Are they really "one-of-a-kind," as stated by Kruse on its official auction page, if there are 25 of them going up for auction on the same day? That's not to say getting one of the 500 Hertz Shelby Mustang GT-H Convertibles (sheesh, that's a mouthful!) that were built in 2007 is a bad thing, but nobody really knows if these vehicles will ever really gain in value over more pedestrian versions of Ford's iconic pony car like their forebears have. Rest assured, though, you are not going to be bidding the same $250,000 that collector Ron Pratte paid for serial #001. For reference, the last batch of rent-a-racers that were auctioned off managed about $33K per unit.
The car itself is powered by a 319-horsepower version of Ford's ubiquitous 4.6-liter three-valve V8 engine mated to an automatic transmission -- perfect for the kind of top-down summer cruising that these vehicles are likely to see. If you want one of the 25 going up for auction, they'll be at the Kruse Select Auction in Monterey, CA next week.
The epic saga of Unique Performance and its fall from grace isn't over yet. An auction was held in March to help clear the bankrupt company's back debts, but it only raised $1 million. That wasn't enough to compensate the many ripped-off owners and fleeced employees, not to mention the federal government. Auction firm Rosen Systems has a new, very spare listing on its website for another Unique Performance auction coming up on the 24th of June. The scarce information offered by Rosen Systems only states "approximately 40 Mustang Fastback shells, body parts, tools, lifts." A catalog of items to be offered for this online-only event has yet to be released, but it's safe to assume that these are the items that failed to sell the first time around. We're not sure we'd consider this auction a good way to get a viable Mustang body unit, with reports of multiple gallons of body filler in each car.
Our initial drive of the Shelby GT500KR on public roads revealed that Ford, SVT and Shelby had addressed many of the issues that we had with the standard GT500. The KR's revised suspension is better balanced and more capable of handling the excessive amounts of horsepower and torque that the blown 5.4L generates, and a new short-throw Hurst shifter makes changing gears a joy instead of a chore. To top it all off, a Ford Racing cold air intake, new exhaust system, and 3.73 gears give the KR an extra kick in the pants. The changes were so spot-on that we wondered why Ford didn't build the GT500 this way in the first place.
With a ride like the GT500KR, however, only so much of the car can be experienced on public roads. At 540 horsepower and 510 lb-ft torque, the KR quickly reaches posted speed limits and the car stays well under its limits around corners. Fortunately, Ford let us loose to run hot laps around Miller Motorsports Park. Follow the jump to see how the "King of the Road" fared at the track.
One week from today, we'll be watching Knight Rider, the 2-hour telemovie that resurrects KITT as a new car (Mustang) with a new voice (Val Kilmer), a new driver (Mike Traceur, son of Michael Knight), and, if ratings are good enough, a probable weekly gig in primetime next Fall. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. Before that can happen, the pilot needs to be a success, and we're as interested as everyone else in seeing what the network and executive producer Doug Liman have cooked up. Liman's body of work as a director and producer is so money that despite our fears, the Knight Rider reboot could actually work.
Then again, based on some of what we've seen in the commercials and promos so far, it could just as easily wind up being a giant black hole of suck. On the upside, we expect to be entertained either way. The latest TV spot introduces us to KITT's new, raspier voice and magic disappearing shifter. If you have any issues watching the fancy-schmancy NBC embed above, the YouTube version's pasted after the jump.
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We've already shown you one incredible auction today for a rare Ferrari FXX, but this one takes the cake. Fire up your eBay profile and get your mouse clicking for eight Mustang coupes, 13 convertibles, six fastbacks, four Shelbys and three Mach 1s in good shape, and 26 coupes, 11 convertibles and 24 fastbacks either for parts donations or candidates for restoration. Oh, and there's also thousands of used and new parts included in the deal. If you take the Buy It Now option of $950,000, you also get FREE SHIPPING from Puerto Rico!
It's an amazing Mustang collection, for sure, including three 1965 convertibles with 289s, a K Code 1965 fastback, a 1968 Shelby GT350 convertible and a 1968 Shelby GT500KR, a 1969 Cobra Jet 428, a 1969 390 S Code fastback, three 1970 Mach 1s, and a 2001 convertible GT for good measure.
Several interested parties have already asked the seller to break up the collection, with the Shelbys getting the most attention, of course. But eBay seller martinstang says if the collection doesn't sell in a few months, the owners will consider offers for individual cars.
We took the list of cars straight from the auction listing, put them in order of date and pasted it (misspellings and all) after the jump. Check out the gallery for photos from the auction and see the auction listing for even more photos of cars and parts.
You might be asking the same question that we are. Why isn't this thing at Barrett-Jackson? With the auction less than a week away, this car would have been the perfect candidate for an over-zealous buyer to pay way too much for a classic muscle car. Only one Shelby GT500 SuperSnake was ever built, so it's even more rare than the Shelby Cobra SuperSnake that sold for $5 million at Barrett-Jackson last year. Shelby built twice as many of those! Still, it doesn't make the $3 million Buy It Now price sound any less ridiculous. Cool features of this truly-and-honestly one-of-a-kind car include a 427ci V8 with 520 horsepower, a 170 mph top speed and unique triple stripes.
