra will tell you that it will not scare you, but hurt you if you are not prepared. The original 427 Cobra will run 11.90's all day long. Oh, and any factory Cobra has a 4 spd.

 

Interesting, I had read this from their website

• Usage. Hagerty provides coverage for vehicles that are used on an occasional basis -- e.g. club functions, exhibitions, organized meets, tours and limited pleasure driving.
  

and heard them talking about only driving to special events so maybe its not clear what "limited pleasure driving" may be. Besides, if it really expensive, why take the chance of damage?

SCs are going up? Also interesting. Thats all good

 

ooo plus he has a porsche 959 ::salivates::

 

i think a portion of barret jackson does go to charities as well. just thought i would throw that out there.

 

Chows--actually some of those really rare birds do get used, in vintage racing. It's supposed to be low-key, but I have seen them tangle.

 

I'm pretty sure it's over 20bn when you include his foundation. And that's not even mentioning Buffett's tidy contribution.

 

you must sleep with one eye open.