One of my hobbies is collecting sports memorabilia and scarcity is a strong factor in the value and prominence of any item. My collection has nothing of great value, beyond nostalgia, but I can appreciate a T-206 Honus Wagner baseball card that sells for $7.25 million due to its excellent condition and scarcity with an estimated 60 examples in various condition still floating around.
The automotive industry produces limited-edition vehicles but that is manufactured scarcity and to me does not maintain the same panache as a 110-year-old baseball card. Like being cool or interesting you cannot make a car a rare collectible, it must be organic. Owning a one-of-one collectible in any genre is, well, rare. Heck, there are at least four sets of Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz in various museums.
The Pick of the Day is a true one-of-one: The 1964 Pontiac Banshee XP-833 prototype listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealer in Milford City, Connecticut. (Click the link to view the listing)
“Designed by GM Executive John Delorean to compete with Fords Mustang the Banshee prototype was finally killed by GM brass viewed the concept would hurt Corvette sales,” the listing states. “The Banshee was suppose(d) to be scrapped but GM employee convinced GM to sell him the car. The car was driven less than 1500 miles and only brought to car shows. The owner passed away in 2006 and put the banshee on the market. This is the only 1964 Banshee coupe in the world with sweeping hood and short deck styling.”
The listing price for the 1964 Pontiac Banshee XP-833 prototype is $1,200,000. That is a substantial amount of cash, but it is also the rare opportunity to be the only person on Earth with the Banshee prototype coupe. It is a historically significant vehicle designed by DeLorean that should be in a museum. To me, the 1964 Pontiac Banshee XP-833 prototype is the definition of rare, and the opposite of my sports memorabilia collection.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
Source: www.classiccars.com