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are not there yet, in selling their cars,
but they are almost there and they are
looking at their options. The longer
they have had the car the more diffi-
cult it is to sell it.
SCUDDER: I am in fairly constant
conversation with about four people,
right now, on that very issue. They call
and we talk and philosophize, and
they ask what do you think – are the
cars going to go up or just holding
their value? I keep saying that my
crystal ball is no better than theirs. I
don’t know. I can’t tell anyone any-
thing about what the market is going
to do but obviously it is doing well
right now.
SAAC: We get the feeling that some
people are sitting on the fence, holding
their breath and waiting to see if the
market is going to drop. Not like an
anvil off a cliff, but they are watching
for the beginnings of it. It’s like a
school of fish; when one turns they all
turn. Nobody wants to be the first one
to sell their car if the prices keep going
up, but neither do they want to be the
last one when suddenly there are
three dozen cars on the market. It’s all
a matter of timing.
SCUDDER: I can remember talking
to a fellow about five years ago who
called and he said, “
I am thinking of
retiring and selling my Cobra and I
got an offer of X on it.
” I said, “
If that’s
going to fund your retirement I sug-
gest that you hang onto your car for
another six months because the prices
on these cars are almost on a straight
line going up. At every auction they
were going up another ten percent.
”
He decided to accept the offer and he
regrets it to this day. He is very upset
about it. If he would have hung onto
the car another two years he would
have doubled his money.
SAAC: Hindsight is always a wonder-
ful thing. But you do what you do and
you can’t undo it. And it isn’t very use-
ful to follow the market after that. It’s
like someone who buys something – it
doesn’t matter if it’s a car or a kitchen
appliance or a television – they make
the purchase and then they keep shop-
ping, looking to see if they could have
paid less. At that point it’s just not
very helpful.
SCUDDER: I have my own story like
that. We probably all do. Back in 2004
I was told I had an aortic aneurism
and had open heart surgery, and a me-
chanical aortic valve was installed.
You don’t know what the future holds.
I had two kids in college and a guy
called out of the blue and said he was
in San Diego and wanted to see my
car. I said he was welcome to come and
see it, and he did. He called me about
a week later and said, “
I’d like to offer
you “X” for that car.
” I said it wasn’t
for sale. He said that if it ever was, he
had the cash and it was a very good
offer. I started thinking about my
health and the kids in college and I
asked myself what was more impor-
tant than taking care of business and
being a responsible dad. So I told him
that I would sell the car. In a few years
it had doubled in price. And I looked
back and I said, “
Gee...
” but I made the
decision at the time and I’m ok with it.
I took about half of the money and in-
vested it in another car that I love and
I’m as happy as can be. My old S/C was
sort of a “Hey – look at me” car and I
knew that I would probably sell it at
some point. I reached that point where
I decided that I would really enjoy
something that is a little less flamboy-
ant. I bought an AC289 and I’m as
happy as a clam about how it worked
out. I have no complaints.
SAAC: You said something about not
having a crystal ball and not knowing
where these prices are going. Do you
feel like just a spectator on the side-
lines?
SCUDDER: Not really. The cars are
bona fide collectibles; really desirable
cars. But I think that there is a certain
group of people to whom these cars re-
ally appeal. To whom they really are
million-dollar-plus cars. I’m not sure
as time goes by, if these cars are going
to be million-dollar-plus cars for later
generations, in view of the fact that
you can get cars that will outperform
them for a whole lot less, maybe the
cars that these kids grew up with in
their youth. And they might be just as
desirable to them.
SAAC: Have you ever heard the term
“bedroom poster car”? It’s a car that a
young kid would have on his wall as
he is growing up. And when he gets to
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Fall 2015 337
Ned Scudder’s current ride is COX6111, a coil spring chassis powered by a 289 engine
originally built for sale in Europe. Having the car has freed Scudder from the concours
straight jacket: it has aluminum Trigo wheels, an S/C fuel filler and a roll bar.