“Herbie Hancock is one of the world’s greatest musicians, and he happens to own one of the world’s greatest — and most valuable — cars.
He bought the 1963 AC Shelby Cobra more than 40 years ago for $6,000. Today, he estimates it’s worth about $2 million.
But he never would have bought it if a snooty salesman hadn’t made him angry.
The musician says he should thank the dealer with a nasty attitude. The dealer pissed off Hancock so much that the musician decided to buy a car he didn’t really know anything about.
On the latest episode of CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage,” the jazz legend recalls the “Pretty Woman”-esque shopping experience.
In 1963, Hancock’s roommate Donald Byrd told him there was an American car that was beating the Ferraris.
“I said, ‘OK, I’ll go down and look at it,'” Hancock remembers. “I just wanted to see what it looked like.”
Dressed in jeans, Hancock walked into the Manhattan dealership and met an unwelcoming salesman. “I was 23. The salesman is there, with his white shirt on and a tie. He doesn’t even look up at me.”
“I’m getting a little hot under the collar,” he says. “And I said, ‘I’d like to buy the Cobra.’ He finally looks up. He says, ‘Do you know how much that car costs?'”
Hancock did, and the next day he returned to purchase it. This turned out to be a smart decision.
The 1963 AC Shelby Cobra is considered one of a kind. Under the hood, Hancock’s Cobra has a 260 cubic-inch engine with a two-barrel carburetor. Only 75 Cobras with the 260 cubic-inch engine were made. And a 2007 Road & Track interview notes that Hancock’s is “the only known Cobra ever equipped” with a two-barrel carburetor.
Hancock says he drove it as his daily car for years, before discovering how much it could be worth as a classic car. Looking back on his exchange with the salesman, he says: “He did me a great favor. He has no idea what a favor he did.”
– CNBC, July 14th, 2015