Engels Gualdani, Classic Car Expert, Details Record $1.975 Million Sale of 1971 440 Six-Pack

HILTON, N.Y., Aug. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A numbers-matching 1971 Plymouth Cuda convertible with a rare 440 six-pack engine has sold for a record $1.975 million. Classic Car Expert Engels Gualdani, known in the industry as Mr. Muscle Car, brokered the deal between private collectors.

The vehicle at the center of the sale is a 1971 440 six-pack Cuda convertible with a four-speed manual transmission. It also has a numbers-matching engine, a detail collectors treat as essential to a car’s value.

The Cuda comes with its original build sheet, the factory document used to confirm a car’s exact specifications. This kind of paperwork is central to how serious collectors judge authenticity.

The Cuda still carries its factory front and rear spoilers along with the signature shaker hood scoop. These features were optional in 1971 and rarely survive together on a single car.

Gualdani identifies the vehicle by its VIN, BS27V1B300626, and describes the transaction as a world record sale. The 1971 440 six-pack convertible changed hands for $1.975 million between two private collectors.

Classic Car Expert Engels Gualdani, widely known as Mr. Muscle Car, facilitated the deal from the initial introduction through the final signatures. Gualdani confirmed the vehicle’s provenance before the sale closed. Transactions of this size are uncommon even within the broader muscle car collecting community.

Numbers-matching 440 six-pack Cuda convertibles command high prices due to limited factory production and well-documented histories. He positions the sale as one of the most notable muscle car transactions reported this year.

Gualdani’s process typically starts with verifying a vehicle’s numbers, paperwork, and mechanical condition before negotiations begin. This groundwork gave both sides confidence in the final terms.

Gualdani’s role as Classic Car Expert is highlighted by this transaction, but it’s not his first notable sale this year. Early in the year, he brought a ’71 Hemi Cuda Convertible to Mecum, which sold for over $3 million. His reputation as Mr. Muscle Car reflects years of work in the collector car market.

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Fellows supported by NextLadder Ventures, MIT Lab, and Anthropic showcase new purpose-built tech at AI for Social Impact Fellowship Demo Day

Four frontline organizations commit to quickly scaling tools developed in collaboration with graduate fellows

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NextLadder Ventures, The Bike Shop @ MIT, and Anthropic yesterday co-hosted a Demo Day at Anthropic’s headquarters that featured new Navigation Technology (NavTech) solutions designed to improve economic outcomes for individuals and families. The tools were developed by four teams of graduate students from MIT and Harvard as part of the inaugural class of the AI for Social Impact Fellowship, working alongside four frontline organizations that serve economically disadvantaged Americans.

Yesterday’s presentation marked the conclusion of the fellowship program, which supported students in building practical NavTech: an emerging category of tools that harness cutting-edge AI to deliver at scale highly personalized support through the high-stakes moments that impact a family’s economic future.

Following Demo Day, each participating organization is today announcing immediate plans to scale the new products developed by the fellows, extending their expertise to more individuals and families in need of support:

Money Management International, one of the largest nonprofit credit counseling organizations in the country, is rolling out a call intelligence tool that securely reviews debt counselors’ calls and gives them feedback to adopt the behaviors linked to higher enrollment in proven debt repayment solutions. The tool incorporates frontline expertise that frontier models don’t have and will be available to all of the organization’s debt counselors. MMI will continue to collaborate with The Bike Shop to refine and improve the tool to increase positive outcomes for individuals in financial distress nationwide.Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), the largest reentry employment provider in the country, is integrating a new evaluation and monitoring tool for CEO’s AI voice coach that supports people leaving incarceration with interview preparation for finding and keeping jobs. The fellows redesigned the AI coach to improve interview readiness, laying the groundwork for a successful expanded deployment of CEO’s tool across the 8,000 recently incarcerated job seekers it serves across the country every year.Climb Together, a nonprofit helping students and jobseekers unlock career opportunities through human connections, is adding a new feature to their AI coach that gives feedback on real-life networking conversations. Users can upload a recorded conversation and receive targeted feedback on whether they gave a compelling introduction, asked the right questions and made an appropriate ask.The tool will be available across the roughly 9,000 career conversations their participants will have this fall.Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, a national nonprofit providing financial coaching and navigation to low-wage workers within employer, financial services, and housing channels, is integrating a tool that helps coaches arrive at debt reduction paths more quickly by analyzing bank and credit statements during a call. This tool will be accessible to all of the organization’s financial coaches and made available to allied coaching providers via Neighborhood Trust’s technical assistance and capacity building solutions.

