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was no exception: Bonham’s Collec-
tor’s Motor Cars Auction attracted 106
cars and motorcycles and according to
an after-action report, 81 of them were
sold; a 76% sale rate.
The car that caused the biggest
buzz, at least in our circles, was a
rusted-out 1966 GT350, 6S163. It was-
n’t really a “barn find” as much as it
was a car that was put into “unsuper-
vised” storage. As usual, ‘66 GT350
Registrar Howard Pardee knew a little
more than anyone else blabbering on
the Internet forums.
The car was attracting a lot of in-
terest in advance of the sale, at least
based on forum chatter. It was origi-
nally purchased by Fran Grayson of
Hyannis, Massachusetts from Natick
Ford in Natick, Massachusetts where
it had been used as a demonstrator.
He drove it until 1972, at which time
he parked it. Grayson was originally
an SOA member and joined SAAC as
soon as it was started. While the car
was parked without any kind of prepa-
ration or precautions, it was not “lost”
or “forgotten.” It remained in storage
for essentially forty-four years and al-
though Grayson claimed to have some
hazy plans to restore it, nothing ever
happened. The car had serious rust
but Grayson had purchased NOS rear
quarters and front fenders, and a pair
of rust-free doors. The original steel
wheels were replaced with Shelby/
Cragars when the car was au-
tocrossed. Grayson passed away and
his estate wanted to sell it; thus the
auction. It had just under 56K miles.
All of the parts he had collected went
with it, along with a four-inch thick
binder containing all documentation
from new, including every invoice and
receipt and a ton of pictures.
6S163 was sold at $159,500 (in-
cluding buyer’s fee) – a much higher
price than it seemed to be worth, and
this surprised almost everyone. If it
was worth that much to someone due
to its originality, a potential cost of at
least $100K to restore it (and likely
more, commensurate with the level of
workmanship and attention to detail
if it was a concours restoration) would
probably result in the new owner
being upside down in this car before
he could blink an eye.
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Fall 2016 53
Marcel and Renee Perlman, 9F02R480317 Dan Weltman, 6S1473
Francis J. Wihbey
Jim Glickenhaus, J6
Charles McArthur, 0F03R481669