The Price of Being Special

A little under a year ago, a Ford Mustang sold at auction for $400,000 at the EAA Airventure festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The car was not a perfectly preserved classic, but rather a brand new car. Granted, it was not your standard mustang; it was custom in both looks and performance. The car was themed after the famous Blue Angels, and the interior themed after the flight suits of the pilots. It is a beautiful car, to be sure, but a question that came to mind when I read the story that asked if that was too much. Nearly half a million dollars for a Mustang?
 

The car in question in front of the jets that inspired it

 

2013 GT500



To put it in perspective, a brand new Mustang GT500 won't even cost you a quarter of that price. That car is also essentially the benchmark for value on high performance on the road today.



Aston Martin DBS





Ferrari 458 Italia



Is the weight of that $400,000 auction tag still not clear in your mind? Think about this. You could buy one of the aforementioned GT500's and still potentially buy a supercar on top of it. We're not talking about simply high performance cars or even "cheap" supercars.

Take a look at a list of cars that cost between two and four-hundred thousand dollars and you'll realize that there are a lot of famous cars that you could afford, such as the classy yet performing DBS. You could even afford what is fairly commonly agreed to be the bar-setter for supercars right now, the 458 Italia.  





So now I'll ask you the question that popped into my mind. Is $400k too much for a Mustang?

My answer is that it should be, but surprisingly enough, it's not.

The auction supports the EAA Young Eagles, a program allowing youth ages 8 to 17 to participate in a personalized flight and basic aviation education that they might be otherwise unable to experience. Follow the link to learn more or sign up.

Second, the car has meaning to it. Yes you could buy more for the same amount of money, or put the money to other use, but it is not just a car, it is a collector's item. It is special. Look at any popular item that is or has been available for purchase. There is always a "special" version that someone will pay more for. Add in the fact that a good chunk of the money goes to a good cause, and you have even more justification for the concept. Will there still be those that disagree about the value of a given item? Absolutely. But that's where taste comes in.

So now, a year later, the next special edition from EAA AirVenture and Ford has been announced. It will be the Red Tails Mustang, a tribute to the noble Tuskegee Airmen, World War II's first all-African-American aviation division.

In the above rendering, you can see the styling that has taken inspiration from the P-52 Mustang fighters that the Airmen flew. Features include Recaro racing seats with "Red Tails" logos, both side and rear exhausts, custom wheels from Forgiato, as well as many other features. The 5.0L V8 under the hood is supercharged by a 2.3L Whipple from Ford Racing, and supported by Ford's performance handling pack.

Would a new GT500 be a better value for performance than the $300k to $500k that this car will potentially fetch? Definitely. However, the Red Tails Mustang is not about value for performance. It is about supporting a good cause, and it is about value for meaning. Whoever bids on this car when it goes on auction after the AirVenture festival at the end of July will be bidding on it for what it says, not what it does. As said before, it is a collector's item. It is a tribute to a group of brave individuals. And for whoever gets highest bid, it will be a story for years to come.