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How would you define charity? There are many ways to be altruistic, charitable, and giving of yourself, whether it be helping a buddy break a rusty bolt or giving a substantial sum of money to a a do-gooder organization. Auctioning off cool cars is a great way to bring some excitement to charitable fundraising, and can often draw hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But was this admittedly-beautiful 1964 Ford Fairlane worth $700,000? Probably not…except to the guy who bought it for that extravegent sum this weekend at the Barrett-Jackson auction…only to give the car back so it can be auctioned off again. At least that is what Jalopnik reports happened.
Now to be sure, we’ve got a special place in our hearts for the mid-sized 1964 Fairlane. This car was around right when the muscle car wars first started, and it has been beautifully restored by ROUSH Industries to benefit the Armed Forced Foundation. This ain’t no plain-Jane Fairlane though, as it has recieved a serious engine upgrade.
Gone is the old school mill that once powered this muscle car, as a modern ROUSH 427 V8 making 522 horsepower sits under the hood. It is backed by a Tremec six-speed manual transmission, and the interior is equally exceptional. This is easily a $100,000 resto-mod.
But $700,000? That seems a bit generous, considering that many muscle cars are falling in value, rather than gaining it. Then when it was revealed that the buyer, Ron Pratte, was returning the Fairlane so it could be auctioned off again, it became clear that this was an auction all about the rightous charity it represented, and not about the car. That is some serious charity right there…you’d have thought he’d at least have taken it out for a spin first! Then again if he did that, he might not give it back…
