This rare 1968 Shelby GT500 Convertible brought in a whopping $330,000 at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach, making it the 3rd highest earning car of the entire auction.

In another sure sign that the US economy is steadily recovering from the recession the recent Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach Auction brought in a whopping $21 million in gross sales. High-end car buyers seem as willing as ever before to lay down some serious money on what they are looking for, and the undercurrent to this news is that the trend of folks spending big money on rare muscle cars is also back in full force.  

This 1970 442 W30 convertible fetched $275,000 and the number4 spot at BJ Palm Beach.

The 11^th Annual Palm Beach Auction was held on April 4^th to the 6^th at the South Florida Fairgrounds, and the event saw attendance swell to over 55,000 bidders and spectators. As we hinted previously, many of the events highest bids were on rare American Muscle. In fact, three of the top five grossing vehicles were Muscle cars. Here’s the break down…

1. 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible – Lot #3004  – $1,000,000 – First C7 Convertible, bought by Rick Hendrick.  
2. 2009 Ford F-150 King Ranch Super Crew Pickup – Lot #3006 – $350,000 – Owned by President George Bush Jr.  
3. 1968 Shelby GT500 Convertible – Lot #762 – $330,000 – Premium restoration with lots of documentation.
4. 1970 Oldsmobile 442 Convertible – Lot #772 – $275,000 –  Equipped with W30 package, 4-speed, and with aluminum W27 differential. Undocumented, but it is believed to be one of 96 built.
5. 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle LS6 Convertible – Lot #767 – $258,500 – Fully documented, numbers matching 454 Big Block and M22 Rock Crusher 4-Speed, and 3:31 Posi.

This amazing numbers matching 1970 Chevelle SS LS6 sold for over $148,00.

There were plenty of other top-notch premium muscle cars at Palm Beach that didn’t make the Top Five, but still brought in some big bucks. Take these three gems for example…

• 1968 Shelby GT500 E Continuation Fastback – Lot #768 – $148,500 – Built by Unique Performance in conjunction with Shelby American.
• Chevrolet Chevelle SS LS6 2-Door Coupe – Lot #713 – $148,500 – Undocumented numbers matching 454 big block, M22 Rock Crusher transmission, 12 bolt, F-41 suspension, and tons of options.
• 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 – Lot #713.1 – $165,000 – Fully documented, real-deal Z/28 Cross-Ram road race car. All numbers match in addition to the rare GM proto-type Cross-Ram.

This 1968 Mustang is every bit of a real Shelby GT500…it just wasn’t built by Shelby in 1968. It is a “Continuation E” modeled after the famous Eleanor, and is built by Unique Motorsports under license from Shelby. This beast sold for $148,500 at BJ Palm Beach.

Most of us can only dream of owning such cars, and many have owned a car that they never thought would be worth the kind of money some of these cars are bringing lately. So, which of these awesome cars is your favorite, and do you think it is a good or bad thing that American muscle cars are drawing this kind of money again? Have you gotten rid of a car that was nickel-and-diming you to death, only to realize later that it became a valuable collector car?  They call that 20/20 hindsight, and we hate it just as much. Let us know what you think in the comments below.