$204,000 '93 Mustang

Would you buy it?
12-Mile 1993 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra for sale on BaT Auctions - sold for $204,000 on June 10, 2025 (Lot #195,456) | Bring a Trailer

I don’t look at Bring a Trailer all that much but when I do it seems there are very few sales that seem resonable . Most of the time I think some people just have too much money .

I think it’s ridiculous

You dare not drive it, as any actual usage of the car will dramatically decrease its value to someone else . . . for the record, I think the price paid was too steep

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What a waste of a good car. No one enjoyed the car… as a CAR.

It just sat like some full sized Revelle model and was sold as such.

I hope the new owner drives the heck out of it… But I doubt they will.

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No.
As mentioned, it’s destined to be a showroom piece or the value will plummet. Who cares what performance equipment it has if you’re not driving it? As a showroom piece, I don’t find it to be a particularly attractive car…so a hard no even if I had that much disposable cash to spend on it.

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No way. I’m not rich enough to put it back in service and accept a decrease in value. If I really wanted it and had enough disposable cash, I’d pay less than half the asking price. As an auction item, I’d start and maybe $40,000 and see where it goes.

There are a number of examples of this kind of ridiculous auctions of incredibly low mile cars.

A Honda S2000 CR model with less than 200 miles for $170K. Such waste of a great car.

A Chevette with 50 miles that sold for $30K?? Not worth $30 IMHO but someone paid big bucks for a bucket of bolts.

There is a 61 mile 1982 Chevy Camaro on BAT right now at $21,000 bid. At least it isn’t $210,000!

When I worked for GM, specifically on Camaros, a racing option called the 1LE package was introduced in 1989. With the proper selection of options, you could get a car with a list of performance parts including some Corvette brake calipers and wicked stiff shocks and struts (bone jarring racing parts I developed!) that could then be raced in a “Showroom Stock” series. With a 5 speed, you got a 305 V8. With a 350 V8 it came with an automatic… not legal to race. All buyers got a phone call from Chevy to make sure they knew what they were getting. 2 buyers opted for the 350 V8s. Both buyers were collectors that sent the cars straight to storage. :grimacing:

If someone pays the price, then its value has been set. On that day. 6 months from now? Who knows. All you need is 1 buyer.

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My own rule of thumb is…

Cars are meant to be driven, not parked most of the time.

My neighbor bought around a 2020 Corvette Stingray brand new. It was his dream car. Sadly, it sits in his garage most of the time; he gets it out to drive a couple of times a month. I think he also wipes it with a cloth baby diaper or something like that. He also laments ever having to drive it in the rain.

Let’s just say that’s not for me. I’d rather have half the cash back and an older Corvette I’m not afraid to drive.

A 2020 vette has no collector value. And probably paid >msrp.
A 2017 ZR1 does have value.
And would have been $35,000 less $$$

'93 was the first year of the SVT Cobra, it represented a very small bump in performance over the GT. This crazy money is only explained by the near-zero miles, plus a healthy dose of the tulip bulb syndrome.

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It’s only 5 years old. Give it another 25 to 30 years and it might appreciate in value.

Looking at this from the point of view of an average person with average income, obviously paying $204k for this vehicle is absolutely bonkers. Even paying $60k would be insane. Plenty of other, more exciting vehicles can be had for less money.

However, to a wealthy person, with more money than common sense, this is not nearly as bad as some other potential “investments”, such as cryptocurrency, NFTs, and expensive artwork. In fact, to a wealthy person, $204k is a relatively small amount of money, to own a once-common car, which is now very scarce.

Or perhaps the buyer was a museum, or a company which provides period-correct vehicles to the motion picture industry. For those uses, $204k might actually be a decent investment.

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Those companies would just fake the model. Take a 6 cylinder and slap on the badges. The cars that appeared in the Ford vs Ferrari movie were all reproduction (fake) GT40s and Ferraris but they looked real on screen!

Museums, for the most part don’t have the money. Those cars are bought by collectors and donated to the museums.

I think this was the result of two bidders that just HAD to have this for some reason.

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It kind of makes me wonder what it would have sold for if there hadn’t been a bidding war

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A little over what the 3rd bidder would paid for it… :grin:

Sorry couldn’t pass it up… :upside_down_face:

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My brother had an extended close-up view of a movie production that was being done at the decommissioned military base that he administered for his municipality. The movie was A Beautiful Mind, and the cars were early '50s era.

He said that some of them didn’t run and were just pushed/trucked around for effect. Some cars with completely trashed interiors were used just for their exteriors, and vice-versa. He said that the collector-type cars numbered just a handful, and that most of the cars used for the production were just slightly short of junk.

He also got to see a grumpy Ron Howard arrive every day in his chauffeured Town Car, and also observed that the crew seemed to despise Russell Crowe as a result of his attitude toward them. The most exciting day was when Crowe threw a fit, and then threw his bike into NY harbor.

@Old-Days-Rick could volunteer the use of his 1989 Caprice for a movie taking place in the late 80s/early 90s

The collector that created the Revs Institute let the Miami Vice TV show use his Porsche 906. I think he insisted in the driver being a son of a friend of his.. this kid, now middle aged adult, still drives the Revs cars at the track.

Trying to follow what the director wanted, the car ended up being damaged. That was the last time any of the collection cars ever went on a movie or TV set. Most knowledgeable collectors won’t let film or TV people use their cars because they are careless and reckless with them.

The Revs cars have been driven by a few car Youtubers like Matt Farah.. see link below