Shelby tops Iacocca at Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas
2009 1/2 Iacocca 45th Anniversary Edition Ford Mustang - Click above for high-res image gallery
It looks like the top-shelf, one-off 550-hp engine upgrade for that new Iacocca Mustang is worth about $362,000, at least to one buyer. The fifth of just 45 2009 1/2 Iacocca 45th Anniversary Edition Ford Mustangs to be made crossed the block on Saturday at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas with a winning bid of $320,000. After fees, the car's final selling price was a whopping $352,000. That's well above the $89,950 MSRP of the other 44 limited-edition, coachbuilt specials. We just wrote about the Iacocca 'Stang and said that the car's exclusive dealer, Galpin Motors of California, would offer engine upgrades for an undisclosed premium. We seriously doubt that the actual surcharge will come anywhere close to the premium secured on the Barrett-Jackson car.
So what made this particular Iacocca attractive enough to bring such a lofty price? Well, for one, it had that upgraded, supercharged 550-horsepower engine. Another reason this one sold for a price nearly four times higher than the base model was that it was sold at auction, with the bidders getting whipped into a typical Barrett-Jackson feeding frenzy. Finally, it was in Las Vegas, a city where fiscal responsibility takes a backseat to, well, pretty much everything. While we love the custom composite coachwork on this special fastback Mustang, and acknowledge that this one is unique with its supercharged engine, that price just seems completely insane. The Iacocca topped many impressive other rides that were up for grabs; follow the jump to read more results. Apparently, everything that happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips/Weblogs, Inc.
To put the Iacocca Mustang's selling price in perspective, it surpassed all but an original 1965 Shelby Cobra 289 in this year's auction. The Cobra brought a healthy $440,000, but the Iacocca price was just plain shocking. While the Cobra smoked the Iacocca for top sales price, the tribute Mustang still bested several other notable lots, including a pair of other Shelby specials -- the 780-horsepower 1967 GT500 SE Super Snake continuation Mustang ($330,000) and an 800-horse 2007 GT500 Super Snake Prudhomme Edition ($302,500), 1 of 100 built.
Other top sellers included:
- "Bo's General Lee," the 1969 Charger that John Schneider built for the Dukes of Hazzard reunion movie. That Charger was powered by 511 HEMI with 725hp and 610 ft/lbs of torque and sold for $258,500.
- The second full-production 2005 Ford GT off the assembly line brought $253,000.
- The 1967 Corvette Convertible owned by Bruce Willis sold for $165,000
- Ol' Yaller VIII, a 1961 Jaguar built by Max Balchowsky brought $198,000
- An original Buick GNX scored $132,000 on the bidometer
- A genuine continuation 427 Cobra went for a song at $128,700
- And a faithful recreation of the 1966 Batmobile based on a 1974 Lincoln and its 460 cubic-inch engine hammered out at $126,500.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
daleam 1:41PM (10/11/2009)
WOW! That's a lot of loot!
Reply
Sea Urchin 6:26PM (10/11/2009)
Too smooth, i like the lines, edges, CTS, Camarro and such.
TonyInMI 1:44PM (10/11/2009)
Oh to have a quarter million dollars to be "whipped into a typical Barrett-Jackson feeding frenzy".
Reply
Jeff Johnson 2:08PM (10/11/2009)
I've never really watched barett jackson or anything like that... i watched a bit of it b/c i was bored. I realize this is supposed to be like the top end auction house but from what I saw, they seem desperate and sad. My observations....
1) It's a lot of people with more dollars than sense; people were paying damn near retail for a Ferrari that's almost 4 years old. You have to be a moron to sign up for that esp in this economy
2) the bidding process seemed lame - when there is a car up there that nobody really wanted or only one bidder they did stupid crap to try to coax people into bidding, holding up the entire auction, practically begging someone to bid an extra 1000
3) the auction "helpers" were annoying as hell, on the high dollar items if you decided to stop bidding they would touch you, heckle you and try to harass you into bidding higher. I'm sorry but if I'm seriously bidding on a 200K car, don't freaking touch me! And you damn sure better not pester me to bid higher.
