The collector car market has come down quite a bit in the past few years in what some might call a “market correction.” That basically means people were overpaying for these classic cars of their youth, fueling a feeding frenzy that sent the price of even the roughest of project cars. People were snapping up cars just for their VIN numbers, in order to reproduce a classic without having to perform a sheet metal miracle. Lately, prices have fallen more in line of what they should be, but some people haven’t gotten the memo.

Up on eBay is a 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 that, despite its rarity, is probably well beyond repair and probably belongs in a scrap heap, not a restoration shop. The asking price? Only $5,500.

And what you do you get for that kind of money? A buckled, bent, and battered body covered with rust…and not much else. There is no engine, although supposedly, according to the VIN (which the seller does not post) this was a 429 Cobra Jet with a 4-speed Toploader transmission. The rear end code is for a locking diff with 3.50 gears, according to the seller.

So let’s take a step back and make a realistic assessment of this Mustang. It’s clearly been hit, hard, on the driver’s side, it is missing pretty much every part and basically, you’re paying for the VIN number more than anything. Unfortunately, despite the sellers proclamations that this is the fastest production Mustang ever (it isn’t, not by a long shot) there are much better deals out there.

If you just scroll down eBay a bit you will find a fully restored ’71 Mach 1 429 Mustang with a no reserve auction currently hovering around $15,000. Back in 2007, at the absolute peak of the collector car feeding frenzy, these cars were still only fetching around $30,000 in mint condition. We predict this Mustang will end up in a scrapyard before it ends up in a garage.