a car collector by the name of Ron Pratt just bought a '66 Shelby Cobra for 5,000,000. that 5 million. that the equivalent of about 142 new GP's.

needless to say, i am jealous.

 

what KILLS me about those cars was around the late 60s, I WAS in the market for a Shelby GT500 or BOSS 302/429. Went to the dealer, priced it out. WAS going to buy a mustang ... and instead bought a 240Z.

I dont regret it because I know I would never have kept it for 40 years and sportscars are so much more fun than those beasts but still .... hmm.

 

WOW! Only to have 142 new GP's and the garage to put them in!

 

Me too.

Needless to say I don't think he will be driving it around all that much, unless he's got an escort caravan. How much would that be to insure?
Maybe he can do regular auto insurance for a show car and put a huge $5 million umbrella policy over it.


1966 Ford Shelby 427 Cobra CSX 3165, is powered by a 485-hp 427-cubic-inch overhead valve V-8 with four-speed manual transmission and independent front suspension.

So if you had a chance to buy a new cobra if it were available like this:

Carroll Shelby helped introduce a modern-day version of the legendary Ford Shelby Cobra concept car, with many styling cues to evoke the original Ford-powered Shelby Cobra. Under the long hood is a 6.4-liter aluminum V-10 engine that pumps out an impressive 605 horsepower. It has a top speed of 195 mph.

Would you?????

I think I like the '66 better.

 

IMO that much money for any car is pretty darned stupid. Heck that car even had an automatic transmission.

 

was that a 3sp AT? or a whoppin' 4sp. supercar.

 

the only thing that car had to do with Shelby was him driving it and signing it.

 

$5 million for 1 car = Stupid.
+1

 

The 1966 that went for $5Mil. was a SuperSnake. 1 of 2 made. The only one left. The other encounterd and unfortunate ending. It has twin Superchargers and was Carroll Shelby's personal Cobra. Truly something for a museum. Did the buyer overpay? That's up to him to decide.

 

yah, a car's value is really up to the buyer.

 

The frustrating thing for me is that we DID keep our sports car for 40 years, and it hasn't appreciated anything like the old muscle cars, let alone the Cobra. Forty years ago my husband bought a lightly used but "loaded" Porsche 356SC Sunroof Coupe. At the time it was an expensive car; now she's worth about $30,000 to 40,000, depending on who's doing the buying. I'm glad we kept her, but it really pains me to see cars double, triple, or more that amount when they were cheaper "back then." Sigh. Wonder how the MINI will do in 40 years...

Oh well, it's been a fun 2 1/2 year restoration!

 

I wish I had $5 million, period.

Call me modest, but I think I would retire 20 years early, and if I felt the need to accumulate cool cars, I'd get a couple of cheap, but fun cars, like either a Datsun 510 or 240z, Porsche 914/6... or maybe spring for a '59 Speedster. That would still leave me $ 4.99 million for other adventures.

 

I dunno dimini, have you priced Speedsters lately? Over 100 grand! In its day it was the loss leader for the P-car line--just $3,000 new...

 

For guys like that ($5 Mill Cobra Guy), money is just a way to keep score. If he can afford a $5 million Cobra, just think about what else he can afford.

 

$5 million for a car? Yeah pretty stupid.

Just to think the millions of children that will go to bed tonight hungry with no food in the table. No wonder Jesus said "It will be a lot easier for a Camel to make thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God".

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

Amen Brother.

 

C4, please be careful with your posts. This is borderline political content.

This is still a free country, loaded with millionaires. If they want to spend their dough this way, it is their business to do so.

 

Amen Brother!!!

 

Absolutely, they are entitled to spend their wealth as their wish. However there is still a moral and ethical aspect to it, but I will not discuss it here. However, I still think it is sick to dump $5 million on a car, hey but what do I know?

Political? Nah, that is a religious comment and since we live in a free country, as you have pointed out, anyone is free to either accept or reject such beliefs. The Word of God is not a political agenda or ideology, in despite of the many that try to turn Christian teachings into an excuse for political demagoguery.

Off soap box.

 

Plus, who's to say that the buyer doesn't give generously to charities and other worthy causes, *in addition to* collecting expensive toys?

Any money that we earn above and beyond the minimum necessary for survival could theoretically be spent elsewhere, like feeding hungry kids, but who are we to dictate how a person spends his money?

 

This is a MINI enthusiast site, not a soapbox for political or religious propanda/commentary, C4. We've been down this path before. You have been warned. Further posting in this fashion will result in post-editing or deletion.

 

Here in Jacksonville there was a guy (a really character) who used to do shoes for the Hollywood elite in the 50s and 60s, name of Joe LaRose. People used to come from all over the world to buy shoes here in his little old shop in Jacksonville, Fl. My wife having small feet (size 4) bought shoes from Joe for years. I used to tag along became Joe La Rose was a born story teller and a visit meant the entire afternoon of good conversations punctuated by many of his Hollywood rememberances. We became friends and if I didn't show up when my wife came in I would get a call. More often than not I'd get some lunch and bring it to his shop - you never knew who you would see in the shop and where they had flown in from.Passed quite a few afternoon in conversation with some famous and not quite famous people. Now I am in no way starstruck but some afternoons in Joe's shop had a Twilight Zone kind of feel to them.

He passed away about 5 years ago. But he was infamous (famous) for parking one of his 3 sports cars in front of his downtown shop every day. They were one owner (Joe) and kept in perfect condition, they were a 1952 MGTD (white), a 1965 Corvette 327 (white) and a pristine white 1965 Shelby Ford Cobra 289 (white). He actually let me drive the Cobra on several occasions what a wonderful little monster it was to drive.

The reason for the long intro was that in the later 80's (very early 90's) some idiot crumpled the driver side front fender of the Cobra while it was parked in front of his shop (the idiot disappeared before any of us could get out of the shop). Joe talked about his fender repair woes over the next few months. He ended up having a new fender fashioned out of aluminium from the AC molds in the UK. The fender ended up costing him $40,000. When finally repaired he continued to drive to his shop twice a week and still parked the Cobra in front of his shop. His cars were not investments to Joe, they were cars that he loved to drive and did.

Joe was 85 when he died. His shop and building have been placed in the National Register of Historic Buildings, Henry Klutho (a student of Frank Loyd Wright) designed it (and many more in Jacksonville) after the great fire of 1911 wiped out all of downtown Jax. Joe knew this (I helped him through the maze to get the designation) and worked until he died at restoring the building.

The building now bears his name and his stock of shoes (mostly italian made) numbering some 300,000 pair mostly acquired in the 50's were sold at auction and ended up being sold at Macys in NY for huge prices. A small cache of shoes were left to the local market where women like my wife bought them at very low price (Joes gifts to his favor customers). I have not heard what happened to the three cars. If auctioned somebody got a low mileage, perfectly maintained 1965 white Shelby AC 289 Ford Cobra and I am envious becaues I drven that little monster - it is truly one of the best cars I driven in my entire life. The Cobra above begs to be driven - needs to be driven. I hope he drives it.

 

wat is this?

Polish dog and cheeze fries!!!


Amen Brother!!!

 

I thought you would be banned by now.... All the jokes aside, this is not a proper platform to bring out religioun (damn, i dont even know how to spell it).


Very well said, Clo.


Amen Sister

 

$5 million for 1 car + $1 million appreciation in 2 years = not all that stupid!