Interesting coincidence
 

I was reading the thread regarding Autoweek being gone and found the old classified ads interesting. Then I spied one in particular:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1575255381.jpg

The first Cobra for sale on this ad is my wife's uncle Carl. So I reached out to him and sent him a copy of the ad. He responded by saying that he was given the Cobra as a gift for Christmas when he was just 17. He walked out into the garage to find it with a bow attached. He says it spoiled his Christmases ever since.

After racing with it for a few years, he used the above ad to sell it for $6500. He was contacted within the last year by the guy who bought it from him back then. The guy rarely drove the car as the value went up. He asked if Carl wanted to know the price he sold it for. It was $1,000,064.

Carl thanked me for sending the ad as he had fogotten what serial number. Then he tells me the first race car he had was an original Ford GT350R (one of the 34). He sold that for $3500. It turns out that these are now worth upwards of a million.

Wow.

Wow!

That $6,500 in 1972 is now $40,000 according to the internet. A far cry from $1M.

Uncle Carl probably didn't lose a dime.

Shame Uncle Carl didn't buy Apple stocks.

If we all had the cars we had back in the day.....

1960 Austin Healey 3000 - $1000
1953 Austin Healey 100-4 LM - $400
1956 Jaguar XK 140 - $500
1971 Jaguar XKE - $4000

When I drove the first three in the late '60's in college, they were just old cars, but even then they were just the perfect wheels for a kid, drive 'em, park 'em anywhere with just the tonneau cover. Fix them by the side of the road with a beer can opener, ice pick, & a spool of baling wire. Girls who didn't like the noise and al fresco experience weren't worth the trouble.

Of the Cobra's, Mort Sahl once opined (50+ years ago) that "he knew five guys who bought the 427 model. Only two of them ever went back to girls."

Probably not the car.

To be given a Cobra as a gift at age 17 is something totally out of the realm of possibility for my parents. My dad made me pay 100% of the costs of my cars, except the insurance for the for the first two years.

The fact that he had a Cobra at age 17 and did not kill himself or total the car is remarkable, almost amazing. I had a 36 HP VW Bug at age 17. When I was 18 I bought a 60 HP VW bug and I remember thinking wow, there was no reason for more HP that 60. That only lasted about 5 minutes, and then I wanted more power.

The Cobra is for sure a pure toy of a car. 100% impractical at all times except on the track, and for picking up chicks.

Uncle Carl did just fine. He has been supporting racing with a company keeping older F1 cars up to snuff for vintage racing. I have seen some prettty cool 1980s-1990s Ferrari and Benneton F1 cars in his shop.

Mr Liebich sounds like he would be an interesting companion for a meal

Uncle Carl could have done a lot worse.

Around 1996 I passed on an Aston Martin DB5 (1965). It needed paint, a new interior but it was driveable.
Asking price? $12,500 AU. :(