a barn-find 1963 Shelby Cobra (chassis No. CSX 2080), changed hands for $467,500 and represents a unique opportunity to make a direct comparison between the rise in a collector cars value and that of a traded commodity - gold.The matching-numbers CSX 2080, the fifth 289 Cobra built, was purchased by its second private owner in 1981 with $30,000 worth of gold coins. The cumulative average market gold price that year was $460 per ounce. The car was driven only once by its new owner and then parked for the next 30 years, leaving it in very original, unrestored condition for its appearance on the auction podium in Fort Lauderdale.
Since 1981, gold values have fluctuated but have steadily been on the rise over the past decade and reached an all-time high on March 2, 2011, closing at $1,437.20 per ounce. Based on the current gold market, the original investment of gold coins has more than tripled in value and would be worth approximately $93,730 today. The $467,500 selling price of CSX 2080 represents an increase of about 15 times the original purchase price of $30,000 and outperforms the gold market five times over.
http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-cobra-beats-value-of-gold/
