Raid Your Kid's College Fund And Buy This 1999 Shelby Series 1

It may not have the best reputation as a street car, but the Shelby Series 1 is just cool. Look at it. Who cares that it has an Oldsmobile engine? It’s gorgeous. And it’s also rare. Allegedly, only 249 were ever built, although it’s hard to find an official source that gives the exact number. Regardless of whether Shelby really built 247 or 268 Series 1s, though, it’s still ridiculously uncommon and makes something like the Porsche 911 Dakar look like a mass-production model.

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But as rare as the Shelby Series 1 is, they do pop up for sale every now and then. This particular 1999 Shelby Series 1 is currently for sale on Cars & Bids. Technically, it’s in Canada, so getting it into the U.S. will add an extra hoop for you to jump through, but, surely, it would be worth the hassle for the chance to own one of the coolest cars from the late ‘90s. And since it was originally built as an American-market car, it shouldn’t be that hard to bring back.

Photo: Cars & Bids

It’s not like this Series 1 is going to sell for regular car money, either. So anyone who buys it is going to be spending a good chunk of change for the privilege. With six days left on the auction, it’s already up to $75,000, and we wouldn’t be shocked if it ended up selling for at least $200,000. It appears to have been well taken care of and only has 2,400 miles on the odometer.

Under the hood, you get a Shelby-modified 4.0-liter Oldsmobile V8 that’s good for 320 hp and 290 lb-ft of torque. That’s not a lot by today’s standards when you can get a Toyota Camry with more than 300 hp, but does a new Camry have a six-speed manual transmission or look anywhere near as cool as the Shelby Series 1? No, it does not.

Photo: Cars & Bids

Sure, it’ll be pricey, but opportunities like this don’t come around often. This is your chance to own an incredibly rare sports car. Besides, your kid doesn’t need that college fund anyway. What are they going to use it for, some generic business degree? The world already has enough middle managers, so instead of adding one more to the list, why not add a Shelby Series 1 to your garage instead?