Ron Pratte selling his entire collection, including CSX3015 Super Snake

[twobjshelbys]

Ron is liquidating his collection at Barrett Jackson Scottsdale 2015. This will include the Shelby "Super Snake" Cobra CSX3015 that Ron bought for $5.5M.

Ron Pratte to sell off entire collection, including Futurliner | Hemmings Daily

Lots of great cars there, I'm sure he'll do well on some, not so well on others.

It has been mentioned that Ron overpaid for many of the cars. One will be able to tell about the market for CSX3015, but almost all of his high $ purchases were early VIN number cars tied to a charity auction. The car in these cases is inconsequential, it was the donation that mattered.

It will be an interesting January in Scottsdale!

[dallas_]

I wonder if he also thinks the collector car market is at or near the peak?

Only time will tell.

[OnyxRider]

We may never know why he is selling everything. I have seen many of the cars over the years before his purchases. He did sell a handful back sometime ago.

John Staluppi(Robert DeNero look-alike) is another that shows up at BJ auctions. He sold his entire Car of Dreams collection and started to buy more afterward.

I could never understand the interest in the Twin Paxton Supercharged Cobras.
Maybe because of its rarity. But it always broke down and the timing was aweful to keep correct.

[rodneym]

So much hype when they sold 3015.
I'm curious to how this developes.

[rodneym]

Originally Posted by OnyxRider

I could never understand the interest in the Twin Paxton Supercharged Cobras.
Maybe because of its rarity. But it always broke down and the timing was aweful to keep correct.

Oh boy. I don't have time for this lesson.
Me and Geary (Aggressor - ~20k mile Twin Paxton) have just recently started sharing experiences. No tricks. No gimmicks. Negatives are 99% rumors and hype.

[NewYorkGuy]

Worth a trip seeing all of Pratte's toys in one location. How many cars total?

[LMH]

Not too change the subject but I notice 3015 has 5 blade fans and original 427's used 6 blade fans. Wonder why?
Larry

[OnyxRider]

Not sure of the fan blades. I always thought it sort of looked like a kit in a way.

I was speaking of when Shelby owned one of these. I thought it was terrible even catching fire. I am not sure about todays tech. I see some crazy set ups out west. dual engine dual everything...

I didn't think this was the super snake though, wasn't that the Shelby Mustang with the 427 in it? That why I called it dual Paxton....



Edit: above

[jwd]

Maybe Ron is the smart one. The last time the stock market was where it is now, there was a big adjustment and collector cars dropped in value about 50%.

[Bartruff1]

I don't read anything into it at all regarding the market.

I always though he was a collector and not a investor. Bought what he wanted.

He was very generous with his charity bidding.

I thought he paid way too much for most of the cars I saw him buy.

But it was his money and I really don't want to be critical, I just have different tastes. That is why Baskin's and Robbins has 31 flavors

[rodneym]

Originally Posted by LMH

Not too change the subject but I notice 3015 has 5 blade fans and original 427's used 6 blade fans. Wonder why?
Larry

LMH,
Are you referring to street 427 fan blades?

The nose of 3015 always looked a little peculiar because of the oil filter and reverse mounted fans. It looks like there's a lot going on in there.

[LMH]

Originally Posted by rodneym

LMH,
Are you referring to street 427 fan blades?

The nose of 3015 always looked a little peculiar because of the oil filter and reverse mounted fans. It looks like there's a lot going on in there.

No, the twin fans. If you have the spring 2013 edition of The Shelby American, there is an excellent photo of Bob Gingold's car showing the 6 blade twin fans.
Of course, I can't find a photo to post now that I'm looking for one!

On 3015, I also see that the fans are in front of the motors instead of behind. That would make them even more inefficient than mounted close to the radiator. Definitely something odd in the front there.

Larry

[rodneym]

LMH,
I never knew that about the fans.
Does Bob's Cobra get a 'pass' for not being original?
That's quite a car.

[LMH]

That's true! Bobs car wasn't born an S/C but it sure is something else! He's as obsessive about little things as I am.

Maybe SA used what was on the shelf at the time and either 5 or 6 would be "correct". There are just general rules about comp, S/C and specials for all the little fittings.
Larry

[OnyxRider]

Originally Posted by Bartruff1

I don't read anything into it at all regarding the market.

I always though he was a collector and not a investor. Bought what he wanted.

He was very generous with his charity bidding.

I thought he paid way too much for most of the cars I saw him buy.

But it was his money and I really don't want to be critical, I just have different tastes. That is why Baskin's and Robbins has 31 flavors

He was very generous with the charity vehicles. He was an extremely high bidder on one and then gave the car back instantly to re-auction it for charity again. Personally I thought on some non-charity vehicles he paid too much, but it' relative I guess. If you want something well...

[NewYorkGuy]

So what will happen to the work staff who maintenance his cars and the buildings? We all need money but getting rid of your entire car collection at one auction is either shrewd business or a fire sale.

[fordracing65]

He owns part of Barrett Jackson, or has stock in it, if you think his car collection is something special, you should see his planes, he lives on a runway for heaven sake...

[Cobra #3170]

Originally Posted by rodneym

LMH,
Are you referring to street 427 fan blades?

The nose of 3015 always looked a little peculiar because of the oil filter and reverse mounted fans. It looks like there's a lot going on in there.

I was under the impression that early cars 3000 - 3100 had single fans and the twins were introduced on later cars when all the overheating problems became apparent. I am not even sure 3000 cars had cooling fans initially. The stamped aluminum fan blades cracked and flew off and then shook like the devil because they were out of balance. A very poorly engineered device to say the least, they didn't cool very well either. In stop and go traffic you had roughly 3 minutes before you had to pull off and wait for traffic to clear even with the fan on.

[CowtownCobra]

"the beach is a nicer place when our fair weather friends have gone home"

[Aggressor]

Rodney
It's now ~ 36,000+ miles. I have participated with the Rocket City Mustang Club in Huntsville Alabama twice which accounts for about 4,000 miles. I have attached images of my fan setup.
As previously mentioned in this thread, the fans on CSX3015 would not be as effective as reverse mounting them close to the radiator. As per the SuperSnake my oil filter is in the driverside grille area.

OnyxRider - I've had success correcting most of the inherent problems on CSX3015. Craig Conley helped me early in my car's build and have contacted many of the individuals associated with the original cars back in the day. I studied the car at great length in David Scaiff's collection when he owned it prior to Ron Pratt. I use my car virtually daily I mean even short hops to do banking, pickup groceries, ya know - Daily driver stuff. Craig asked me when I bought my Paxtons from him if I was going to set it up exactly like the original or did I want it to run right. My car doesn't foul plugs, overheat , spit and gag at red lights. Actually it will idle a bit lumpy but smoothly at 650 -675 RPM and 180 degrees temp which sounds like blasphemy to most FE guys. On the flip side flicking the throttle sharply - even a small amount - is something that a rational human being learns quickly not to do. Akin to driving a rail dragster on ice.
The problems you described are common to all who believe that a supercharged car must
run very rich with very late timing. This common “wisdom” gives a great ¼ mile ride but makes a lousy car for anything but ¼ mile strip driving.

Rodney
Email me and we'll catch up. glsarno@verizon.net

Geary