The world of high-dollar muscle cars and hot rods went a little bonkers in 2007 and 2008, and the train of money-is-no-object builds only came to an end when the housing market popped. One of the wilder builds to make it through the Great Recession is the 1967 Ford Mustang known as Obsidian. Loaded with 847 horsepower and riding on a custom chassis that even modern muscle cars would be jealous of, Obsidian will highlight Barrett-Jackson’s inaugural Northeast auction event with no reserve.
That doesn’t mean it will go cheap, however, as a bidding war could easily break out over a Mustang that really is one-of-a-kind.
Features like the 392 cubic-inch supercharged V8 that gives Obsidian it’s impressive specifications have been fawned over for years in the motoring press, as Obsidian has graced the pages of many magazines and websites (including this one). Yet it’s the nearly three-dozen custom body and interior modifications by Matt Couper and Autoworks International that helped drive the price tag of the build up to an estimated $1.3 million. The unibody was replaced by a tubular box frame; a hidden four-point roll cage provides more protection than many cars half Obsidian’s age, and both the firewall and engine cradle were pushed back for a perfect 50/50 weight balance.
Further taking a nod from its modern successors, Obsidian is loaded with high-tech features like a 3,000 watt sound system, a hand-crafted color-matching custom dashboard, two-piece door handles, and a two-seat conversion that does away with the back seat entirely. A 2008 appraisal of Obsidian put the price at $600,000, less than half its estimated build cost, and we last saw it on eBay with a starting price of $325,000. Current owner, NBA player Dave Gadzuric, has decided to part ways with Obsidian via a no reserve auction, so there’s no telling on what side of $600,000 bidding will stop for a Mustang with this many unique features.