SAAC Forum

Guys,

I am going tomorrow to look at a car that the Shelby Registry shows GBBAHYYR4 which translates to Highland Green, Black Interior, Black Top, Automatic, Steel Wheels with Hubcaps, AC and Tilt.  The door tag and the buck tag on the car shows Red and the car is presently Red.  Seller, of course, says it is not a color change car.  Everything else on the car looks correct.  Is there any other place on the car to verify original color?  I tend to rely upon the registry but I guess there is always a chance that the data is wrong.

I ordered a set of wheels from Paradise Wheels and they came in yesterday and are excellent.  It took a bit of time to get them because of supply chain difficulties.  My original set has the Goodyears and this driver set has Firestone radials.  It was a nice Christmas present.

My sense is that production ended because what was the point of making a Shelby when Shelby was gone and Ford had plenty of performance already in house.  I will say that when I drive my 69 GT500 and my 69 Boss 429 that the Boss 9 definitely seems a lot racier -- whether it is or not who knows?  If you drive a 66 GT350 it is truly a great all around car.  The 67 GT500 still has a lot of early car feel.  My 69 GT500 seems a lot softer and less edgy.  Ford may have sold a lot more square birds but I will take a 55 - 57 over them all day long.

I got the same thing today from Vandon for a Boss 9 block.  What a bunch of kaka. 

I am looking for a Boss 429 Block.  It is ok if it is a bare block but a short block would be ok as well. 

This was the coolest part.

This past weekend was Keels & Wheels here in Seabrook, Texas.  This is an annual event that was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.  This year the theme was Ford v. Ferrari and the Grand Marshalls were Peter Miles and Aaron Shelby both of whom were true gentlemen.  I also got to meet Bruce Meyer and Barry Meguiar but perhaps the most fun was running into Tony Conover who restored my 1966 GT350.  We showed our red Boss 429 and our red XKE Convertible.  The Boss was in the Mustang class with another Boss 429 so the competition was real.  Somehow our Boss beat the other one and came away with first place.  Even though it rained all day on Saturday it was nice to get out and hang out with the friends in the hobby.  Here is a picture.

Since I started the thread I guess it is not exactly creep if I am the creeper?  Anyway, here are some pictures of the Jag.

Quote from: BGlover67 on March 17, 2021, 03:28:02 PM
Eric, it seems like you made the right decision.   

Thanks Brian.  Glad to see you are an XKE owner.  Here is my 65 which was the craziest restoration ever.  I had Classic Showcase in CA do the car and I put my son through an ivy league education for alot less.  But the car got Grand Champion. 

Quote from: shelbymann1970 on March 17, 2021, 05:32:27 AM

Quote from: eric lipper on March 16, 2021, 03:18:05 PM
I was surprised that it stopped there but given that I paid $207,500 for mine I guess they hit it the number on the head.  I do think that my car is superior to the BAT car but that is purely a guess because I have not seen the BAT car in person.  I look forward to meeting whomever bought the car.

Eric, you need to update your car list on your profile now. 

You are correct.  As we say in the air "wilco".

I was surprised that it stopped there but given that I paid $207,500 for mine I guess they hit it the number on the head.  I do think that my car is superior to the BAT car but that is purely a guess because I have not seen the BAT car in person.  I look forward to meeting whomever bought the car.

Quote from: shelbymann1970 on March 11, 2021, 10:58:58 AM

Quote from: eric lipper on March 10, 2021, 09:38:14 PM
I was going to look at the car and it was for sale at Earth Motors in Carrolton, Texas.  Earth Motors bought the car at the GAA Auction in November 2020 for about $190,000.  The seller at Earth Motors was a high pressure car dealer, used to have a TV show, and once I connected with him he texted me daily about the car.  He seemed, however, to know some of the important details about Boss 429's but was not an expert and spent a lot of time bad mouthing Legendary Motor Cars.  He did tell me that the engine was not original to the car and I seemed to recall that the carburetor was wrong as well.

Through someone on the SAAC Forum who I don't remember they sent me a link to a bunch of auction details.  With that I found out the car had been for sale for a long time in Bee Spring, KY and had been on Ebay.  Somehow the Ebay stuff when I looked for it was deleted from Ebay and I don't know how they did that.  According to Sports Car Market Letter Report (I subscribe) the car was reviewed by one of Keith Martin's guys in one of the 3 Mecum Auctions where it was run.  According to the reviewer it had good panel fit and had been bid to $230K and was a no-sale.  I seem to recall a comment that the reviewer said something like it was a mistake not to sell at that price.

At one point in its "restoration" life the car had the wrong air filter, a Hurst Shifter, a set of Shelby gauges on the console, the wrong steering wheel, speakers in the doors, and the paint on the cowl and the engine compartment was all wrong.  The pictures of these issues were available on the internet when I was going to look at the car.  Those pictures were handy because you could see what the car looked like before the previous dealer in Bee Spring, KY acquired the car and corrected them.  Nevertheless, I was still interested because the car was here in Texas and was red but I was advised to connect with a Boss 429 expert and I was glad that I did.