From what I've seen anytime someone mentions barrett jackson from now on I will laugh, color me VERY unimpressed.
Reply
BoxerFanatic 2:08PM (10/11/2009)
you've got to be kidding me.
That car has the wrong kind of horse badge for that kind of money. There are so many more cars out there that are built better.
And I know this car is coach-built but they didn't exactly re-engineer the chassis, nor did they re-appoint the entire interior with new materials and switchgear.
Even with an upgraded engine, what else on the car has been properly upgraded, as it certainly wasn't engineered for that level of performance in the first place.
If I had that money, and were looking to buy a car at auction, or otherwise, it sure as hell wouldn't be any mustang that was originally designed for 1/10th that price point, or less. I'd have a hard time spending 1/5th of that on a Mustang, without finding something designed and built better for the money.
I don't begrudge people their choices... if a guy wants to spend a third of a million on a custom 2009 Mustang... they are free to do that. Freedom means people are free to do what they think is best, even if I think it is utterly stupid to spend that much money on it.
Reply
ddhrhr 2:20PM (10/11/2009)
ddhrhr@yahoo.com
Reply
Yaroukh 2:23PM (10/11/2009)
so much for $90k being ridiculously high :oP
Reply
Gavin S. 2:30PM (10/11/2009)
Jeebus. The list of cars I would buy for that neighborhood of money is longer than a NYC phone book.
Reply
Level 3:12PM (10/11/2009)
Nice to know that to some people money is not an object lol...
Reply
Venom 3:16PM (10/11/2009)
Wow, they are some stupid people in the world.
Reply
Juan Jaimes 3:21PM (10/11/2009)
I watched it being sold.
A woman or her husband bought it for her :sigh:
Reply
Clavius 3:52PM (10/11/2009)
"Hunny! I packed our money but to make room I had to remove my brain."
"Oh that's ok dear you won't need it."
"You sure... I dunno it is a auction after all."
"No trust me.. just remember I want that Iacocca 'stang alright."
Reply
VORTEX 5:00PM (10/11/2009)
The people who bought that thing are REALLY stupid.. just look at the interior pictures.. They are more then enough to state that this car is worth at most that MSRP price and maybe not even that much..
Reply
gstylezprodigy 6:51PM (10/11/2009)
what happened to that Giugiaro Mustang
I'll take that over this anyday
http://www.tuningnews.net/news/061128/ford-mustang-by-giugiaro-08.jpg
Reply
ForgedInternals 7:27PM (10/11/2009)
This car was built sorely for this purpose, not racing, not showing off at car shows, but for sitting in a garage/hanger and earning money as it's passed from hand to hand. Personally I don't see the point of even having engines in these, Ford could have just as well shoved a I-4 from the Ranger in there and it would have sold just as well since their would still be only 45 hand built Iacocca's out there. I also take that if this one sold for that much those other 44 have already been sold.
Reply
campasini1 8:45PM (10/11/2009)
i watched the auction and there were a few cars that sold for less than they were worth.
Reply
Jules Mounteer 11:52PM (10/11/2009)
All I can say is, IDIOT!! 352k for a mustang named after one of worst CEO's in America's history. That is truly amazing, in all the wrong ways.
Reply
arturo 4:40AM (10/12/2009)
If this is well kept it would be a classic many decades from now.
Reply
cowboy bob 7:29AM (10/12/2009)
It would seem most posters simply do not understand how these things happen. The fact is that a person who has the money to do this just doesn't care what it costs. If you have millions of dollars, there just is no concern for the money spent. There is no value other than the fact that they may like to own it, so they simply get it. I have the same type of concern when I go to the dollar store. Whatever I want I throw into the cart. I load it up, knowing the final cost is going to be marginal in comarison to my income. So I spend twenty bucks on a bunch of junk, who cares? These people have the same attitude, because to them, this is pocket change.
Reply