“At its core, NavTech offers the potential to transform how millions of low-income people navigate life’s biggest economic decisions and challenges,” said Ryan Rippel, CEO and co-founder of NextLadder Ventures. “This collaboration is a testament to the promise of this sector, delivering tools that help individuals build better lives today while laying the groundwork for a growing ecosystem of developers and entrepreneurs that can propel the field forward long-term. We’re grateful to our partners and look forward to seeing the impact this tremendous group of fellows will continue to make in the years to come.”

“We are proud of our fellows, for dedicating their summers to impactful, mission-driven work.” said MIT Professor Sendhil Mullainathan, who leads The Bike Shop. “They’re working towards realizing a more ambitious vision of AI where technology truly enhances human capacity. The four projects showcase what a ‘bicycle for the mind’ can look like in practice.”

At maturity, the NavTech market has the potential to help millions of Americans better navigate their unique economic challenges and build more secure financial lives. The summer fellowship from NextLadder, The Bike Shop, and Anthropic was designed to both test and deliver new NavTech tools that make a tangible impact on daily lives, while expanding the pipeline of talented developers needed to grow the field.

About NextLadder Ventures: NextLadder Ventures is a time-bound venture with one goal: empower millions of Americans to reach their potential by 2040. Backed by over $1 billion in capital, the organization invests in breakthrough technologies that remove barriers to economic success and put people in control of their futures. NextLadder Ventures is trailblazing a new market for tech-enabled Navigation Technology tools that help people access the resources they need to navigate pivotal moments — offering flexible, risk-tolerant capital to entrepreneurs building these transformative tools today, while creating a pipeline of tech, talent, and capital for the long run. To learn more, visit nextladder.com.

About The Bike Shop @ MIT: The Bike Shop is an applied AI research lab at MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS), working at the intersection of economics and computer science to build algorithms that enhance human capacity. To learn more, visit thebikeshop.mit.edu.

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SOURCE NextLadder Ventures

Size standard proposal would increase small business count by over 110,000

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) proposed a comprehensive overhaul of its small business size standards, modernizing how the federal government defines and classifies small businesses across the United States. Published in a proposed rule, the new standards would simplify industry categorization and raise applicable size thresholds, allowing small but rapidly growing firms to continue qualifying and adding over 110,000 firms to the 36 million small businesses in America.

“Thanks to President Trump and America First policies, small businesses are starting and growing at record rates, which is why the SBA is proposing modernized size standards that acknowledge their growth and empower them to compete against large corporations,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “Small businesses create the vast majority of new jobs. This proposal ensures that these job creators have the regulatory certainty to scale, expanding small business eligibility by 0.3%, or over 110,000 firms. By streamlining definitions, the SBA will expand access capital, counseling, and contracting opportunities, which in turn create jobs and drive growth.”

Mandated by law every five years, this historic update would introduce a market-size approach that would dramatically simplify industry classifications by transitioning from complex separate 6-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code standards to streamlined 4-digit category standards where appropriate. By cutting the total list of similar industry categories by approximately 65%, down to 338 broader classifications, the SBA seeks to remove regulatory complexities for business owners.

The proposed standards would also expand the official small business pool by over 110,000 firms, ensuring that rapidly growing companies can continue to qualify as small businesses under President Trump’s pro-growth economic agenda. By raising applicable size thresholds, the proposal is designed to reward growth rather than force successful firms out of small business eligibility prematurely, especially those in industries that are critical to American strength.

For example, the employee-based size standard for semiconductor manufacturers would increase from 1,250 to 2,800 employees, ship building would increase from 1,300 to 2,300 employees, and oil drilling would increase from 1,000 to 2,650 employees. The receipt-based side standard for support activities for animal production would increase from $11 million to $71 million. These changes would enable more businesses to access SBA loans, compete for federal contracts, and participate in other federal support programs, while reducing the regulatory ambiguity and compliance costs associated with overly narrow industry classifications.

Key highlights of the proposed size standard overhaul include:

Streamlines the existing NAICS structure to a 4-digit classification system that reduces total size standard categories from nearly 1,000 down to 338 broad industry groupings, simplifying how firms determine their small business status.Introduces regional market considerations to ensure size thresholds accurately reflect the realities of local economic competition.Expands the pool of employer small businesses (firms with 1 or more employees) by 1.8%, growing the nation’s 6.3 million employer firms by over 110,000 and adding to the 36 million small businesses that exist today.

The SBA is seeking comments on the proposed rule. Small businesses can check their current industry classification and size eligibility by visiting www.sba.gov/size-standards.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov. 

Contact: SBA Media Team

Follow SBA on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn & Blogs
Number: 26-86

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SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)