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Originally Posted by Excaliber
Can't blame the new owner for trying to make a little bit on the re-sale, and he will, in due time.
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No doubt. As they say in collector car circles, you can never pay too much; you can only pay it too early.
That's just as true of the Dragonsnake. Could the car have brought $2 million? It clearly didn't today, and I don't believe it could have. Not at BJ, not at RM, not at R & S. There's no question in my mind that it will be worth that much and more in a few years, but who knows whether CSX2019 will ever leave the Shelby Museum?
In that sense, the new owner did indeed get a bargain. And maybe the losing bidder really lost out. He may not get a chance to bid on CSX2019 for another 40 years, if then. For any collector, with a car like the Dragonsnake, that's at the heart of the bidding equation. It's what ultimately drives up the price - bid now, or forever give up any chance of ownership. This isn't a run-of-the-mill serial car you can pick up at the next auction.
While any auction is a crap shoot (those being held without a reserve more than the others), I had a good indication the car would sell for between $1.2 and $1.5 million. It sold for $1.525. I'm absolutely convinced I got a fair price, as much as today's market will offer. Everybody walked away happy. Sounds incredulous, but I would gladly have taken a hundred grand less if I could have been assured CSX2019 would end up in a museum stateside. The fact that it did and I still received a bigger check than what I had expected . . . what more can you hope for!