The Shelby American (Summer 2022)

The SHELBY AMERICAN Summer 2022 17 The Greatest American Muscle Cars Ranked in Order One of our favorite bumper stickers of all time says, “ I used to get angry. Now I’m just amused. ” That’s the way we feel when we look at Internet click- bait. The lists of “50 Best...” or “10 Fastest...” or “25 Most Expensive...” are really nothing more than clumsy attempts to get you to negotiate a web- site filled with mostly worthless ad messages. The lists are purely subjec- tive, just space fillers, almost always composed by individuals who have the IQ of a turnip (if they were smarter they would have a better job). But they get our attention, mostly because we’re curious to see if any Cobras or Shelbys are included and, if so, where are they ranked. We long ago lost the expectation of accuracy. With research made easy thanks to Google, the only excuse for the lack of precision is lazi- ness. And, of course, that goes hand-in- hand with poor supervision. What kind of a website would ac- cept this kind of low quality twaddle? Its name is “DAQUAN.TV ” and it deals primarily in music, sports, celebs, style, entertainment and cul- ture. And occasionally lists like this. Without digging in too deeply, we did take a look around as long as we were there and it was obvious that it was not the kind of place we would nor- mally find ourself. When one of the words they used for someone’s car was “whip” that was as far as we needed to go. Not only that, but none of the “mu- sical celebrities” they named were rec- ognizable to us. Not one. Now that could be just a matter of a clash of cul- tures or a difference in generations. No matter. The point is that this is the way misinformation about these cars is being spread and will continue to be spread. And there is nothing we can do about it. All we can do is shake our head and wonder if it could get any worse. And of course, it could. The geniuses at Daquon TV had a follow up: “Hollywood Hot Rods: 29 Expensive Cars from Film and TV.” They started out describing the red ‘73 Chevrolet Caprice Classic used in the film “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” #21/60 - 1968 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR. Original price: $4,500. Current value: $120K. This current value will, no doubt, come as some- thing of a surprise to participants at recent auc- tions where ‘68 KRs have approached the $300K mark. $120K represents lazy research. #7/60 - 427 Cobra. Original price:$7,500. Current value: $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. Pictured was CSX3019; it was purchased by an American who raced it in Europe in 1966. Subsequently sold, it went through a series of British owners. #5/60 - 1971 Shelby GT500. Original price: $8000. Current value: $1,000,000. Where do we start? There was no 1971 model. Horsepower was listed at 600? The current value is nonsense. Somebody phoned it in. #1/60 - 1962 Shelby Cobra CSX2000. Orig- inal price: not sold to the mass market. Current value: $13,750,000. Described as “ the most expensive car ever sold in Amer- ica. ” Guess Ferrari GTOs don’t count. #3/60 - 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake. Original price: not sold to the mass mar- ket. Current value: $2,200,000. “ It took the car world by storm .” Not as we recall. If that was the case more would have been made. #6/60 - 1965 GT350 R. Original price: $4584. Current value: $500K to $800K. This is the picture of an R-Model replica. The price listed is for a street model. And the current value is a little light. Not exactly a car film with a Bullet- style chase scene, but you have to start somewhere. Except the car they show is a white Cadillac convertible. They got it right for “Gone in 60 Seconds” (even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while). “ In the newer film, the Mustang was the trusty ride of Oscar-winning movie star, Nicolas Cage. Between Cage and the legend of Eleanor, this whip car- ried some serious star power, resulting in a competitive bidding war that re- sulted in a $1 million sale .”