I spoke with a recognized expert, who we all know, and he said the car had a lot of "issues" but I really don't remember what they were but he rattled them off to me.  He thought if I was not looking for a totally correct car it was ok but the cost to fix the things he noticed could be in serious money.  I do think that the engine compartment detail was all done with the engine in place from some close up pictures that I asked the dealer to make. I passed on that car and bought a twin from Legendary Motors in Canada and was glad that I did.  The car I bought was reviewed, remotely, by the same expert and his opinion of the car I bought was much more favorable. 

My purchase was a bit easier because the car I bought had been judged at SAAC, MCA and AACA and won Gold or First in the outings.  That, at least, gave me some confidence that it was not a pig.  My car had been owned by a guy named Tom Hernquist who had other Boss Cars and had a good eye for right and wrong. The same expert that was consulting with me had previously seen the car so that gave me a little more confidence.  In terms of money I am not shy to say what I paid since I was either an idiot or a smart buyer.  I paid $207,500 for mine (there were no auction fees) and I closed in December of 2020.  So, if I had to guess, this car on BAT should be worth less and my opinion was the $190,000 that the current Seller paid was probably the right money.

I would post this stuff on BAT but they kicked me off when a seller did not like my opinion.  After kicking me off they invited me back after a week and I told them that the cancel culture stuff did not work for me.  That is my .02 for anyone looking at this car.

Eric, THANK YOU so much for your candor on this subject. Anyone serious in buying a car like that should consul an expert like the one you did. MY question I did not want to ask on BaT was the firewall color. Was the car built too late to have a red upper cowl? Gary

I think so but I would defer to Ed Meyer as I really believe he knows his stuff on these cars.

I was going to look at the car and it was for sale at Earth Motors in Carrolton, Texas.  Earth Motors bought the car at the GAA Auction in November 2020 for about $190,000.  The seller at Earth Motors was a high pressure car dealer, used to have a TV show, and once I connected with him he texted me daily about the car.  He seemed, however, to know some of the important details about Boss 429's but was not an expert and spent a lot of time bad mouthing Legendary Motor Cars.  He did tell me that the engine was not original to the car and I seemed to recall that the carburetor was wrong as well.

Through someone on the SAAC Forum who I don't remember they sent me a link to a bunch of auction details.  With that I found out the car had been for sale for a long time in Bee Spring, KY and had been on Ebay.  Somehow the Ebay stuff when I looked for it was deleted from Ebay and I don't know how they did that.  According to Sports Car Market Letter Report (I subscribe) the car was reviewed by one of Keith Martin's guys in one of the 3 Mecum Auctions where it was run.  According to the reviewer it had good panel fit and had been bid to $230K and was a no-sale.  I seem to recall a comment that the reviewer said something like it was a mistake not to sell at that price.

At one point in its "restoration" life the car had the wrong air filter, a Hurst Shifter, a set of Shelby gauges on the console, the wrong steering wheel, speakers in the doors, and the paint on the cowl and the engine compartment was all wrong.  The pictures of these issues were available on the internet when I was going to look at the car.  Those pictures were handy because you could see what the car looked like before the previous dealer in Bee Spring, KY acquired the car and corrected them.  Nevertheless, I was still interested because the car was here in Texas and was red but I was advised to connect with a Boss 429 expert and I was glad that I did.

I spoke with a recognized expert, who we all know, and he said the car had a lot of "issues" but I really don't remember what they were but he rattled them off to me.  He thought if I was not looking for a totally correct car it was ok but the cost to fix the things he noticed could be in serious money.  I do think that the engine compartment detail was all done with the engine in place from some close up pictures that I asked the dealer to make. I passed on that car and bought a twin from Legendary Motors in Canada and was glad that I did.  The car I bought was reviewed, remotely, by the same expert and his opinion of the car I bought was much more favorable. 

My purchase was a bit easier because the car I bought had been judged at SAAC, MCA and AACA and won Gold or First in the outings.  That, at least, gave me some confidence that it was not a pig.  My car had been owned by a guy named Tom Hernquist who had other Boss Cars and had a good eye for right and wrong. The same expert that was consulting with me had previously seen the car so that gave me a little more confidence.  In terms of money I am not shy to say what I paid since I was either an idiot or a smart buyer.  I paid $207,500 for mine (there were no auction fees) and I closed in December of 2020.  So, if I had to guess, this car on BAT should be worth less and my opinion was the $190,000 that the current Seller paid was probably the right money.

I would post this stuff on BAT but they kicked me off when a seller did not like my opinion.  After kicking me off they invited me back after a week and I told them that the cancel culture stuff did not work for me.  That is my .02 for anyone looking at this car.

I showed my Boss 9 this past weekend at a show here in Katy, Texas and several people came up and asked if my car was the one on BAT.  As it turns out the car on BAT is the same one that was for sale at Earth Motors in Carrolton, Texas.  It had been $279K asking price and then, for some reason, the seller raised the price to $329K on Ebay.  The car has been for sale for a long time and was bought by the current dealer at the GAA auction in November for $190K or so.  Interesting one to watch. 

Congrats I have 2714 if you ever need to compare notes