01-19-08: May we live in interesting times. To all those in the world of muscle car lore who have read the stories and heard the legends of the 1960's, we say remember the days we live in. Because there will be a time when what we are watching in the muscle car realm today will become the legend of tomorrow.
Lot 1287: 1969 Shelby GT-500 - Owned by Carroll Shelby
In a perhaps disappointing sale, the long time owned personal car of Carroll Shelby which had been in his garage since it was new sold for $675,000. The car had been used by Carroll’s kids in the early seventies and often seen in the parking lots of UCLA while they went to college. The Mustang had recently been restored and was rumored to easily be a $1,000,000 car. Perhaps in a better economy it would have been, but today it struggled to surpass $600,000 and almost went for it until stalwart Shelby collector from Chandler Arizona, Ron Pratte stepped in with his winning bid.
Ron Pratte is well known in the Barrett-Jackson lexicon as the man who has purchased all of the top-dollar Shelby’s in the past three years including the 1st 2007 GT-500 for $600,000, the 1st 2007 Shelby GT Mustang for $600,000, and the first Shelby GT-H for $250,000. His collection is surely to become the largest and most prestigious as time goes on.
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Lot 1300: 2008 Shelby GT-500KR Glass Roof #1
How can you add more to the value of this car. The first production Shelby GT-500 KR with over 540hp crossed the block at a whopping $550,000. The special edition Shelby began life on the Flat Rock, Michigan production line as a standard Shelby GT-500. Then it traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada shop of Shelby Automobiles for an expert massage. This first GT-500 KR was produced last week on none other than Carroll Shelby’s Birthday. Story Here
Carroll Shelby and Ford Marketing Guru Robert Parker introduced the car to the silent crowd just before bidding brought an explosion of applause across the tent. Interesting information about this car includes the fact that it will be the only 2008 model with the factory glass roof. Also, the SHELBY lettering on the car was personally applied during production by head designer Doug Gaffka.
The car served to introduce the Fender GT-500KR special edition guitar that goes on sale at our partner site www.SteedShop.com on Monday. The first one of the collectible Fender special edition electric guitars came in the trunk of this car for the lucky bidder. The sale of course was for charity, benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Again, this car goes to collector Ron Pratte. Given that, there was surprise in the after conversations that the car did not sell for what had become the expected $600,000 such as the previous Shelbys had.
Lot 1340: 2007 Shelby GT-500 - Carroll Shelby's Personal Prototype
Book-ending the evening for one of a kind Shelby Mustangs was this personal car of Carroll Shelby. A rolling prototype for the 40th Anniversary Package and some of the KR / SuperSnake modification, the car is definitely one for collecting. With unique Shelby parts and graphics, the car sold for $125,000.
While it was not a top dollar car today in comparison to the others, the likelihood that it was a well bought investment in the future is high. In 10-15 years when muscle cars are no longer being made, and America wakes up to the fact that history is going to repeat itself, this car will become a much larger cornerstone in the Shelby lineage.
