When it comes to high priced car auctions most of us don’t bat an eye when it comes to the thought of a classic model that has been kept in pristine condition being sold for over $1 million, but when it comes to a model that is much newer a closer look is in order. This is even more true when the newer model isn’t even a supercar that is right for the price, but one that you can buy at a dealership for a much lower price. When this is the case, eyebrows raise and a much closer look needs to be given.
Recent at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale a 2016 Ford Focus RS was sold which isn’t the interesting part of the story, what is interesting is the fact this car sold for $550,000. Last I looked you could buy the Focus RS for as little as $36,605 and maybe a little more when you add a few packages of features to the car, but even with every possible option and maybe a few extras from a tuner this car won’t cost more than $50,000 at all. This certainly brings to question why someone would pay so much for this car.
It’s easy to see why a McLaren P1 would sell for as much as $2.09 million or a 1962 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roaster would go for $1.49 million but why the Ford Focus RS that is still in production and can be found at nearly every Ford dealership in America? Yes, the Focus RS comes with a 2.3-liter turbocharged inline-four cylinder engine that makes 350 horsepower and 350 lb.-ft. of torque while also giving you AWD and a torque-vectoring rear differential, but is all of that really worth paying eleven times the price for the car?
The Focus RS sold had all the trimmings on it and came in the Nitrous Blue paint color with lightweight wheels, track tires, the RS2 package and a power driver’s seat, heated seats, heated mirrors and a navigation system. The ability to reach sixty mph in less than five seconds is an important part of the performance of this car, but even with all the statistics possible you can’t say the value of this car is at over half a million dollars, so why did the bidder allow the price to reach this point, and why in the world did anyone pay so much for a car you can buy for much less?
As a car that was offered without a reserve price the Ford Focus RS certainly was pristine and perfect, but there may be a better reason for such a bid. The proceeds from the sale of this car go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund to help treat and cure Type 1 diabetes. Most likely this final buyer and any others who were bidding on this car had the goal in mind of making such a strong donation to this extremely worthy cause. Now that one buyer has an awesome hot hatch to drive and the great feeling of donating to such an important fund.
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