Supercharged Shelby

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Personally, I rather like them, although I would prefer one less segment on each side, or not running the rally stripe through them. Others, like the consigning SCM Gold subscriber, aren't fond of them.

The big ticket item is the Paxton blower. While the car was sold to the public with the blower off, it played a significant part in the car's history. This was the first supercharged Shelby built. Consider it a twist of fate that the seller was able to source an identical setup, including the correct Paxton carburetor bonnet—a nearly unobtainable part. The blower was added shortly before being consigned to RM, a wise decision on the seller's part, and the strong sale verifies that.

The blower's worth an extra $100,000

Any Shelby that had a blower bolted onto it stock is worth an extra $50,000; double that if it's still attached. Now we're at $475,000. Even without the blower, the remainder of the induction is the same as it was in 1965. Getting back to its history as a test car, we can look at how well-documented prototypes have fared in the marketplace. Even a prototype Pontiac Tempest topped $40,000 this year (lot 979.1, 1962 Pontiac Monte Carlo, Barrett-Jackson). If we consider that the prototype factor adds half again to the base car's value—$150,000—we are now at $625,000.

Finally, the movie car factor. While it is not the ultimate Mustang movie car (that would be one of the "Bullitt" cars), it doesn't hurt that "Red Line 7,000" would have fallen into obscurity had it not been for Shelby playing a notable role. It is also about the only facet of the car that isn't cast in concrete, as it had not been noted anywhere on paper that #5010 was THE car used in the movie. However, the physical evidence on the car is quite convincing, even if someone in the know can fake a lot of it. It doesn't hurt the value, but only adds about $25,000 to its cachet.

In a nutshell, this should be a $650,000 car. But Shelbys are far from raw investments, although they trade in that league. Even more than the baseline collector muscle car, GT350s represent emotion and passion for performance. Indeed, first-year GT350s transcend the "muscle car" genre to pure sports car, more akin to a Cobra than any 'Cuda. Number 5010 is truly in the league of muscle cars that Keith Martin several months earlier predicted would continue to appreciate.

I'd call it a bargain; it's one of one.

Provided by Sports Car Market—The Insider's Guide to Collecting, Investing, Values and Trends